SWINGING FOR THE FENCES

Game-changing plays in any sport and at any level are tremendously exciting. Whether we're watching Pop Warner football, middle school recreational soccer, high school basketball, or Major League Baseball, an extraordinary athletic play makes us stand up and cheer. If our team takes the lead as a result, so much the better.


Attempting to make a game-changing play is known as swinging for the fences. But forcing the action in this way is not always a good idea. People who want to be healthy and well can gain value from considering the contrast between swinging for the fences vs. staying within themselves.

For example, if you've played any team sport for any length of time, you know a little bit about what this feels like. Bottom of the ninth, your team is two runs down. You're at the plate with two runners on base. What's going through your mind? Hit a home run, that's what. One swing, game over. Forget situational hitting, you're swinging for the fences.

Or you're the quarterback of your football team. Your team is behind but the score is close. You know you need to make a momentum-shifting play. You've got years of mental images in your head of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady using the vertical part of the field, going downfield, way downfield. You call the play, take the snap, drop back three steps, and heave the ball toward your wide receiver racing to the corner of the end zone. The Hail Mary pass you've just thrown is the football equivalent of swinging for the fences. But your deep pass could just as easily be intercepted instead of resulting in the difference-making touchdown.

The analogy holds true in all sports. The game-winning penalty kick in soccer. The thundering, momentum-shifting slam dunk in basketball. The dominating volleyball kill shot which drains the spirit from the opposing team. Each key moment is a sport-specific swing for the fences. Again, the opposite result could just as easily occur.

We can see that striving to make a big play is often a mistake and can easily lead to a loss. Forcing the action never works. Smart athletes stay within themselves, letting the game come to them. The best athletes are able, more often than not, to rise to the occasion when an opportunity presents itself. Then, in the context of the flow of the game, you'll see the baseball flying over the fence or the beautifully arcing touchdown pass floating into the hands of the receiver.

This is especially true regarding exercise. When it comes to exercise, slow and steady wins the race. Trying to do too much usually results in an injury, which sets you back and wastes precious time in the recovery process. In strength-training, for example, lifting big weight is not the goal. Progressive, incremental gains are what build lifetime fitness. Aerobic exercise is similar. Going for a five-mile walk is a bad idea if you haven't walked at all in six months or more. Going for an eight-mile run when you're used to running three miles is another bad idea. Gradual increases in time and distance are what works.

Swinging for the fences is great when it happens. In exercise and fitness, achieving a personal best is cause for celebration. But in exercise and fitness, personal bests result from much effort and preparation. When you have a long-term, solid base of fitness, you can swing for the fences with confidence.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and his office, please feel free to log onto his website at:
HANDS OF GOLD CHIROPRACTIC

Chiropractic Myths and Facts

As successful as chiropractic has become, there are a lot of myths circulating among the general public. Times have definitely changed for the better, but the fact is that many people still do not understand what chiropractors do. Let's talk about a few of the more common myths about chiropractic.


Myth #1 - Chiropractors are not real doctors.

A chiropractic college grants a D.C. or Doctorate of Chiropractic degree. Chiropractors are licensed as health care providers in every U.S. state and dozens of countries around the world. While the competition for acceptance in chiropractic school is not as fierce as medical school, the chiropractic and medical school curricula are extremely rigorous and virtually identical. In fact, chiropractors have more hours of classroom education than their medical counterparts. As part of their education, chiropractic students also complete a residency working with real patients in a clinical setting, supervised by licensed doctors of chiropractic. Once chiropractic students graduate, they have to pass four sets of national board exams as well as state board exams in the states where they want to practice.

Just like medical doctors, chiropractors are professionals that are subject to the same type of testing procedures, licensing and monitoring by state and national peer-reviewed boards. Federal and state programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Workers' Compensations programs cover chiropractic care, and all federal agencies accept sick-leave certificates signed by doctors of chiropractic. Chiropractors are also commissioned as officers in the military.

The biggest difference between chiropractors and medical doctors lies not in their level of education, but in their preferred method of caring for people. Medical doctors are trained in the use of medicines (chemicals that affect your internal biochemistry) and surgery. Consequently, if you have a chemical problem, such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, or an infection, medical doctors can be very helpful. However, if your problem is that your spine is mis-aligned or you have soft tissue damage causing pain, there is no chemical in existence that can fix it. You need a physical solution to correct a physical problem. That is where chiropractic really shines. Chiropractors provide physical solutions -- adjustments, exercises, stretches, muscle therapy -- to help the body heal from conditions that are physical in origin, such as back pain, muscle spasms, headaches, and poor posture. Another distinction is the fact that it is completely appropriate to receive chiropractic care even if you do not have symptoms. Unlike standard medical doctors, whom you visit when you have a symptom to be treated, chiropractors offer adjustments to improve spinal alignment and overall well-being before symptoms develop.

Myth #2 - Medical doctors don't like chiropractors.

The American Medical Association's opposition to chiropractic was at its strongest in the 1940s under the leadership of Morris Fishbein. Fishbein called chiropractors "rabid dogs" and referred to them as "playful and cute, but killers" He tried to portray chiropractors as members of an unscientific cult who cared about nothing but taking their patients' money. Up to the late 1970s and early 1980s, the medical establishment purposely conspired to try to destroy the profession of chiropractic. In fact, a landmark lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Illinois in the 1980s found that the American Medical Association was guilty of conspiracy and was ordered to pay restitution to the chiropractic profession.

In the 20 years since, the opinion of most medical doctors has changed: several major studies have shown the superiority of chiropractic in helping people with a host of conditions, and medical doctors developed a better understanding as to what chiropractors actually do. Many people have returned to their medical doctors and told them about the great results they experienced at their chiropractors office. Hospitals across the country now have chiropractors on staff, and many chiropractic offices have medical doctors on staff. Chiropractors and medical doctors are now much more comfortable working together in cases where medical care is necessary as an adjunct to chiropractic care.

Myth #3 - Once you start going to a chiropractor, you have to keep going for the rest of your life.

This statement comes up frequently when the topic of chiropractic is discussed. It is only partially true. You only have to continue going to the chiropractor as long as you wish to maintain the health of your neuromusculoskeletal system. Going to a chiropractor is much like going to the dentist, exercising at a gym, or eating a healthy diet: As long as you keep it up, you continue to enjoy the benefits.

Many years ago, dentists convinced everyone that the best time to go to the dentist is before your teeth hurt, that routine dental care will help your teeth remain healthy for a long time. The same is true of chiropractic care for your spine. It is important to remember that, just like your teeth, your spine experiences normal wear and tear as you walk, drive, sit, lift, sleep, and bend. Routine chiropractic care can help you feel better, move with more freedom, and stay healthier throughout your lifetime. Although you can enjoy the benefits of chiropractic care even if you receive care for a short time, the real benefits come into play when you make chiropractic care a part of your wellness lifestyle.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and the Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit our website at:
handsofgoldchiropractic.com

RIDING THE BRAKES

Every driver knows that you can’t get to your destination with one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake. For safe, efficient travel you switch smoothly between these two pedals and you reach your goal effectively. But simple machines such as automobiles are fairly easy to operate. There aren't that many options. The human machine, on the other hand, has an almost infinite number of possible operating modes. And the human machine doesn't come with an instruction manual.


As an example, it's obvious that your car won't move forward if you're riding the brake. But it's not that obvious when you're holding down the corresponding metaphorical pedal of your physical organism. At some point, most of us slow ourselves down in this way without knowing it. And the price we pay may be far more serious than that involved in the necessity of re-lining the brakes of our car.

What does "riding the brakes" look like for humans? What slows us down? What actions interfere with our ability to thrive, our ability to enjoy vibrant good health? Not eating a wide variety of nutritious food is a prime culprit. Our bodies are not designed to live on fast food, lots of simple carbohydrates, and a dearth of fresh fruits and vegetables.1,2 Another "brake" on good health is lack of vigorous physical activity. Our bodies were designed long ago for vigorous physical work, i.e., exercise.3

It's really true that we're not born with an instruction manual. Parents know this all too well, first when their kids are infants and toddlers and much later when the formerly cute preschoolers grow up to become too-worldly-too-soon teenagers. But such an instruction manual would be invaluable for all adults and all young people. Finally, we'd be able to have access to first-hand information on how to take care of ourselves.

As the most basic example, when we buy a new car the schedule of maintenance is clear. Check-ups and an oil and filter change every 5000 miles. Bigger systems overhauls every 15,000 miles, with specific diagnostics and possible replacements at 30,000 miles, 60,000 miles, and so on. Most cars have a built-in reminder that flashes when it's time to go to the dealership. Everything's laid out for us.

But with our bodies - very possibly our most precious possessions - such formal guidance is just not available. All we have to go on is folklore and guesswork. And so people ride their brakes, blithely cruising along and never giving a thought to how they're really doing. But at some point a price must be paid and things begin to go wrong. At that point, it's often very hard to recover.


Put simply, if we're missing out on high-quality nutrition and plenty of exercise, we're "riding the brakes" and may find ourselves "coming to a stop". Hopefully we'll notice in time that we're "slowing down'. We can regain our normal "cruising speed" if we're willing to take healthy actions on our own behalf. Fortunately, there are many things we can do to restore our good health. Regular exercise, eating a variety of healthy foods, and getting regular chiropractic care are three important actions that, done consistently, will keep our physical "machine" in peak condition.


1Jonnalagadda SS, et al: Putting the whole grain puzzle together: health benefits associated with whole grains--summary of American Society for Nutrition 2010 Satellite Symposium. J Nutr 141(5):1011S-1022S, 2011

2Weiss EP, Fontana L: Caloric restriction: powerful protection for the aging heart and vasculature. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 301(4):H1205-1219, 2011

3Valente EA, et al: The effect of the addition of resistance training to a dietary education intervention on apolipoproteins and diet quality in overweight and obese older adults. Cliin Interv Aging 6:235-241, 2011

The Father of Modern Medicine and Chiropractic

Chiropractic may only be 117 years old, but spinal manipulation has been around for thousands of years. Massage and manipulation are two of the oldest remedies known to man. In fact, the first pictures depicting spinal manipulation were discovered in prehistoric caves in Point Le Merd in southwestern France. These drawings depicted crude, non-specific attempts to manipulate the spine that date back to 17,500 bc. The ancient Chinese were using manipulation in 2700 bc. and James Cyriax, in his Textbook of Orthopedic Medicine, included a picture of a Buddhist temple with a statue over 2,000 years old showing manipulation of the lumbar spine.

More recently, Hippocrates (460-377 bc), the father of Greek medicine said, “Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases.” He wrote over seventy books on healing and was a proponent of spinal manipulation. This great physician was also the first to deal with the anatomy and the pathology of human spine. In his books, he provides a precise description of the segments and the normal curves of the spine, the structure of the vertebrae, the tendons attached to them, the blood supply to the spine, and even its anatomic relations to adjacent vessels. Hippocrates devised two apparatuses, known as the Hippocratic ladder and the Hippocratic board, to reduce displaced vertebrae.

Hippocrates believed only nature could heal and it was the duty of a physician to remove any interference preventing the body from healing. Hippocrates taught that the essence of life and the ability of the body to heal was the result of a vital spirit.

This concept, called Vitalism, persisted throughout ancient writings. The premise of Vitalism considers the human body and psyche as being animated by the vital force, which starts flowing at the moment of conception and which ceases with the death of the body. The flow of vital energy through the body nourishes, heals, develops, and sustains the body. This concept of vital spirit or Vitalism was later replaced with Innate Intelligence by D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic.

Hands of Gold Chiropractic Voted Best In Brooklyn

Bay Ridge Brooklyn chiropractor, Dr. Jason Peloquin and staff at the Hands of Gold Chiropractic have won "Best Chiropractor in the Boro" by The Home Reporter, The Brooklyn Spectator and The Sunset News.


The contest ran from late December to early Februrary. During this time, voters logged into The Home Reporter's website and casted their nomination for the Best of the Boro contest. After the nomination period had ended, all of the users were be given the chance to vote on their favorite picks during the second round.

Dr. Peloquin was very excited about the good news and exclaimed, "It is a true testament to what we are trying to accomplish for our community. Individual personalized attention, quality care and long lasting results!"

Hands of Gold Chiropractic offers a wide array of alternative therapies. Patients seeking treatment at their Bay Ridge location are able to consult or be treated by a licenced acupuncturist and massage therapist. Nutritional counseling as well as non-surgical spinal decompression are also offered.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and his office, Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please feel free to log onto his website http://www.handsofgoldchiropractic.com/ or you can catch up on their latest blog and health related topics by liking their Facebook page Hands of Gold On Facebook Link.

Core Fitness - What Is It and What Is It Good For?

Core training is a no-longer-new catchphrase on the fitness landscape. The concept of core fitness, by now, has been promoted by every Pilates school, yoga center, and chain of fitness clubs around the world. Many doctors, including chiropractors, physiatrists, orthopedists, and even cardiologists, emphasize the importance of core training with their patients. Practically every physical therapist and personal trainer has learned a variety of core exercises to use with their clients. Core fitness has become an advertising buzzword, helping to sell all kinds of health-related products. The overall result is raised awareness of the importance of core strength and the opportunity to engage in a critically important form of healthy exercise.


What exactly is the "core" and what are you training when you train it? Your core muscles are your four abdominal muscle groups - the transversus abdominis, internal obliques, external obliques, and rectus abdominis. Back muscles, too, are included in the core group - specifically the erector spinae, longissimus thoracis, and multifidus. The importance of the core muscles is their ability to provide a "center" or focus for the physical work your body is doing. If your core is not fit other muscles will have to take over, leading to the likelihood of strains, sprains, and other injuries.

Who even knew we had a core? Plenty of people did, long ago, but in those days no one talked about a "core". For many decades football coaches, ballet instructors, and gymnastics coaches trained their athletes in vigorous and strenuous techniques that all focused on core strength. High school gym teachers knew about the core. Remember squat thrusts, jumping jacks, and push-ups? All those ancient exercises (that we used to groan and moan about) train deep core muscles. We were doing core fitness before there was "core fitness".

Why do we need core fitness today? More and more our work involves sitting down. We stare at computer screens for eight hours a day. Instead of doing physical work such as farming or building, we type on a keyboard and talk on a cell phone. The long-term result is that muscles, tendons, and ligaments lost their integrity. Tight neck muscles, tight lower back muscles, and weak abdominal muscles are the result, and these issues lead to more serious problems such as chronic headaches, cardiovascular stress, impaired digestion, and depression. We need fitness activities that start building us back up again, and the right place to start is at the center - by engaging in core fitness.

The best thing about core fitness is that you don't need any equipment. You could get a mat and a physioball, but those items are optional. Take a yoga class. Take a Pilates class. Learn a few core exercises and begin to do them several times a week. You'll soon begin to notice that you feel better, in general. You have more energy. You're sleeping better. Your mood is improving. All due to a few squats, a few planks, and a few push-ups. That's a pretty good deal.

YOUR BODY IS SELF HEALING

The greatest power in the universe is your own life force! The energy that keeps you alive also powers every bit of your healing! Will you use it to your full advantage or ignore and squander it, erroneously assuming your healing power is to be found elsewhere?

Your body is constantly working as best it can to preserve and improve its vital domain: repairing its parts when needed, regenerating, rebalancing and optimizing all of its functions. This healing force is vigorous and thorough, under favorable conditions.

With rare exceptions, your genes contain the perfect instructions for all manner of self-healing; it happens automatically. All that is needed is that we intelligently cooperate with the body’s calls for rest so that it can accomplish its tasks without interference. This means stepping out of the way and conserving energy so that our fullest energy potential is available for the healing work.

Some commonly overlooked habits that lead to miscommunication of teh brain to the body, and back again, are:


◦ignorance of ones self-healing ability


◦stress from incorrect beliefs and thoughts

◦stress from unnatural diet

◦stress from malnutrition

◦lack of raw foods in the diet

◦stress from working too much and too hard

◦stress from inappropriate exercise

◦stress from medicines, treatments and therapies

◦lack of rest and sleep

◦lack of social support

◦lack of self-love

Sure Chiropractic can help with your aches and pains, but a balanced diet and regular exercise with adequate sleep are paramount.
Until then, we are always here to serve your neweds and help you get back to wellness.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit our website at:

http://www.bayridgechiropractor.com/