Author: hyftechnologies

Looking your best might not always be the best thing for you. Today’s society is extremely fashion and style conscious. Unfortunately, clothing designers and stylists aim to please by creating unique looks that might not always be practical or even comfortable.

The look of the season shows runway models in high platform heels and tight skirts or pants. Models have perfected the runway “walk,” but the popular looks and accessories are frequently impractical and could create leg, back, and spine or neck problems. “Sometimes I see a woman walking down the street with high heels and a two-ton bag, and I want to stop her and make her aware of what she is doing to her body,” said ACA national spokesperson, Dr. Jerome McAndrews.

Women generally wear high heels to complement an outfit, not for comfort, but some might not realize that these shoes can cause serious discomfort in the feet and can also exacerbate back pain. High heels alter the balanced position of a person’s body. When a woman wears high heels, a new dynamic equilibrium occurs. Dr. McAndrews compared the musculoskeletal system to a mobile, hanging in dynamic equilibrium, each part balancing the other. If one part becomes ‘fixed,’ the whole system will compensate with a movement or restriction. Essentially, wearing high heels for any length of time increases the normal forward curve of the back and causes the pelvis to tip forward. This alters the normal configuration of the pelvis and spine necessary for the body to maintain a center of gravity.

“The legs are the foundation of the musculoskeletal system, and a person standing flat-footed or bare-footed would be completely balanced,” said Dr. McAndrews. “While standing, the hamstrings are taut and both parts of the pelvis are stabilized so that the support is normal. By bringing the heel up, you encourage the shortness of the hamstring muscles.”

Women and men alike fall into the fashion trap. However, women, more than men, tend to wear clothes that are too tight. Stylish tight tube skirts and tight pants can be attractive, but are often too restrictive. Clothes that are too tight throw a person off-balance, and simple everyday tasks such as bending, sitting and walking become difficult. “Tight clothes restrict a person from moving comfortably, resulting in poor posture and misalignment of the spine,” said Dr. McAndrews.

Another unhealthy fashion statement is the use of heavy purses, backpacks and handbags. Women and men tend to carry too many items in one bag, or briefcase, and are often not aware of the potential health risks associated with toting an excessive amount of “stuff.” Carrying a bag with detectable weight-more than 10 percent of your body weight-can cause improper balance. When hiked over one shoulder, it interferes with the natural movement of the upper and lower body. “The person carrying the bag will hike one shoulder to subconsciously guard against the weight, holding the other shoulder immobile,” said Dr. McAndrews. “This results in the unnatural counterbalance movement of one shoulder and little control over the movements of the arms and legs. Even worse, the spine curves toward the shoulder.”

More and more people carry their credit cards, ATM cards and personal identification in the back pocket of their pants. This might be a convenient way of carrying the necessary items with you each day, but carrying your wallet in the back pocket of your pants can cause discomfort. Dr. McAndrews suggested men and women remove their wallets or other items before sitting for long periods of time. “Sitting on your wallet or card holder for the entire day will create a pocket in the muscle lying underneath the wallet, and whether your pants are tight or loose-fitting, this can result in discomfort or pain.”

In today’s society, it might be important to you to look fashionable, but it is more important to choose clothes, shoes and bags that are comfortable and that suit your style. By following and remembering these simple steps, it is possible to look and feel your best.

• Choose comfortable shoes. If you must wear high heels, bring a pair of flat shoes along with you to change into should you become uncomfortable. If you walk to work, wear flat shoes and change into your more fashionable shoes when you arrive to alleviate any pain or discomfort.
• If the shoe is uncomfortable while standing, chances are it will not be any more comfortable while walking. The wrong shoe can affect the body’s center of gravity.
• Choose supportive shoes. Designer spikes or non-supportive loafers may look nice but do not allow for easy, symmetrical walking.
• While sitting, whether or not you are wearing heels, it is important to take frequent stretch breaks to alleviate atrophy of the hamstring muscles.
• Avoid excessive wear of tight pants or clothing. If you prefer tighter clothes, choose styles that allow you to perform daily tasks with ease.
• Select a briefcase or purse with a wide adjustable strap. Ideally, the strap should be long enough to place over the head. This evenly distributes the bulk of the weight across the body.
• When carrying a bag, or briefcase, switch sides frequently to avoid placing the burden of the weight on one side of your body.
• Take the time to empty unnecessary items from your bag.
• Place all necessary items-such as wallets and cellular phones-in the front pockets of the bag. Stretching around to reach for your wallet can result in a pulled neck or back.
• If you are driving or sitting for long periods of time, remove your wallet or card holder from the back pocket of your pants.
• Think about your daily tasks. If your clothes affect your movements, consider outfits that fit your lifestyle.

Designers and stylists tend to be more concerned about the way something looks rather than the way it feels. Listen to your body. One of the most important aspects of being in style and looking your best is to maintain healthy judgement. By following simple suggestions, being fashionable can be comfortable.

Climbing a hill is a useful metaphor for activities involved in accomplishing a major goal, overcoming longstanding obstacles, or achieving a noteworthy milestone. But you must be prepared to engage in such a climb. Striking out without a metaphorical map, compass, bottle of water, or raingear will consistently result in limited success or actual failure. From a health and fitness perspective, climbing a hill may represent a real, concrete process. When you’re out on your daily walk or run, unless you live and train entirely at sea level you’re going to encounter changes in elevation. If you live in mountainous regions such as Southern California or along the Appalachian Trail, such variations in terrain require greater levels of aerobic capacity. Unless you want to spend your exercise time huffing and puffing, climbing a hill in the literal sense necessitates a high level of cardiovascular fitness.

Cardiovascular fitness may also be termed cardiorespiratory fitness.¹ Such fitness refers to heart and lung capacity. With increased cardiorespiratory fitness, your heart’s stroke volume increases. In other words, your heart pumps more blood with each beat than it did prior to attaining such fitness. More blood pumped per beat means your heart works less to achieve the same result. Your heart becomes more efficient, your blood pressure goes down, and your cells and tissues receive more nutrition more quickly.^2,3 Similarly, with increased cardiorespiratory fitness your lungs take in more air with each breath. Such increased lung capacity means more oxygen is available to cells and tissues more quickly. Your entire cardiorespiratory system becomes more efficient. You’re expending less metabolic energy and obtaining greater metabolic returns. Cardiorespiratory fitness substantially improves your overall health.

Attaining the goal of cardiovascular (cardiorespiratory) fitness involves the same type of thoroughness as that involved in achieving family and business-related goals. You plan your work and then work your plan. Interval training is a proven method of enhancing cardiovascular fitness, a method that is both mentally and physically challenging. Accomplishing your interval training goals also provides a great deal of fun and personal satisfaction.

Interval training involves alternating intense and slow periods of activity. Let’s say you run three days a week, you average approximately 12 minutes per mile, and you run 3 miles per day. Now you’ll substitute one interval training day per week for one of your regular running days. On your interval training day, you’ll begin by lightly jogging 1 mile. Then you’ll run 1/4 mile at 2:45, that is, slightly faster than your regular 3-minute per 1/4 mile pace. You’ll continue with 1/4 mile at a very light recovery pace. Next, you’ll repeat the sequence of fast (2:45) 1/4 mile followed by the slow recovery 1/4 mile. Repeat the sequence once more, add 1/2 mile of lightly jogging cool-down, and you’ve run your daily 3-mile quotient. Going forward, you may infinitely vary your interval training sequences, running 1/2 mile, 3/4 mile, and 1 mile interval distances at slightly faster than your race pace. You’ll get faster gradually as your cardiovascular fitness and aerobic capacity increase. Within 6 months of engaging in consistent interval training, climbing hills may seem no more difficult than running on flat ground. Not only will you have become much more fit, you will have made tremendous gains in overall health and well being.

¹Lavie CJ, et al: Exercise and the Cardiovascular System: Clinical Science and Cardiovascular Outcomes. Circ Res 117(2):207-219, 2015

²Myers J, et al: Physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness as major markers of cardiovascular risk: their independent and interwoven importance to health status. Prog Cardiovasc Dis 57(4):306-314, 2015

³Nayor M, Vasan RS: Preventing heart failure: the role of physical activity. Curr Opin Cardiol 2015 Jul 3. [Epub ahead of print]

It seems as if every few months there’s a new diet whose rules and requirements we must follow if we’re going to reach the goal of good health. The “paleo” diet provides a great example of this phenomenon. We’re exhorted by paleo proponents to eat lots of fats and animal protein. Carbohydrate consumption should be fairly light. Grass-fed beef is prized by paleo-dieters. You may consume unlimited amounts of butter, and must eliminate all cereals, legumes, and dairy products (except butter of course) from your diet. Now unless you’re a paleo convert, these prescriptions may seem to fly in the face of everything you’ve ever known about healthy eating. Paleo supporters will respond with the claim that human biology developed over the course of hundreds of thousands of years and that agriculture is brand new, having arrived about 10,000 years ago. That’s worth thinking about, but we may remember that other diets backed by correspondingly compelling logic and dollops of science have come and gone over the course of many decades.

For instance, the Atkins diet is still going strong for more than 50 years. The main requirement of the Atkins diet is low carbohydrate consumption, and in this way the Atkins program resembles the paleo diet. High-protein consumption is the other pillar of the Atkins approach. The rationale was that such an eating plan would force your body to burn fat, rather than glucose, for energy. But the diet hasn’t withstood rigorous scientific scrutiny.^1,2

Vegan and vegetarian diets have also been popular for many decades.3 The vegetarian lifestyle has wide appeal and vegetarian recipes are famed for their simplicity and palate-pleasing qualities. However, vegetarian contrarians do exist. Some studies even suggest that vegetarian or vegan diets may be associated with anxiety, depression, and neurologic dysfunction.³

The bottom line is that good sense should prevail. Starting a diet because the program was touted in a magazine article or a talk-show interview may not be in every person’s best interest. Simply put, any diet may be harmful to a particular person. It’s important to remember that what works for one person may not work for another. Paleo, Atkins, and vegetarian diets may create great benefits for certain persons, but may cause real medical problems for other people. The best overall approach for most us is to eat regularly from a wide variety of food groups, make sure to eat five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day, and pay close attention to portion control and calorie intake. Those desiring more detailed information and recommendations will find their chiropractors and family physicians excellent sources of expert guidance.

¹ Noto H, et al: Low-carbohydrate diets and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. PLoS One 2013;8(1):e55030. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055030. Epub 2013 Jan 25

² Lagiou P, et al: Low carbohydrate-high protein diet and incidence of cardiovascular diseases in Swedish women: prospective cohort study. Br Med J 2012 Jun 26;344:e4026. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e4026

³Plotnikoff GA: Nutritional assessment in vegetarians and vegans: questions clinicians should ask. Minn Med 95(12):36-36, 2012

We think mostly of chiropractic treatment in terms of lower back pain, neck pain, and headaches. In fact, there are numerous additional wide-ranging benefits to chiropractic health care. Many of these benefits are related to getting more out of our exercise activities.

For example, aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular function.^1,2 As a result, during periods of rest the heart rate is slowed and the ability of the lungs to take in air (vital capacity) is increased. A slower heart rate means the heart is working more efficiently. Likewise, increased vital capacity means the lungs are working more efficiently. Fewer heart beats per minute and fewer breaths per minute result in reduced “wear and tear” on these critical systems. Aerobic exercise makes us healthier.

When we have stress, our muscles get tight. Sometimes this tightness is prolonged, and the normal mobility of our bones and joints is compromised. Reduced mobility of the spinal column creates a spiraling effect of tight muscles, tight ligaments, and further loss of mobility in the neck, middle back, and lower back. We experience pain in these areas as a result.³

These patterns may persist. We all know people who have frequent neck pain or lower back pain. These patterns of pain and limited mobility may result in changes to the normal curves of the spine. Normal curves may become flattened, and these changes result in further discomfort, muscular tension, and pain.

Importantly, loss of the normal spinal curvature in the neck and middle back may place additional stress on the heart and lungs. The actual physical space in which these organs function may become reduced. Maximum function may be compromised and efficiency is lost. Brisk walking used to be easy. Climbing stairs used to be no problem. Now these normal daily activities may leave you out-of-breath. You’re huffing-and-puffing and don’t know what’s happened.

You begin doing aerobic exercises to try to improve cardiovascular function. But the potential benefits are limited by these underlying muscle, ligament, and joint problems. You spend a lot of time exercising but don’t seem to be making any improvements.

Chiropractic health care may be able to restore more normal functioning. Chiropractic treatment restores mobility to spinal joints. The gentle treatment relieves stress on the spinal muscles and ligaments, which in turn improves spinal range of motion. Muscle tightness eases, pain and stiffness are reduced, and you become more flexible.

In addition, this improved flexibility allows your chest and rib cage to expand much more fully when you breathe. Your heart and lungs have more room to function, and you can now actually begin to receive the full benefits of your aerobic exercise.

Chiropractic care helps you get fit and stay fit!

¹Pivarnik JM, et al. Effects of maternal aerobic fitness on cardiovascular responses to exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 25(9):993-998, 1993.
²Jackson EM, Dishman RK. Hemodynamic responses to stress among blackk women: fitness and parental hypertension. Med Sci Sports Exerc 34)7):1097-1104, 2002
³Petrella RJ, et al. Can primary care doctors prescribe exercise to improve fitness? Am J Prev Med 24(4):316-322, 2003

Ever notice how strength training and aerobic exercise go together? Aerobic exercise accentuates strength training because you have more endurance. Strength training makes aerobic exercise better, more fun, because you have more power. Like marshmallows and campfires or vanilla ice cream and hot apple pie, each one enhances the experience of the other.

Awareness of these possibilities helps you get more out of the valuable time you spend exercising.

Strength training by itself doesn’t provide much of an aerobic benefit. Strength training by its very nature is an anaerobic activity. Some aerobic benefit can be gained by doing five- or six-exercise supersets. But that’s not the main point of lifting weights.

Aerobic exercise by itself doesn’t provide much of a strength benefit. Aerobic exercise by its very nature is a glucose-burning endurance activity. The main muscle that gets stronger is your heart, and that’s why you’re doing aerobic activities. You don’t really increase lean muscle mass by doing aerobic exercise.

But when you do both activities on a regular, weekly basis, magical things happen. You notice you’re getting stronger on your strength training days and getting faster and have more endurance on your aerobic training days because you’re doing both consistently.

From the viewpoint of exercise physiology, focusing on things like VO2 max and oxygen-consumption rates, the combination of strength training and aerobic exercise generates a positive feedback loop of training effects. Done correctly, strength training not only strengthens the prime movers involved in the specific exercise, but also the accessory and stabilizing muscles. These latter muscles come into play during aerobics, too, and provide a strong base to support the prime movers of aerobic activity – the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles.

Aerobic exercise itself trains accessory and stabilizing muscles only minimally. So strength training is needed to complete the biomechanical picture and allow you to get the most out of your aerobic training.

Similarly, aerobic exercise strengthens your cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Your cardiac stroke volume increases, meaning your heart is pumping more blood each time it contracts. Your lung capacity increases so you take in more air (and, therefore, more oxygen) with each breath. More air and more blood means more nutrients reaching hard-working muscles during your strength training sessions.

In effect, aerobic exercise and strength training complete each other. When you engage in both activities, consistently, week by week, you are maximizing your training benefits across the board.1,2,3 Together, these life-affirming activities help you paint a beautiful picture of vibrant health and well-being.

¹Field T: Exercise research on children and adolescents. Complement Ther Clin Pract 18(1):54-59, 2012

²Walsh NP, et al: Position statement. Part one: Immune function and exercise. Exerc Immunol Rev 17:6-63, 2011

³Sung J, et al: Prevalence of Coronary Atherosclerosis in Asymptomatic Middle-Age Men With High Aerobic Fitness. Am J Cardiol Dec 21 2011 (Epub ahead of print)

We’re all familiar with the mechanism of action-and-reaction in the world of sports. Pitcher-and-batter is an action-reaction duo in baseball. A basketball guard driving to the hoop and a defender leaping to block the shot is another example. A racecar driver negotiating a tight turn at speed is executing a complex series of actions and reactions.

Actions and reactions may also refer to choices we make in our daily lives. Someone cuts you off as you’re trying to get into the left-hand lane. That’s an action. Yelling and shaking your fist in the direction of that driver who by now is long gone is one sort of reaction. Taking a deep breath and simply releasing your tension is another sort of reaction. We may also take action on our own behalf or be reactive to events as they unfold. These are personal choices and, of course, there’s no “right” way to be. However, the outcomes and consequences of an active vs. a reactive approach may often be different. These differences are apparent when we consider our approaches to personal health.

For example, the numbers of people affected by chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer continue to increase. In the United States one out of every three persons has a chronic disease, and most of these people have more than one chronic disease. It’s also well-known that two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. The majority of these disorders are related to people being reactive when it comes to their health. For example, the majority of cancers are preventable.¹ Eating more food than your body needs for energy is a choice. Over time these extra calories accumulate in the body and one or more chronic diseases is the result. Finally, your doctor informs you that you have type 2 diabetes. You react to this news and declare you’re going to cut down on junk food, lose weight, and really get serious about exercise. You’re in reaction mode.

But there are consequences. Type 2 diabetes is associated with increased risk of developing cancer ² as well as cardiovascular disease. Once you have a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes it’s certainly important to be reactive, but an active lifestyle approach could easily have prevented long-term consequences. Likewise with cardiovascular disease. You’ve never felt you needed to watch your weight, but as the years have gone by you’ve gradually gained weight and now you’re concerned. Your doctor may inform you that both your blood pressure and your cholesterol levels are way too high and recommend several lifestyle changes that have been shown to be beneficial. Now you’re in reactive mode and you eagerly desire to make a change.

Again, there are consequences. High blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels are important risk factors for heart attack and stroke. ³ Engaging in healthful actions in the first place helps to reduce these risks.
Regular chiropractic care is an important component of a healthy lifestyle. Chiropractic care can be reactive, helping you to recover from an injury to your back or neck. Chiropractic care can be of even greater benefit from an active perspective. Chiropractic care helps to ensure that all of your body systems are working efficiently and working in harmony. Chiropractic helps you maximize the benefits from your lifestyle actions of a healthy diet, regular exercise, and sufficient rest.

¹ American Cancer Society: Cancer Prevention and Early Detection. Facts and Figures. Atlanta, GA, ACS, 2008
² Currie CJ, et al: The influence of glucose-lowering therapies on cancer risk in type 2 diabetes. Diabetologia 52(9):1766-1777, 2009
³Robinson JG, et al: Atherosclerosis profile and incidence of cardiovascular events. A population-based survey. BMC Cardiovasc Disord 9(1):46, 2009

The abs rule. As a result of this not-so-subtle imperative, a flat abdominal musculature is one of the primary goals of all exercise programs. Flat abdominals have great aesthetic appeal, not only to the “owner” of those abs, but also to the person’s spouse or partner.

Of course, a flat abdominal musculature is necessarily strong, and strong abs yield substantial health benefits. Strong abs provide biomechanical support for the weight-bearing activities of the lower back, pelvis, and hips. Strong abdominal muscles help distribute weight evenly across these bony structures, making weight-bearing more efficient and preventing injury to regional muscles, ligaments, and tendons.^1,2

The second key function of strong abdominals is to support the respiratory system. By providing a resilient shell or casing to house the abdominal viscera, that is, the stomach, liver, intestines, and other organs, strong abdominals create a robust environment in which the diaphragm can achieve full function. The result is maximum respiratory capacity and the capability of fulfilling all the oxygen and other metabolic demands of a healthy organism.

It’s useful to recognize that the washboard abs featured on the covers of fitness magazines and in advertisements for fashion and other personal accessories are merely the most superficial result of abdominal muscle fitness. The rippling effect is due to a highly trained rectus abdominis, the top layer of the abdominal muscle group. But the three other layers, the internal obliques, external obliques, and transversus abdominis, are even more important in terms of physiology and function. The takeaway here is that doing abdominal crunches or other variations of sit-ups is not enough to achieve all the health benefits of well-trained abdominals. A complete exercise routine is required in order to effectively involve the three deeper abdominal layers.

These complete routines are known as core exercises.³ The notion of a core references the center-creating function of the abdominal muscles. Many of the basic core exercises are identical to those done by fitness enthusiasts going back almost a century, such as squats, push-ups, and jumping jacks. Core exercises include the plank, hip bridge and lunges. One of the great benefits of doing core exercises is that no equipment is required other than an exercise mat. No gym membership is needed, as all of the core exercises can be done at home or at a local park.

Since the core abdominal muscles provide support for all weight-bearing activities and stabilize the entire biomechanical structure, persons whose core muscles are deconditioned are more susceptible to all types of musculoskeletal injuries, especially painful strains and sprains of the neck and lower back. Regular chiropractic care helps you get the most out of your abdominal muscle training program. By detecting and correcting nerve interference and spinal joint dysfunction, regular chiropractic care helps ensure optimal functioning of your spinal column and its associated muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

In this way, regular chiropractic care provides a flexible and resilient framework for a complete and thorough core strengthening workout. Core exercises are easy to do and provide noticeable benefits within a very short time. As with all physical fitness activities, the most important thing is to get started so you and your family can start enjoying long-term fitness and improved wellness.

1. Steele J, et al: A review of the specificity of exercises designed for conditioning the lumbar extensors. Br J Sports Med 49(5):291-297, 2015
2. Coulombe BJ, et al: Core Stability Exercise Versus General Exercise for Chronic Low Back Pain. J Athl Train 52(1):71-72, 2017
3. Wieland LS, et al: Yoga treatment for chronic non-specific low back pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017 Jan 12;1:CD010671. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD010671.pub2

Whether you’re going out for a walk or a run, to the gym to lift weights, or to the pool to swim a few laps, the self-affirmation involved in the concept of “going out” or “going to” something for the sake of exercise is quite substantial. For most of us, it takes an extra effort, an extra application of willpower, to get us out of our chair or off our sofa and get moving in the direction of physical activity. For those who are able to overcome our own inertia and actually get out there and exercise, the rewards can be great!

The message to get out there and exercise comes to us from many directions. Often it’s our spouse or partners, family doctor, or close personal friends who encourage us to exercise. Other times it’s the onslaught from newspaper, magazine, and blog articles that tell us we have to exercise. However, despite the badgering of family and friends and the constant prodding of media sources, it remains true that exercise is very good for us and we all actually know this.^1,2 The real missing piece for each of us is the recognition that exercise is in our self-interest and that we will proactively choose to take action on our own behalf. In other words, no one can convince us. We as individuals are the only ones who can make that difference.

How do you get to that place of choosing? First, by being willing to undertake a truthful self-assessment. If you find that you’d like to lose weight, have more energy, or have more restful sleep at night, then you might choose to begin a program of regular exercise. You do this, not as a result of someone telling you that you need to, but as a course of action that you have chosen. Then, being a reasonable person, after approximately six to eight weeks of participation in your new activities, you assess the results. If you like what’s going on, then you’ll probably choose to continue.

Regardless of the types of self-improvement activities and lifestyle enhancements you’re engaged in, regular chiropractic care will help support your long-term health and well-being. By providing holistic care that is directed toward your body’s overall functioning, regular chiropractic care helps you get the most out of the time and effort you’re spending in regular vigorous exercise, eating a nutritious diet, and obtaining sufficient rest.

Regular chiropractic care provides these benefits by correcting spinal misalignments and restoring optimal functioning to the nerve system. By detecting and correcting sources of nerve interference, regular chiropractic care helps make sure all your physiological systems are working together, establishing new levels of harmony, wellness, and well-being.

1. Anunciacao PG, et al: Blood pressure and autonomic responses following isolated and combined aerobic and resistance exercise in hypertensive older women. Clin Exp Hypertens 38(8):710-714, 2016
2. Loprinzi PD, Sng E: Mode-specific physical activity and leukocyte telomere length among U.S. adults: Implications of running on cellular aging. Prev Med 85:17-19, 2016

In his 1856 journal, the great American philosopher and naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I love the winter, with its imprisonment and its cold, for it compels the prisoner to try new fields and resources.” Thoreau, a fearless explorer of inner and outer landscapes, welcomed opportunities to learn and expand his capabilities. As he frequently observed, winter can be a great teacher.

But when we think about typical winter sports of ice skating or snow skiing, it seems that winter may be a harsh time to attempt to develop new skills. But, at least for these sports, winter is where the action is!

When we work on developing new skills in sports or activities, we’re counting on our nerve system to perform its critical functions of command and control. These functions are required for effective training of muscles, tendons, and joints, so that these musculoskeletal structures can advance in adaptability and performance.

In addition to improving our musculoskeletal system, we may improve our winter exercise performance by additional training for the proprioceptive system^1,2. Proprioception is your body’s awareness of its positioning in three-dimensional space. All joints contain numerous proprioceptors that relate information to and from the brain.

Your ability to balance effectively and make instantaneous biomechanical decisions depends on a well-trained proprioceptive system. Alternating standing on one leg for 15 seconds at a time is a basic proprioceptor-training exercise; balancing on one leg while skiing, skating or surfing is a more advanced and demanding use of the system.

As your body’s master system, your nerve system is responsible for coordinating all the physiological processes of all your body’s other systems. The interrelations among these complex activities must be addressed instantaneously and accurately. Regular chiropractic care helps ensure that your nerve system is free of nerve interference and operating at peak capacity. In this way, regular chiropractic care helps ensure optimal functioning of your musculoskeletal system. As a result, regular chiropractic care helps us advance in our exercise and sports activities, gain new skills, and enjoy long-term health and well-being.

Overall, winter exercise may provide a lot of enjoyment, with unexpected victories adding to one’s sense of personal fulfillment. With appropriate preparation, winter exercise may help pave the way for high levels of health and wellness throughout the year.

1. Chang S, et al: Effects of 24-week Tai Chi exercise on the knee and ankle proprioception of older women. Res Sports Med 24(1):84-93, 2016
2. El-Gohary TM, et al: Effect of proprioception cross training on repositioning accuracy and balance among healthy individuals. J Phys Ther Sci 28(11):3178-3182, 2016

The onset of winter does not signal the end of exercise and outdoors activities. There’s plenty of skiing and snowboarding available in the Northeast, the American Rockies, across Canada, and even in Southern California. For those who like their exercise with less dramatic velocity and acceleration, walking and running continue to be possible in winter. The key to successful exercise throughout the winter, beyond the will power required to just get out there and do it, is an extra level of care and attention to what’s going on around us and directly in front of us.

In the urban environment, the primary problem from late November through March is slippery sidewalks and roads. If you’re not cautious, you might step on a hidden patch of ice and end up on the ground. This is true even in Southern states such as Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, where winter snowstorms are not uncommon. If you’re exercising outdoors and have some momentum going, a slip and fall may have serious consequences including strains, sprains, and fractures.¹

The first step in preparing for these winter challenges is appropriate footgear. Old walking or running shoes that have lost most of their tread should be avoided.² Your footgear should fit comfortably and be able to accommodate thicker socks without being tight and constricting.

The next step is to create additional input and stimulation to your body’s proprioceptive system, which is made up of specialized nerve endings that give you awareness of your position in three-dimensional space. Enhanced function here leads to improved agility and balance.³ One way to augment this system is to put a bend in your knees when you expect to encounter slippery surfaces. The increased knee flexion provides for a greater range of musculoskeletal responses to sudden changes in the environment, in this case, the ground you’re walking or running on.

A third step is to raise your level of awareness. You might be firm and sure on your legs but others may not be so steady. Pedestrians or runners may slide into you, as may bicyclists and skateboarders. It’s especially important when crossing intersections to be aware of automobiles and trucks which may not brake as expected and represent substantial dangers.

Finally, be sure you are keeping up with your regular chiropractic care. By detecting and correcting spinal misalignments, regular chiropractic care helps make your nerve system much smarter. When your nerve system is working at optimal capacity, all your body’s systems are able to respond rapidly to changes in the environment. For example, with such peak function, if you start to slip or slide in wintry conditions your ankles, knees, hips, and low back all respond quickly to help prevent a fall. By assisting our bodies to become smarter, regular chiropractic care helps us enjoy a safe and fun-filled winter season.

1. Gianoudis J, et al: Effects of a targeted multimodal exercise program incorporating high-speed power training on falls and fracture risk factors in older adults: a community-based randomized controlled trial. J Bone Miner Res 29(1):182-191, 2014

2. Hsu J, et al: Slip resistance of winter footwear on snow and ice measured using maximum achievable incline. Ergonomics 59(5):717-728, 2016

3. Halvarsson A, et al: “Better safe than sorry”: a qualitative content analysis of participant’s perspectives of fall-related concerns and balance in older women with osteoporosis after balance training. Disabil Rehabil 3:1-7, 2015