It seems this has been a common question in my office lately. While everyone knows there is no magic off button for pain relief, everyone wishes that there was one. Most people “just got this neck pain” or “back just started hurting yesterday” . While this may be true, most people have simply not been aware of how stiff and immobile they have gotten over the years. While the pain wasn’t present, the stiffness and lack of flexibility was starting to creep in. You may have thought, “I really should stretch more” or “maybe someday I will get back in shape or take up yoga”. It may have occurred to you that countless hours on a laptop, ipad or behind the wheel of a car weren’t the best thing but a necessary evil. While you might not have felt pain, slowly your spine lost its ability to move correctly and your muscles shortened and lost their flexibility. It may have happened so slowly you didn’t even notice or maybe you did notice and chose to ignore it instead. Over time when your body develops muscle imbalances and the mobility of your spine changes. What most don’t realize is that the shape of the spine actually starts to change and small problems with your posture become more set in and difficult to change without help. Sooner or later, you end up with pain and need to see a chiropractor.

Chiropractic takes time to work. Lots of it. Short term pain relief of an hour or two or even a couple days comes quickly. Changing your posture, changing your spines ability to move, changing your muscle health and structure take time. Months in fact. All muscles have memory and your body wants to go back to its old patterns instead of creating new healthy ones. That is why adjustments need to be repeated again and again. Your body is learning new patterns of mobility and until the new ones can take over for the old ones, the changes from adjustments will be short-lived.

What can you do to help yourself? Keep your appointments. If we can’t touch you, we can’t affect any change. Unfortunately we can’t give you an adjustment in a pill form for you to take home. I need to see you in my office to change anything. Your adjustment schedule, while inconvenient at times, is really important to keep. If you miss one out of three appointments each week, you are only getting 65% of the treatment I recommend. If it doesn’t work–that’s the number one reason.

Secondly-Be active. Your body wasn’t made to sit all day. Too many people spend most of their day at work sitting. What do they do when they get home? Sit more. Get out and move. Families lives are focused around kids sports and activities. If sports are so important for them, why aren’t they for you as an adult? Everyone needs to have some sort of exercise they do on a regular basis to stay healthy.

Third–Stretch. If I haven’t given you stretches in my office, ask me for a couple. Or better yet, check out previous blog posts for all sorts of stretching tips and pictures. Or, best yet, take up yoga. How can you go wrong with a full hour of stretching? I recommend hot yoga or ashtanga yoga or gentle yoga versus a vinyasa/power yoga. It will be gentler on your body and more geared toward stretching and lengthening your muscles, not building your athleticism.

If you have been doing all these things and not getting the results you want, talk to your doctor. We may be missing something or there may be a simple addition to your treatment plan or slightly different adjustment technique that will give you better results.

As those of us in Minnesota know, we’ve been lucky this winter. That doesn’t mean that the lack of light, brown all-around and weather that is just warm enough to tempt but not enough to sit outside doesn’t start to have an impact.

Here are some tips I’ve found for combating the winter blah’s. First of all, cold or not, getting outside makes all the difference. Having a chance to breathe fresh air that hasn’t been recirculated through your office or house makes a big difference. Whether it is to take your dog for a walk, go on a Sunday afternoon hike, or visit a local ski area (which are perfectly groomed this year) being outside will automatically make you feel better.

Secondly, make sure your nutrition is up to par. This means drastic reductions in the amount of sugar you put in your body because as we know, sugar makes us moody. I don’t think I need to site any research sources here, anyone with a five year old has seen this in action. Cut back on the caffeine if you have a tendency to get anxious, it will only make you more jittery.

Third, exercise consistently. Research shows that the best way to up serotonin (the happy hormone) levels is not with a pill, it is with daily exercise. Find something you enjoy and get active again. Your body is made to move.

Fourth, make sure your Vitamin D intake is sufficient. You need Vitamin D for your body to absorb calcium so that you have strong healthy bones. Your body makes it from sunlight and if like today, you aren’t getting any, you’re missing out. Check with your doctor on the appropriate dose and source.

Get active at work!
By Jina Schaefer
www.mydiscoverhealth.com

Our bodies were made for an environment where calories are scarce and exercise is unavoidable. However, we live in an environment where exercise is scarce and calories are unavoidable. Our bodies were meant to move for the majority of the day: gathering food, hunting for food, out-running predators, travelling from one place to another… This is a drastic change from the life we lead today. Most of us are almost completely sedentary compliments of computers, cars, phones, etc. All the technology around us is great and makes life easier for the most part, but because of this, we just have work harder at getting physical activity.

Ideally we’d be active throughout the day, but If your job does not allow that then setting aside time before throughout the day to be active is needed. Below are some ideas for getting more activity throughout the day.

Your commute to work:
Ride the bus? Get off a stop or two before yours and walk the rest of the way.
Live close to work? Biking or walking to work might be an option.
Driving to work? Park your car in one of the spaces farthest from the door to get in a few more steps.

At your desk:
Look for opportunities to stand. Some employers are starting to install desks that can be adjusted to a standing position. If this is not the case, try standing on your next conference call.
Go to the bathroom on another floor or at the other end of the building.
Walk over to a co-workers desk to chat instead of using the phone or email.
Coffee break? Use this time to do some stretches or to go for a brisk walk. Organizing a lunch walking group will help keep you and other motivated.

Traveling for work:
Before booking your hotel go online or call to see what kind of exercise facility they have. Walking paths in the area might also be an option.
Carry a resistance band in your suitcase. Wake up and do some toning exercises to wake up your mind and muscles.
While walking through the airport walk briskly. Remember to stand tall, and keep your shoulders relaxed.

Whether you use the tips above to get started being more active or to supplement your exercise routine, remember every little bit helps.

My newest read, Born to Run, has provided me a wealth of new information for my injury prevention talks. If you are a runner and haven’t read it, you are missing out.

Many years ago, 11 to be exact, I was re-taught how to run. As a 10 year old, I wanted to run a marathon. My mother, the least active person I know, told me I was out of my mind. As the rebellious little kid I was, it only motivated me further. At that time, “pre-internet”, I had to look up how to train for a marathon in the encyclopedia. Believe it or not, there was an entire section on this. Not four weeks in to it, I had my first running injury. Knees. Has been a problem ever since.

Back in 2000, I participated in a personal development training program for chiropractors in Dripping Springs, Texas. Vegan lifestyle (though veganism didn’t stick, the vegetarian diet did for 8 years), running, meditation…quite granola-y.

I watched fifty lb overweight people who had never run a mile in their lives run 8 miles a day for four days. I did too and ran through my knee pain and watched it go away with using proper technique. Though I would recommend a slower start for most people, it was amazing to witness so many people who never thought they could do it accomplish their goals, including myself.

Back to me…(my favorite topic) I had originally taught myself to strike on my heels, a big no no when it comes to running. Heel striking leads to a ton of force and pressure being shot back up your legs into your knees, hips and spine. It doesn’t matter how much cushioning your shoes have, do it, you will injure yourself eventually.

Proper running form involves shortening your strike, falling forward, and landing on your midfoot, not your heel. Simple as that. Think about how you would run if you were going up hill. If you are trying to transition after a lifetime of heel striking. Go slow. I personally felt a lot of calf strain while I was making my transition however I feel much better after running now.

One thing Born to Run promotes that I haven’t tried yet is running in minimalist shoes or barefoot running. Over the last year I have noticed that I have had less injuries running than ever before. When I took my shoes in to Gear West to get a new pair I was told that I had been running in semi minimalist shoes. It was the first pair I have had without the stability control. I think that has a lot to do with the fact my knees haven’t hurt. I think my feet are stronger. I bought my second pair of Mizuno’s as well as a minimalist New Balance shoe with the Vibram sole. I’ve been padding around in them in my office all week to get used to them. Haven’t run in them yet but I’m excited to. Stay tuned.

Jina Schaefer is the owner/creator of Discover Health. For more information on weight loss, fitness and living the best life you can, check out her website where you can access her blog and online store.

I pack my lunch 90% of the time for work. I often get the question, “What are you eating?” So here it is…

Once each week, I’ll be posting what’s in my daily lunch box for my work week.

Week 1:

1.) 1 grapefruit cut up and in a container.
2.) 1 apple + roughly 2 tablespoons peanut butter.
3.) 1 banana
4.) 3 clementines
5.) 1 hard-boiled egg + a little sprinkle of salt
6.) 1 sandwich: 2 slices Ezekiel bread, spinach, a slice of cheddar cheese, 2 slices of tomato, 3 slices of turkey deli meat, thin layer of mustard.

I eat…
#3 a couples hours after I get to work.
#4 & #5 an hour or so before my lunch time workout.
#1 & #6 right after my workout.
#2 about an hour before I leave for the day.

There you have it, one solution to eat healthier.

Ever watch the elite African marathon runners before they start a marathon they plan to win? Most don’t show up to the start line with a Starbucks in one hand and no sweat on their face because they just rolled out of bed. One of the most important things you can do before you exercise is to warm your body up properly.

One of the best ways to warm up is to simply start slowly. If you are a runner with a pace of 8:30, start with an 11 minute mile pace for the first ten minutes and gradually increase your speed. It is just as easy to do that with cycling. Take your average pace and add 30%. This will slowly get your body acclimated to whatever fitness activity you are doing. If you are a golfer, start by taking half swings for your first 10 balls and then gradually open up your swing. If you are a tennis player, take a couple laps around the court first to get warmed up and get used to the surface of the courts.

If you want to get technical and have had your zones measured at Life Time or any other gym, they usually will give you a pre-workout-workout. Mine took 18 minutes on a treadmill or step mill to complete before I went in to my regular workout. It slowly warmed me up from the inside out and prepared my muscles for exercise. I wouldn’t have wanted to go that hard before a race but it was great to get my body prepared to lift weights. I found that I got into my fat burning zones quicker and more consistently when I completed it first and generally had better and more effective workouts.

Save the stretching for after your workout, don’t do it before. In the next few weeks, we will cover gentle exercises you can do to warm yourself up.

Photo Credit: Andy Newson http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=5