Find Your Strength - Maintain Your Function

A strong body is certainly aesthetically pleasing, but there is much more to that story. Having robust muscles and functional movement patterns protects the body against injury and keeps it balanced. This combined with constant movement is an optimal recipe for skeletal fluidity and even systemic health. We are not simply looking for brut strength though. We should be aiming for synergy of our muscles which allow functional and efficient movement to provide long-term skeletal health...and this all starts at our center.

The patterning of the stabilizer muscles in our pelvis and back dictate the quality of movement in the rest of the body. This group of muscles, are anatomically similar to a cylinder and biomechanically similar to a girdle. They function to maintain breathing patterns, continence and segmental stability of the spine. There should be relative automaticity of these muscles to perform all the necessary movement patterns that the human body may go through on a daily basis. The quality of their function can be diminished by lack of movement or injury. This alteration of input from the central nervous system occurs in response to pain or stress and results in compensation that forces the larger mover muscles to figure out a way to keep you upright as you go about your day. Ultimately, this means that the skeleton is either mildly or grossly mis-aligned which creates more work for the body to find balance with gravitational forces. The role of this cylinder is to pre-contract in a manner to prepare the larger muscles for quality movement. As the movement continues, these muscles "reflexively" stabilize the spine to maintain functional patterns. While it is ideal for the body to achieve this in the delivery of whole body movements, we may need to re-educate these muscles in a manner of isolation and then progress towards incorporating them into patterns.

The following exercises take us back to some of the developmental basics. They incorporate motor patterns that we learn as our body grows so we can function starting from the center on out.

*If you have a hip or spinal injury, consult a physician who understands your condition and can quide you on the safety of these and any other strength training exercises.

1. Supine breathing
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. As you take an inhaling breath, allow your torso to lift by expanding your ribs in the back of the body while simultaneously expanding your ribcage in the front. As you take an exhaling breath, maintain a controlled release of the ribs back to the bodies center while simultaneously drawing the low belly muscles inward towards the spine. This should feel similar to the sensation of zipping up a tight pair of pants.

3 - 5 minutes, 2 x's/day

2. Supine bridging
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Take an inhaling breath as above. As you exhale, lift your hips and draw in the low belly in to engage the deep stabilizers. Maintain a degree of drawing on as you lower.

12 -15 x's, 2 x'sday

3. Face-down to face-up upper body roll
Lie face-down with arms stretched overhead and on the floor (bring the arms out to a "T" if the shoulders shrug because of tightness). Curl the toes under and engage the core by drawing the navel to the spine. Keeping the core activated, gently roll open to the side starting from the crown of the head and end with a slight opening of the hips to the side. Move in a very segmental manner that looks like you are peeling your body off the ground and then come back to the face-down position in this reverse segmental manner.

12 - 15 x's, 2 x's/day

4. Quadraped rocking
Kneel on all fours. Inhale in preparation. As you exhale, activate your core by drawing your navel to your spine. Important: You should be able to do this without moving your spine. Check to see if your weight is evenly distributed side to side. Maintaining this neutral position, rock your hips back and then return to shoulders over the wrists and hips over the ankles.

12 -15 x's, 2 x's/day

The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011

Wouldn't it be a much nicer world if we did not have to check ingredient labels and then search the internet for hours to determine if there have been any studies linking the ingredient to cancer? Or better still, if there were no chemicals in our food, beauty products or other consumer goods that we were completely unaware of our exposure to? The fallout of years of chemical use and lack of responsibility in containing these has lead to a persistence of harmful toxins in our environment. However, we can certainly put a halt to this irresponsible use and go the route of using new chemicals only after we have determined their safety for humans and the global environment.

This is precisely the goal of introducing The Safe Checials Act of 2011. This new bill, introduced by Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey, made improved revisions from the act that was introduced in 2010. If voted in to law, it would require chemical makers to prove the safety of their chemicals before they were used in manufactering. This step would keep dangerous toxins out of our homes, water and the environment. The mounting evidence of the role of chemicals in initiating a number diseases including neurologic disorders and cancer, makes the demand for this kind of legislation unquestionable.

Please take the time to tell your senators how important this legislation is to you and your loved ones. Connect to the Breast Cancer Fund's campaign to send a note to your representatives in Washington.

Sitting...Is It the Bane of Our Health?

The human body was meant to move. It has evolved for millions of years to do just that. And the price we are paying for taking that away from it is almost immeasurable. According to James Levine, M. D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic, "As human beings, we evolved to stand upright. For thousands of generations, our environment demanded nearly constant physical activity." The issues we are facing as a result of sitting too much go beyond back pain, although that is one significant result of too little movement.

According to a poll by the Institute for Medicine and Public Health, the average American spends 56 hours a week on their rears. This includes time on the computer, watching television and sitting behind the wheel of a car. The effect on the spine is profound because the postural muscles are not turned on and forget how to create quality and efficient movement while your hip muscles become inflexible and pull you out of alignment. Beyond the effects on the skeleton, our bodies take a metabolic toll that results in decreased fat utilization as well as poor blood sugar regulation. As if this wasn't enough, researchers have also found that extended periods of sitting are associated with an increase in susceptibility to depression. While regular bouts of exercise are good for our bodies, it may not be enough to undue the detriments of a habit of prolonged sitting. A growing body of research is being presented that supports this need for an increase in the frequency of movement. Among them is a study conducted at the Cancer Prevention Research Centre at the University of Queensland in Australia. The study found that individuals who sat less had smaller waistlines, lower body mass indexes and healthier blood lipid profiles and blood sugar levels. This was independent of the moderate to vigorous exercise bouts performed by the participants.

The take home from all this research is that our bodies thrive on constant movement...not occasional movement. Our musculoskeletal system can maintain healthy patterns of motion if we are constantly performing the activities that coordinate how we move through our daily routine. Furthermore, it charges up the metabolic functions necessary to sustain healthy systemic functions when we are dynamic. The enclosed energy system of our bodies asks us to "use it or lose it". Don't give up your exercise bouts, just make it a habit of moving more throughout the day. Don't go longer than an hour at a time sitting. Stand up to read e-mails, stroll to your co-workers cubicle rather than sending an e-mail, walk to the local store and make the tv quieter during your day. Your lifespan may very well depend on it!

Teflon and Menopause

Teflon, also known by it's chemical name polytetrafluoroethylene, is used to make cooking pans slippery so food doesn't stick to the surface and makes cleaning easy. While it does achieve these goals, it may potentially cause problems in other areas...such as your health. Concerns over the safety of Teflon-coated pans has been in the news for decades which partly stemmed from the discovery that the pans, when heated to high temperatures have a toxic affect on pet birds. A valid question has been posed as to what effect this has on humans.

A recent study is presenting data that suggests it's role in triggering earlier than normal menopause. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that the higher the level of perfluorocarbons in the body created higher than normal odds of early menopause. Read the details on how they compiled the data to draw a link to this household chemical. Even though these PFC's are used in a number of consumer products, including stain resistant fabrics, carpets and electronic equipment, one of the pervasive avenues for exposure is your cookware. The best of all possible solutions is to avoid the use of non-stick cookware that uses PFC's in their manufactering. If you currently use these, be certain that they are not scratched and do not heat them to temperatures broaching 500 degrees. Keep the dial on the stove at medium heat or lower when using these pots and pans. This way of cooking also retains the quality of the food that you are taking the time out of your day to prepare, so why not make it healthier!