Lifestyle Matters

The fitness boom was launched in America in the early 1980s by a small group of celebrities, including Jane Fonda, who recognized the importance of exercise for long-term health and well-being.

Although their methods were flawed, their vision was important. Over the past 30 years the notion of fitness as a valuable end in itself has persisted in the public consciousness. But for the most part, people do not take action on their own behalf in this critical area.

In a typical scenario, a person will finally decide to begin a plan to shed the 30 or more pounds of excess weight he or she has been carrying around for too many years to count. In a whirlwind of activity, the person joins a gym, buys a pair of snazzy cross-trainers, stylish new workout shorts, and tank tops, and even purchases 10 grueling sessions with a personal trainer. After this initial burst of enthusiasm, the typical fitness-seeking person will lose interest in 30 days. Health clubs across the globe rake in their profits from new member initiation fees, knowing full well that most new gym members discontinue their efforts within four to six weeks.

But fitness matters. And from an even broader perspective, lifestyle matters. In 2007, heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular disease (including stroke and hypertension), and pulmonary disease accounted for more than 60% of the 2.4 million deaths in the United States.¹ It is now well-recognized that each of these diseases and conditions is specifically a lifestyle disease. With respect to cancer, less than 10% of cases are due to an inherited condition. The rest are a result of lifestyle choices such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption. overweight and obesity, and lack of exercise.²

With respect to your long-term health, one key action step is to engage in regular vigorous exercise. If you haven't exercised in many years, daily walks are a good way to begin your life-long exercise program. Start with a modest 10-minute walk and build up over six to eight weeks to a daily 30-minute walk. Once you're walking 30 minutes a day, gradually increase your daily pace. When you've achieved a quick 30-minute daily pace and can maintain your schedule comfortably, you may begin to alternate strength-training workouts with your walks.

Fitness is not only a critical lifestyle enhancer, it is also a state of mind. People who are fit want to stay fit. A person who becomes fit usually discovers that he has begun to choose healthy food rather than junk. Frosted doughnuts, candy bars, and twisted ropes of raspberry-flavored sugar lose their allure and appeal. Organic trail mix, organic apples, and protein smoothies become preferred snacks. Persons who take on a fitness lifestyle find themselves losing weight, naturally and easily. No stress-inducing diets. No drastic weight loss. The pounds just fall away because the person is exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet.³

Now-fit people never want to put that weight back on again. The healthy lifestyle becomes the preferred lifestyle.

Dr. Ed Jennings of Jennings Chiropractic Neurology Clinic in Sacramento is a wellness expert. He teaches their patients how to begin safe, effective exercise programs. Chiropractors teach their patients how to create healthy food plans that will enhance their well-being and the well-being of their families. Healthy lifestyles are a key element in the overall chiropractic approach to long-term wellness.

Dr. Jennings is highly trained in nutritional science and rehabilitative exercise. In addition to your chiropractic hands-on treatment, regular exercise and healthy nutrition will help you return to high levels of wellness and well-being.

http://www.dredjennings.com

¹Xu J, et al: Deaths. Final data for 2007. Natl Vital Stat Rep 58(19), May 20, 2010

²Kirkegaard H, et al: Association of adherence to lifestyle recommendations and risk of colorectal cancer: a prospective Danish cohort study. Brit Med J October 26, 2010 (Epub ahead of print)

³Brietzke SA: A personalized approach to metabolic aspects of obesity. Mt Sinai J Med 77(5):499-510, 2010

Principles of Posture

Long ago and far away, a fourth-grade teacher told a student to "stand up straight - you look like a pretzel". The unthinking adult only offered criticism. The child was left to try to unkink himself in the ways that probably caused more structural damage.

Most of us think good posture involves thrusting out the chest and pulling back the shoulders. Informing a person that he needs to improve his posture usually results in a sudden, robot-like increase in stature, the person stiffly incorporating most or all of these muscular stresses.

As a direct result of our weak relationship to sound concepts of what good posture actually is, most people have protruding stomachs, slumped shoulders, and necks that protrude far in front of their body's center. Aside from perpetually unattractive aesthetics, such chronically inefficient posture places ongoing strain on back and neck muscles. Poor posture interferes with normal functioning of your heart and lungs. Metabolic processes deteriorate owing to lack of normal oxygen supply. Poor posture not only leads to musculoskeletal problems like chronic back and neck pain, but also is implicated in gastrointestinal and endocrine diseases and many other disorders.

The welcome news is that achieving good posture is not that difficult. Work is required, of course, as well as consistent attention. But the work is not hard - it is merely new and different, for most of us. As we can guess, the key element in good posture is a straight spine. Importantly, straight doesn’t mean rigid.

The main consideration here is how to get your spine straight without tightening all your muscles and holding your breath.¹ The solution requires a little imagination. Picture in your mind a string dangling from the sky and attaching it to your sternum - your breastbone. You can name this image “hitching your sternum to a star”. You dangle from the string like a puppet.

Also, you imagine that the string is supporting all your weight. As a result, your chest lifts up easily and your spine straightens naturally and smoothly.

Another piece to the posture puzzle is to allow your shoulder girdles to rest on your rib cage. You don’t have to press your shoulders down to do this - just don’t hold them up. Most of us unconsciously tighten our neck and shoulder girdle muscles all day long. By starting to be conscious of what’s going on, we can start letting go of tight shoulder girdle muscles. The shoulders will then gently descend and come to rest on top of the rib cage, where they belong.

By paying attention to these basic postural corrections, over time we can develop a posture that is fluid and efficient. We will appear taller, comfortably reaching our full height with grace and ease. Tension and anxiety begin to reduce and we sleep more restfully at night. Good posture is good health.^2,3

^{Dr. Ed Jennings is a Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist in the Sacramento area, specializing in posture, balance disorders, vertigo and other common neurological problems.}

Chiropractic Care Helps Create Good Posture

Most of our daily activities work against good posture. We spend large portions of our days sitting in an uncomfortable chair, peering at a computer terminal. Muscles tighten and joints get stiff as we make our way through our daily tasks and responsibilities. Neck muscles, lower back muscles, thigh muscles (quadriceps and hamstrings), and calf muscles shorten, lose their mobility, and become stiff and sore. Aches and pains add their burdens to chronically poor posture. Over time we become even less of the person we were meant to be. Chiropractic care helps you reverse these downward spirals. Chiropractic care helps you restore good posture by relieving mechanical stresses and strains and by causing your musculoskeletal system to become more flexible and resilient. The result is improved range of motion, reduced pain, and an enhanced sense of well-being.

¹Movahed M, et al: Fatigue sensation, electromyographical and hemodynamic changes of low back muscles during repeated static contraction. Eur J Appl Physiol Sep 30, 2010 (Epub ahead of print)

²Edmondston SJ, et al: Postural neck pain: an investigation of habitual sitting posture, perception of 'good' posture and cervicothoracic kinaesthesia. Man Ther 12(4):363-371, 2007

³Prins Y, et al: A systematic review of posture and psychosocial factors as contributors to upper quadrant musculoskeletal pain in children and adolescents. Physiother Theory Pract 24(4):221-242, 2008