Bay Ridge Sports Chiropractor

Dr. Jason J. Peloquin of Brooklyn, NY, has obtained the postgraduate designation of Certified Chiropractic Sports Practitioner (CCSP) by the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians™ (ACBSP™). The CCSP certification requires the doctor to attend a minimum of 100 hours of a 120 hour postgraduate program. This instruction is specific to physical fitness and the evaluation and treatment of injuries encountered in sports. Following the completion of these hours, the doctor must then take and successfully pass a comprehensive written examination.

This training will aid the doctor in the prevention and treatment of athletic injuries by enhancing his diagnostic skills and patient care. The CCSP accreditation exists to provide a uniform standard of education that assures teams and athletes that the doctor has met a minimum level of competency in chiropractic sports medicine. Dr. Peloquin joins over 5200 others internationally who hold this designation.

Fort Dr. Peloquin's current involvement please check the American Chiropractic Sports Practitioner database or read more about his involvement with sports at Hands of Gold Sports

REPAIRING AN INURED ROTATOR CUFF

 

As we get older, rotator cuff injuries become more common, a result of the natural aging process. A similar mechanism operates in the discs separating the vertebras in your lower back. These cartilaginous structures lose water over time, becoming less flexible and more brittle as the decades roll by. In the case of the shoulder, the rotator cuff tendon is pulleyed to and fro as the arm swings forward and back and up and down. As the years pass, this constant motion may cause fraying in the rotator cuff tendon and inflammation in the muscles that comprise the rotator cuff. Eventually, partial or full thickness tears may develop in one or more of these musculotendinous units, causing pain and some loss of function. Importantly, conservative care may be all that’s needed to reduce pain and restore needed motion.

The shoulder joint is beautifully designed and a marvel of engineering. Its construction makes possible a full 360-degree arc of motion in both the sagittal and frontal planes. In other words, you can swing your arm in a complete circle from front-to-back and to-the-side-and-up-and-around. In the third, horizontal, plane, 180 degrees of motion is available. The overall combination of movements in three-dimensional space makes the shoulder joint the most freely movable joint in your body. However, as with all freedoms we enjoy in this life, there is a price. The shoulder joint’s great mobility is countered by its very limited stability.

The shoulder’s lack of stability needn’t concern us in our average day-to-day tasks. Protection to the joint is built-in by way of the rotator cuff muscles, which form a strong hood that envelops the intersection of the arm bone and shoulder blade. Falling on an outstretched arm may result in a dislocated shoulder, so we need to have some care in this regard.

If you’re a young athlete and have suffered a rotator cuff tear, surgery may be an appropriate option. But for the vast majority of people, especially for those over age 40, most rotator cuff injuries are chronic rather than acute and can be treated with rest and rehabilitative exercise. Again, if you’re a 60-year-old skier who has torn his or her rotator cuff in a downhill accident, surgery could be indicated. For the rest of us, rehabilitative exercise is the key.

Four or five primary strength training exercises are involved in shoulder or rotator cuff rehabilitation. The three basic shoulder exercises are (1) seated overhead press, which trains all the shoulder girdle muscles simultaneously; (2) standing side [lateral] raise; and (3) seated or standing bent-over raise. The lateral raise specifically trains the middle deltoid muscle and the bent-over raise specifically trains the posterior deltoid muscle. Specific rotator cuff strength training exercises include internal rotation and external rotation on a flat bench using very light dumbbells. More painful injuries with greater loss of mobility may require (1) Codman pendulum exercises and (2) finger-walking (up a wall) to the front and to the side.

The goals of rotator cuff rehabilitation, as for any mechanical injury, include decreased inflammation, decreased pain, return to more full active range of motion, return to more full muscular strength, and restoration of function.

stretches for your low back

 

Back stretches can go a long way towards relieving the muscle tension that is the most common cause of back pain. Stretches for your lower back should be done carefully to avoid injury. Here are some simple lower back stretches that you can do at home; some of the stretches require a chair.

1) Cat Stretch

You'll perform this stretch on the floor, on your hands and knees. Make sure your hands are positioned immediately below your shoulders and your knees are positioned immediately below your hips.

• Start by arching your back towards the ceiling. Drop your head and pelvis. Keep your legs and arms straight and strong.
• Return to your original position.
• Drop your belly toward the floor; lift your face and hips toward the ceiling. Keep your legs and arms firm.
• Repeat this stretching sequence five to ten times, breathing slowly and deeply throughout. Inhale as you lift your face toward the ceiling; exhale as you drop your head and arch your back.

2) Seated Torso Twist

You'll perform this stretching exercise in a chair. Be careful with torso twists; if you don't do them properly, you can injure your spine. Keep your spine straight and don't force your body into the twist; allow your spine to move into the twist on its own, and only as far as is comfortable.

• Sit upright in a chair with your palms on your thighs or knees. Your head should be directly above your shoulders and you should be balanced firmly on your pelvis.
• Twist to the left. Place your right hand on the outside of your left knee, but don't use the hand to exert any pressure; simply place it there. Your spine should be doing the twisting all by itself.
• Allow your head to move into the twist as well. Once again, don't force it.
• As you twist, look as far to that side just by moving your eyes. This makes the twist more energizing.
• Hold the twist for 20 to 30 seconds, breathing deeply and fully into the lower abdomen and lower back. When you're finished, repeat the twist in the other direction.

3) Seated Forward Bend

Some people like to perform this lower back stretch while seated on the floor with their legs extended in front of them. However, if you lack flexibility in your calves, hamstrings and lower back, you're better off performing this stretch while seated in a chair.

• Sit upright in a chair; keep your spine straight and your head held erect above your shoulders.
• Place your palms in your lap. Relax your shoulders and arms.
• Place your feet at least hip width apart; you may want to separate the feet even more. If your feet are further apart than the width of your hips, turn your toes in toward one another slightly.
• Inhale; when you exhale, lean forward over your thighs. Allow your hands to dangle on either side of your feet. Keep your shoulders relaxed and your neck elongated.
• Breathe deeply into your lower back. Hold this stretch for 20 to 30 seconds. Come up slowly, so that you don't pass out.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and his office Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit his website at:
www.HandsofGoldChiropractic.com
You can also follow the office on Facebook for new health related posts and discussion on todays health and wellness topics.
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7 Reasons To Forget A Flu Shot

Here we are again, another cold and flu season upon us.  The signs urging everyone to get their flu shot are popping up like dandelions in the Spring and all the drug and grocery stores offer them now. It’s becoming so prevalent that I’m surprised that gas stations aren’t offering free flu shots with a fill-up, as 173 million doses of the shot will be given this year. 
 
What they are not telling you is that the flu shot is not a safe medical procedure, nor is it an effective one. The following are the top 7 reasons not to get a flu shot:
1) There is a total lack of evidence that young children benefit from the shots. A systematic review of 51 studies involving 260,000 children ages 6 to 23 months found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo.

2) Medical journals have published thousands of articles revealing that injecting vaccines can lead to serious health problems including harmful immunological responses and a host of other infections. This further increases the body’s susceptibility to the diseases that the vaccine was supposed to protect against.

3) Ever notice how people who get the flu shot develop runny noses, flu symptoms, bronchitis, or even pneumonia within days or weeks of receiving the drug? This is because they are being injected with several strains of a flu virus, as well as toxic chemicals, which overwhelm the body’s immune system, thus suppressing it, and making them more susceptible to the illness the vaccine is supposed to protect against.

4) The flu vaccine, as well as just about all the childhood vaccines, contains mercury – a heavy metal known to be hazardous to human health. The amount of mercury contained in a multi-dose flu shot is much higher than the maximum allowable daily exposure limit. Mercury toxicity can cause memory loss, depression, ADD, digestive imbalances, respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s, and other serious health ailments.

5) Besides mercury, there are other ingredients present that can cause serious neurological disorders. These include detergents, antibiotics, formaldehyde, MSG (a flavor enhancer), gelatin, chicken embryos, polyethylene glycol, and sodium phosphate. These ingredients can cause anything from allergic reactions to cancer.

6) Research shows that over-use of the flu vaccine and drugs like Tamiflu and Relanza can actually alter flu viruses and cause them to mutate into a more deadly strain.

7) The flu viruses mutate every year so trying to guess what strain will be spreading has proven to be a crap shoot and not very effective. Moreover getting multi-shots is dangerous since different strains of viruses and harmful ingredients are introduced into your body.

Flu shots are indeed more dangerous than we are led to believe, and it’s best to rely on natural ways to protect yourself against the flu. Here are some easy steps to remain healthy:

• Make sure you are getting enough Vitamin D every day – 4000 to 10,000 IU’s daily is ideal.
• Get plenty of exercise – A half-hour to 40 minutes a day keeps your blood flowing, helps to detox your system, and keeps your internal environment alkaline.
• Get plenty of sleep – 8 hours is the best amount of time.
• Eat healthy, organic foods – not fast foods, prepared foods, GMO’s or any foods that are laden with toxins that weaken you.
• Wash your hands with soap and water! Avoid the waterless hand sanitizers since they also weaken the immune system.
• Stay hydrated with clean, fresh, filtered water.
• Golden seal and Echinacea supplements work to boost your immune system.

The bottom line is if you keep your body healthy, then you don’t have to worry about getting the flu. Relying on the toxins injected into your body and calling this good sound science is certainly not a wise choice.

For more information on Dr. Jason Peloquin and his practice Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please feel free to visit his website The Bay Ridge Chiropractor

10 Minutes Of Stretching Can Make All The Difference

 

Should I stretch before or after I exercise? Should I even bother to stretch at all? These are the questions that every busy adult asks whenever he or she is planning to begin an exercise program. The correct answer to the first question is "do whatever is right for you." Some people need to lengthen their major muscle groups, such as the quadriceps (front of the thigh), hamstrings (back of the thigh), and calves, before they run, walk, swim, and/or lift weights for exercise. For others, it's best to stretch at the end of a workout, re-lengthening the major muscle groups so they'll be ready to help you move through the rest of your day.

The answer to the second question is "yes, stretching is important for everybody and is often the missing link in trying to understand why you injured yourself when you were exercising." Stretching helps you either warm up or cool down, whichever is needed for you to get the most out of your exercise. Not stretching in the way that you need puts you on the fast track to sustaining an exercise-related injury. As always, prevention is the best policy.

A dynamic warm-up is a fun and entertaining supplement or replacement, at times, to stretching if you're a stretch-first person. In a dynamic warm-up, you take important joints such as your hips, shoulders, and lower back through complete ranges of motion, using large muscle groups for support. Dynamic warm-up activities are similar to core strengthening exercises and have unique names such as scorpion, hip crossover, drop lunge, and quad circles. You can mix-and-match a variety of dynamic warm-up activities on different workout days, creating ongoing interest that helps you maintain your exercise routine.

A dynamic cool-down can serve as a similar supplement or replacement to stretching, at times, if you're a stretch-after person. If you've been walking or running, rather than simply completing your walk or run, spend an additional few minutes walking or running with shorter strides and/or at a slower pace. Walking backward at a slow pace is another method for achieving a dynamic cool-down. If you've been lifting weights, a series of deep-knee lunges will stretch your lower back and hips. A yoga-style downward dog will lengthen your spine, hamstrings, and calf muscles. Moving your arms through big circles, both clockwise and counterclockwise, will open up your shoulder girdles and lengthen the muscles of your rotator cuffs.

Regardless of the method you choose, stretching is an important part of your regular exercise activities. The extra few minutes spent either warming up or cooling down will help you maintain your exercise program achieve long-term health and well-being.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and how his team at Hands of Gold Chiropractic can help you, please research his abilities by clicking the link to his website at Bay Ridge Chiropractor or liking his facebook page @ HANDS-OF-GOLD-CHIROPRACTIC ON FACEBOOK

Whats The Problem With Stress?

We live in stressful times. The economy is tough, global conflicts rage, severe weather events are affecting people in every corner of the globe, and our numerous technological devices don't seem to be making things any easier. Of course, this is nothing new. Every generation thinks theirs is the best of times and the worst of times. But the result is that people everywhere have high levels of stress.
Sometimes stress is a good thing. Mechanical stress, such as exercise, causes your muscles and bones to become stronger and your nerve system to become smarter. Taking on a new assignment at work or taking a challenging class in school may be stressful, but the effort involved in achieving a successful result will cause you to grow and develop in ways that you might not have imagined. After all, the great philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously said "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

But chronic, ongoing physical and mental stress, the kind that affects us every day, is not good for us. Chronic stress causes real psychological and physical problems. People undergoing chronic stress may develop anxiety, which if not managed effectively may lead to depression. Chronic stress may lead to a variety of disorders and diseases, including arthritis, inflammatory conditions such as Crohn's disease, gastrointestinal problems such as peptic ulcer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and even heart attacks and stroke.  As we are all subject to numerous stresses every day, both personal and work-related, it's very important for us to develop strategies that will be successful in helping us manage ongoing stresses.

The most important method for managing stress is to attempt to focus your point-of-view, your frame of reference, on the present moment. Our minds are constantly in motion, constantly at work creating new thoughts and new scenarios regarding some potentially stressful situation, or rehashing old conversations, old conflicts, and old problems. The result is that we're almost never at peace. When we try to sit down and relax for a bit, it's never too long before our minds start bringing up the exact things we'd like to be able to forget or ignore, at least for a little while. Most of us can't flip a metaphorical switch and shut off our incessant stream of mostly negative self-talk. But we can learn to remind ourselves to return to the present, to come back to this moment, the one that's happening now.

The best way to do this is to ask yourself, "is this [what I'm thinking about] happening right now?" If you can see that what's happening now is that you're sitting in a chair reading the newspaper, you have a good chance of being able to let go of what your mind is talking to you about. Say to yourself, "I'm right here, right now, and none of that other stuff is actually happening right now." This will help you create some distance from your self-talk, and the self-talk may even recede into the background for a while. The feeling of calm you might then experience is one you can build on. The more you practice returning to the moment, the more power you gain in being able to manage the stress in your life.

 

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and how he can help alleviate your stress, please visit his website at www.handsofgoldchiropractic.com or visit his Facebook page for new health related topics and cool promotions - Hands of Gold on Facebook.

Is my Pain Serious?

In the field of medicine, the term pain management is code for drugs and intraspinal steroid injections. Pain management drugs are almost always opioids such as Vicodin, OxyContin, and morphine. Intraspinal steroid injections are at best a temporary fix, are often based on best guesses, and can have devastating side effects if done incorrectly.

On the other hand, chiropractic pain management always uses conservative methods of care. Chiropractic care does not introduce foreign substances or instruments into the body. The power of chiropractic care lies in its ability to facilitate the body's own healing mechanisms. In essence, based on a systematic analysis of the person's biomechanics and physiology, chiropractic care removes roadblocks to normal functioning of the nerve system. When the nerve systems pathways are free and clear, the body can begin to heal itself from the inside-out.
Your body is very smart. For many problems involving pain, all your body needs to heal itself is a freely functioning nerve system. The goal of chiropractic care is to enable such normal functioning.

How do you know whether your pain needs to be evaluated by your chiropractor? This is the age-old question. The answer needs to be specific to your particular problem, rather than a one-size-fits all solution. But there are good guidelines that everyone can follow.

First, is your pain deep and boring (that is, does the pain feel like it's boring into you)? Deep and boring pain usually means something is seriously wrong. If you're woken up at night by this type of pain, a visit to your chiropractor or family physician is in order. Kidney stones and inflamed gallbladders are common causes for deep, boring pain that causes a person to awaken from sleep. Severe heartburn is in this category, too, and should be evaluated by your doctor.

But these types of problems are easy to categorize. You'll probably know, instinctively, that something is wrong. Musculoskeletal pain is rather more difficult to analyze. For example, you lean over in a twisting motion to grab the glass of water on your nightstand and you feel a sharp pain in your lower back. Next morning you have great difficulty getting out of bed. Your lower back is stiff and sore. What should you do?

Your best course of action will be based on a self-assessment. If you're experiencing pain that radiates down your leg, or numbness or tingling sensations traveling down your leg, you should call your chiropractor's office and ask to be seen right away. Or, if you don't have any radiating pain, but sneezing or coughing does provoke a radiating sensation, take the same action. Similarly, the amount of pain you're having will determine what you do. If the pain is severe, see your chiropractor.

If none of these criteria are present, decision-making gets a bit murky. How you handle your problem will depend on your tolerance for pain. If you have low tolerance, make an appointment to see your chiropractor and get some expert treatment. If you have a higher pain threshold, you might still call for an appointment just to make sure that nothing is seriously wrong. Certainly, if you haven't improved at all after 48 hours, you need to see your chiropractor.

There is another important scenario. If you have a medical condition such as cancer, an endocrine disorder, or a systemic infection, a sudden occurrence of back pain needs immediate attention, regardless of how or why you think the pain occurred.  This is not to be an alarmist, but rather the recommendation is based on precaution. If there is an existing problem, then new issues need to be looked at closely, just to be sure.

These guidelines provide a sound basis for decision-making, but please remember they are just that - guidelines. Each person needs to be comfortable with their own process. And, of course, it's always much better to be safe than sorry. Your chiropractor is always available to help you sort out these kinds of problems.

The Benefits of Chiropractic for Children

Why would a parent not take a child to see a chiropractor? The basic answer might come down to no information or incorrect information.


Here are three basic reasons why not: 1. They don’t know about Chiropractic, 2. They don’t know about the potential benefits of Chiropractic or, 3. They think that a Chiropractic adjustment might be too rough for a child and cause pain or damage.

Once a person finds out about Chiropractic and begins to understand its benefits, it is point number 3 that must be understood and dispelled, as apparently, some parents think that a Chiropractic adjustment will be “too rough” for their youngster.

Chiropractors understand that all bodies are different and tailor their adjustments and the amount of pressure required based on the individual they are treating. A big football playing man in his 20s, a little old woman in her 70s and a child of 10, will all be looked at and evaluated for their individual needs.

In this way, it could be said that a Chiropractic adjustment can be as individual as a handshake. A strong man shaking hands with another strong man will give him a lot more pressure than if the same man was shaking hands with his grandmother or the child. When parents realize this and bring their child in for an adjustment, the results can be quite remarkable. Consider this case of a 7-year-old girl.

This child had been suffering from asthma since the age of 4. By the time she came to see a chiropractor, she had been treated medically with 10 different medications. Attacks of coughs and wheezing were daily occurrences. Physical activity was almost out of the question. Emergency room visits sometimes reached 5 per year. A test of lung capacity revealed she was operating at about 50 percent of her lung capacity.

An exam by her chiropractor revealed subluxations (partial dislocations) in the vertebrae at the middle of her spine. An individual program was tailored to handle these restrictions. With just one adjustment, some of the tightness in her chest disappeared and her coughing was reduced. After just 4 weeks of treatment, she was able to put aside her inhaler and get back to participating in swimming and running sports. After 3 months, her lung capacity was just about normal and all medications were stopped.

Had her parents avoided taking her to a chiropractor because of a fear that an adjustment might be too rough and cause her pain, the child might well be on her way to a dozen more medications, further restrictions of activity and even worse breathing problems.

Is Chiropractic for children too? By all means. Miracles can occur each and every day in Chiropractic with the right adjustment, tailored to the individual’s size, age, shape and need.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and his office please visit: Bay Ridge Chiropractor

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OWNING YOUR HEALTH

Recent discussions in the scientific literature are focusing on monitoring and possibly improving cardiovascular health in children. There's been a lot of conversation and a lot of controversy. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association argued that universal screening of children could result in young people being put on cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins. And, according to certain experts, there just isn't sufficient medical evidence to justify such prescriptions.


These are not new proposals. In July 2008 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that some children as young as 8 be treated aggressively with cholesterol-lowering drugs.  Soon thereafter, in November 2008, researchers recommended that statins be prescribed for millions of healthy people with normal cholesterol levels.
What's going on here? Healthy adults and healthy children should take drugs? How can we make sense of these medical controversies and how can we take action that is actually appropriate to the health and well-being of ourselves and our children?

First, it's very important to take responsibility. That's difficult, because it seems that we live in a culture of denial. No one is responsible for anything. "Twinkies made me do it." "I have bad genes." "It's not my fault."

A person's health is usually evaluated in the same way. Who is responsible for a lifelong two-pack-a-day smoker developing lung cancer? The tobacco company, of course. Who is responsible for someone gaining 50 pounds in a year? Well, the fast food chain is responsible. Who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of Americans developing diabetes each year? Candy manufacturers, naturally. Throw in doughnut-makers, too.

But, people are actually responsible for their own actions. Going further, in many cases people are partly responsible for the diseases and disorders they develop. It's not that I'm a bad person, but I may be making choices that aren't in my own best interests.

"Lifestyle health" is a relatively new term being used by many researchers and health practitioners. From a lifestyle perspective, many cases of diabetes, overweight and obesity, and high cholesterol are caused by lifestyle choices. High-fat diets, high-sugar diets, lack of daily fruits and vegetables, and lack of exercise will cause people to develop diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol.

Lifestyle health is directed at causing people to choose healthy behaviors.

So taking statins when you're healthy to prevent high cholesterol and associated cardiovascular and inflammatory disorders is highly questionable. Giving medicines - whose long-term effects are largely unknown - to children makes even less sense.

Am I going to choose risky behaviors for myself and recommend risky behaviors for my children, causing us to possibly need medications down the road, or am I going to choose and recommend healthy lifestyles and take responsibility for my health and well-being and that of my children?

Statins like Crestor and Lipitor have certainly helped millions of adults with serious health problems. Still, taking these medications is like slamming the barn door after the horse has run away.

Let's see. If I'm healthy now, will I choose to maintain my good health by regular exercise, a consistent healthy food plan, and sufficient rest? The choice seems clear.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and his practice Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit his website at:
www.handsofgoldchiropractic.com
or like us on facebook at:
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Whats Wrong With My Back?

Not all back problems are created equal. One person may have been working on a home improvement project and injured her back while simultaneously bending and twisting. Another person may have developed back pain as a result of a vehicular collision. Another person may be experiencing back pain as a result of osteoporosis. Yet another person may have a serious illness which causes back pain as a related problem.

Back pain is a problem common to many types of injuries and illnesses. How can you tell the difference - in other words, how can you tell when back pain requires you to take action, such as seeing your chiropractor? A reasonable approach is to use a 48-hour guideline. Your body usually has a powerful ability to heal itself. If your back pain hasn't gone away on its own within 48 hours, then seeking professional assistance is a very good plan.

However, some situations require immediate attention. For example, if you've had an accident, seeing your chiropractor right away is probably the right thing to do. In another scenario, if you begin to experience severe pain without an obvious cause, then seeing your chiropractor right away makes a great deal of sense. Like many things in life, having physical pain requires us to use good judgment. The 48-hour rule-of-thumb applies to most situations, but if you've had an accident or are having an unusual problem, see your chiropractor as soon as possible, today if necessary.

When a person has back pain, it's very important to make sure there are no related problems. Most of the time there aren't, but no one wants to be the exception and it's always better to be safe than sorry. Making your own diagnosis is never a good idea. "Oh, that's been bothering me for months," some people will say. "It's just back pain." Of course, such an approach to one's health violates the 48-hour rule. If the problem really wasn't anything much, it would have gone away within a few days. Something else is going on, and usually the longer a physical problem is left untreated the more difficult it is to deal with. The old expression, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is as true today as it was 100 years ago.

Your chiropractor is an expert in back pain. They know that physical pain happens for a reason. Their job is to discover that reason, using the tools of history taking, physical examination, biomechanical analysis, and special tests, if necessary, such as x-rays and other imaging methods. Most of the time, the underlying problem is mechanical in nature, involving the spinal joints and associated soft tissues, including the ligaments, muscles, and tendons. Such mechanical problems cause the vast majority of cases of back pain, and are directly addressed by chiropractic care.3 In unusual circumstances, your chiropractor will refer you to another specialist. The important approach in all situations is to seek appropriate care. Your chiropractor's office is the right place to start.

For more information on Dr. Peloquin and The Hands of Gold Chiropractic, please visit his website at:
http://www.handsofgoldchiropractic.com/ or like our facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/HANDS-OF-GOLD-CHIROPRACTIC/306436553439

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

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.