Ask ten healthcare professionals about the benefit of stretching and you’ll get at least twelve different opinions. Earlier this summer I attended the American College of Sports Medicine conference in San Francisco where I heard a couple of my colleagues, Ian Shrier, MD, PhD (McGill University) and Malachy McHugh, PhD (National Institute Sports Medicine and […]
I’m guessing that you don’t dedicate too much time to thinking about arm rests. But if you find yourself suffering aching, throbbing, or burning pain around your shoulders and/or neck while sitting, you should probably give them a lot more consideration. When you sit with your arms unsupported– whether dangling by your side or held […]
While core-specific exercises are among the most important ones you can do, they can feel like the exercise equivalent of a chore. I personally think of that part of my regimen as housekeeping–as in “just gotta take care of some housekeeping.” The way I see it, most people dread it, it has to be done on a routine […]
Sometimes Functional Health just comes down to strategy. For example, when you carry a heavy bag–groceries, briefcase, luggage–you can hold it with your hand, requiring the small joints of your fingers to support it. You can rest it on your forearm so that your elbow does the work. Or you could put it up on […]
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)–alternating between periods of higher and lower intensity exertion during a workout–yields significant health benefits over and above those obtained by exercising at a steady level. Studies comparing the two regimens have repeatedly demonstrated the superiority of HIIT with respect to key cardiovascular parameters, muscular uptake of oxygen, and even insulin sensitivity (diabetes […]
When it comes to being functionally healthy, balance is critical. I’m not talking about the kind that keeps you from falling down–though obviously that’s pretty important too. I’m referring to the balance between muscles that are designed to work in tandem–balance between those in the front of the body and those in back, between big, strong, showy […]
If you’ve ever taken a golf lesson, you’ve probably been told to rotate through your hips and shoulders. It’s great advice. It’s also not specific to golf. As I discussed in one of my earlier posts (Get Your Diagonal On), on the whole your body is meant to move largely by rotation. And the truth is, that […]
So…speaking of pre-programmed body movements (seriously, I actually was in this last post on Engrams), there is one engram worthy of its own blog post. More accurately, it’s a component of a larger engram–of most engrams really. That alone is a large part of why it is so important. What I’m referring to is the […]
Have a muscle that just won’t loosen up no matter how often you stretch it? After all, the way to loosen a tight muscle is to stretch it, right? Wellllll……not necessarily. Not all muscles that are tight need to be–or even should be–stretched. It all depends on why it’s tight in the first place. Contrary […]
Functional Health is about using your body’s design to your advantage, and stretching should be no exception. There’s nothing wrong with the tried and true method of holding a muscle in a stretched position for a sustained period of time (generally 30 seconds). But one way to get a more effective stretch is by doing […]