Optimal Spine and Back Health with PUSH as Rx Fitness & Athletic Training pushes the barriers of average gyms. We believe in committing to change your lifestyle. Blending Crossfit and Personal Training, we can tailor-make workouts that are very specific and individualized to everyone, no matter what shape they’re in.
PUSH as Rx also offers strength and conditioning programs, which improve the athletic ability of kids and teams of any sport at any age. PUSH Kids program uses a combination of skill practice, workouts, and games to build strength and condition children. Our classes include gymnastics, weight lifting, bodyweight movements, running, jump rope, and more.
We are here to support your physical transformation and are happy to steer you in the right direction. We offer nutritional coaching to help our members learn how to fuel their bodies properly. Count on us to design a program to keep you on track and to motivate you every step of the way.
Dr. Jimenez presents a glimpse of Crossfit as is spans across America.
ABOUT two decades ago in California, CrossFit was registered as a trademark by the founder Greg Glassman.
According to nerdfitness.com, CrossFit is a training philosophy that coaches people of all shapes and sizes to improve their physical wellbeing and cardiovascular fitness in a hard-core yet accepting and encouraging environment.
CrossFit workouts change to contain variety to keep its members on its toes. The routine consists of functional movements that aim to increase individual work capacity and is applicable to other sports activities.
More than 324,307 people participated from 175 countries last year. The open game has five workouts over five weeks, which is posted online for the participants to follow.
Every week for the five weeks of the open game, the workout of the day (WOD) is released on Youtube and the official CrossFit website.
CrossFit in Fiji
The Suva Boxing and Fitness gym introduced CrossFit in Fiji last year and entered the open games with only five members.
Napoleon Taumoepeau is the only qualified CrossFit coach in Fiji. He was named the fittest person in Fiji by CrossFit Forging Elite Fitness. CrossFit 679 is Fiji’s only CrossFit affiliate. This year there were 20 members in the CrossFit open game. March 26 was the last of the five workouts at the Suva Boxing and Fitness gym.
CrossFit 679
Determination was on the faces of the participants as they pushed to finish the final WOD of the open games at the Suva Boxing and Fitness gym.
The WOD includes a wide range of physical exercises such as thrusters, squats, pull-ups, sumo deadlift, high pulls and more. CrossFit 679 is a place that has no boundaries and it brings the best out of an individual.
The coach encourages the participants to work hard and never puts one down.
“It may seem intimidating but I have trained many people who have never done CrossFit. Nine out of 10 of them are intimidated but the truth is that CrossFit was designed for all levels of fitness. We, as coaches, are trained to teach someone with little or no knowledge about CrossFit and help them on their way through a new fitness journey,” said Taumoepeau, coach for CrossFit 679.
After every three months, the CrossFit 679 affiliate takes in members who are interested on a journey of learning about CrossFit and the fundamental movements of CrossFit. An introduction seminar is the first step to welcome the participants of CrossFit 679.
To bring the very best during your training for the CrossFit games, proper diet and plenty of water is key.
“When and what you eat plays a big role in how your training will go. We help our CrossFit members to the best of our knowledge to maximise their workouts and it usually starts with diet,” the coach shared.
For the 679 CrossFitter, the CrossFit 679 is a great place to endure the pain and doing so with friendly and motivating people.
“You die but in the best way then cannot wait to die again,” Krystelle Lavaki, one of the participants shared.
CrossFitters diet
CrossFitters normally go on a Paleo diet or a zone diet.
According to Crossfit Impulse, the zone diet isn’t about eating “low-carb” or “high-protein” or anything like that. It’s a diet balanced in protein (lean, natural meats are preferred), carbs (mostly low glycemic-load fruits and vegetables) and fat (one of the most important macronutrients).
With the right balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats, you can control three major hormones generated by the human diet � insulin, glucagon and eicosanoids. The Paleo diet is the healthiest way you can eat because it is the only nutritional approach that works with your genetics to help you stay lean, strong and energetic.
Posted on April 14, 2017, 6 a.m. in Diabetes Exercise
Research shows that HIIT quickly improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes.
Research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports shows that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes.
The team, from the University of Turku in Finland, was led by Kari Kalliokoski, a senior research fellow.� Jarna Hannukainen served as project manager. In the study, researchers examined the effects of different types of exercise on the body�s ability to process glucose. Twenty-six participants in their 40s and 50s were selected for the two-week trial. One group already had healthy glucose metabolism. The second group included those with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.
In each group, half of the participants were assigned HIIT exercise routines. The other half were assigned moderate intensity exercises. Six training sessions were completed during the two-week period.
At the beginning and end of the study, blood tests were completed that tested participants� glucose and fatty acid uptake. These are measures of how well the body absorbs and processes sugar and fats in the blood stream.
Research Results
In the final data analysis, all participants showed improvement in insulin sensitivity and the ability to metabolize glucose. However, those who completed HIIT workouts displayed a greater improvement than the moderate intensity participants. Researchers point out that any exercise can effectively reduce blood sugar and insulin sensitivity, but HIIT routines produce results more quickly.
HIIT involves performing intense anaerobic activities for a short period, usually 30 seconds. These intense spurts of activity are followed by several minutes of less intense recovery exercises.
Effects on Treatment of Diabetic Conditions
Previous studies have proven a link between regular exercise and improved glucose levels and metabolism. Choosing between HIIT or more moderate activities is a matter of personal preference. It is most important that the workouts be done regularly.
The study�s results support the idea that exercise is a simple, economical, and effective way to treat and prevent diabetic conditions. It also increases patient safety for those with co-occurring conditions, like cardiovascular disease. Exercise reduces the need for medication, which translates into less chance of dangerous drug interactions. Exercise also alleviates some of the less serious physical effects of diabetes, like mental fog and pain in the joints or muscles.
Researchers caution patients to check with their primary physician before starting an exercise routine. The research shows, exercise can lower blood sugar quickly. A person who is taking prescribed medication may need to have their dosage adjusted.
Tanja J. Sj�ros, Marja A. Heiskanen, Kumail K. Motiani, Eliisa L�yttyniemi, Jari-Joonas Eskelinen, Kirsi A. Virtanen, Nina J. Savisto, Olof Solin, Jarna C. Hannukainen, Kari K. Kalliokoski. Increased insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in both leg and arm muscles after sprint interval and moderate intensity training in subjects with Type 2 Diabetes or Prediabetes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2017; DOI: 10.1111/sms.12875
�If genius really is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, then some of us must be a lot smarter than others. While sweat is a normal human function, a lucky few�seem to produce higher-than-normal amounts�especially in the hot summer months.�But before you hole yourself up in air conditioning all season, there are a few things you should know about sweat. Here�s the basics on what it is, why it happens (to certain folks�more than others), and what you can do if you�re concerned about it.
There are three types of sweat
All sweat is not created equal, says Laure Ritti�, PhD, research assistant professor in the department of dermatology at the University of Michigan. And everyone sweats differently: Some people may have problems with all three types of perspiration, while others may really only ever notice one or two.
First, there�s body sweat�the odorless type that pours off you during a workout or when you stand out in the hot sun. This type of sweat exists to help cool the skin and keep the body�s internal temperature as close to 98.6 degrees as possible. You�ll notice it pretty much everywhere, but especially along the forehead and the spine.
Then, there�s perspiration on the palms and soles of the feet. This type of sweat helps increase adherence and grip, says Ritti�, and, evolutionarily, it�s the body�s response to a perceived threat. (That�s why some people notice it when they�re feeling anxious.) �When you want to hold onto something, you�ll do better with wet fingers,� Ritti� explains. �In the beginning, we didn�t wear shoes, so sweaty feet helped us run or climb when we needed to.�
Finally, there�s sweat that�s emitted from the armpits and the genital area. This is the type that produces so-called body odor, thanks to bacteria living in these places. �We�re not completely sure what the function here is, but we think there�s some pheromone-type of communication going on,� Ritti� says. �If one individual in a herd senses danger and starts to emit those strong smells, it could alert others around them.�
The body begins producing body sweat when it starts to heat up�either externally, from high temperatures, or internally, from muscle exertion (like when exercising). So if you push yourself harder than your body is used to, your body is more likely to kick on its internal air conditioning; that�s why a highly trained athlete may be able to run a 10-minute mile without breaking a sweat, while the same workout may�leave�a less conditioned person red-faced and drenched.
But the more you train your body, and the more time you spend in hot, humid climates, the more efficient you become at sweating. �The body will adjust and react a little earlier before you get too hot,� says Ritti�, �so your sweating will be more spread out over time and across your whole body�rather than building up and releasing all at once, and leaving one big spot on your shirt.�
Yes, that may translate into more sweating overall�just look at any NBA basketball game and you�ll see that even highly-trained athletes sweat a ton�but it�s ultimately a good thing. It means the body is better able to respond to the demands of heat and exercise, and stays cooler as a result.
How much you sweat is largely determined before age 2
Whether you sweat buckets or stay fresh as a daisy on hot days also has a lot to do with genetics. �If one or both of your parents were heavy sweaters, then there is a good chance that you will be too,� says exercise physiologist Michael Bergeron, PhD, President of Youth Sports of the Americas. Men also tend to sweat more than women, he says, although that�s not always the case.
Body composition matters, too: Larger people generally sweat more, because they work harder to carry a heavier load. �But many comparatively small people can sweat tremendously,� says Bergeron. And because muscle generates heat, he adds, people with more muscle mass also tend to sweat more than their leaner peers.
But actually, a lot of how much a person sweats has to do with the first two years of life. That�s when sweat glands are first activated, says Ritti�; if they don�t get fully turned on during this period, they likely never will. In other words, a super-active toddler who runs around in the heat will likely develop greater sweating ability (again, a good thing) than one who�s not very active.
Heavy sweaters should hydrate more
�The more you sweat, the more deliberate you need to be about replacing the water your body�s lost,� says Bergeron. When exercising, most adults can comfortably and safely take in about 1.5 liters (a little more than 50 ounces) of water an hour. If you�re sweating more than that amount�you can weigh yourself before and after a workout to find out�you should make up for it by drinking extra water before and after you work out.
Sweat also contains important electrolytes, like sodium, that the body needs to function properly. Most people get enough salt in their diets that they don�t need to worry about this, but if you�re exercising for longer than an hour and really sweating a lot, an electrolyte-enriched sports drink can help replace what�s lost.
Ritti� also points out that acclimating your body to exercise or to heat�so that you ultimately sweat less�won�t work if you don�t drink enough water on a regular basis. �Staying hydrated before and during exercise will help train your body to fight the heat,� she says. Cold water is best, she adds, �because it helps to cool down your internal organs.�
Besides staying in shape, wearing sweat-wicking clothing, and spending two to three weeks acclimating to the heat, there�s not much people can do about heavy sweating during exercise. (Putting antiperspirant on your hairline or on other body parts may help curb localized perspiration�but, Ritti� warns, when you block sweat glands in one part of the body, others will compensate by working even harder.)
People with excessive day-to-day sweating, however�a condition known as hyperhydrosis�may have more options. If you�re already using an over-the-counter aluminum-based antiperspirant and it just isn�t cutting it, your doctor may recommend a prescription-strength solution with aluminum chloride. These work best when applied before bed, but can cause skin and eye irritation for some people.
Botox injections and certain types of medications have been shown to block the nerves that� trigger sweat production, and may be useful for people who sweat excessively under their arms or on their hands and feet. (If those don�t work, electrical stimulation or even surgery may be considered.) Friction also contributes to sweaty feet, says Ritti�, so changing up your shoes and socks�and being sure you aren�t sliding around in them�may help, as well.
If sweating is truly causing a problem in your daily life, talk to your primary doctor or dermatologist about potential solutions. Otherwise, grab your water bottle and get outside. Embrace your sweaty self, and try to be thankful your body is doing its job.
Do you have a muscle imbalance? Muscle imbalances occur when one side of opposing muscles is stronger than the other. Many exercise enthusiasts may be getting chronic injuries because of muscle imbalances they don�t know they have. According to renowned physical therapist Dr. Kareem Samhouri, locating and correcting muscle imbalances is essential to good health, and can help cure many of the ailments people encounter daily.
Dr. Kareem is a doctor of Physical Therapy & Kinesiology and owner of Dr. Kareem F Samhouri Fitness LLC. In his practice, Dr. Kareem has rehabilitated and trained a wide variety of patients seeking help for an assortment health issues:
Improved athletic performance in Olympic and professional athletes
Joint pain in baby boomers
Balance issues in older patients
Coma victims
Spinal cord injuries
Rare diseases
Heart issues
Lung disease
Pregnancy
Stroke victims
Health issues among children and infants
How To Fix Muscle Imbalance
Dr. Kareem has had many amazing success stories throughout his medical career. One of his favorite patients is a 112 year old women who was wheelchair bound:
�She had very little strength or coordination, but had a great spirit and was willing to work hard. The mission was to reactivate her muscles and nervous system, so we started with simple exercises such as simply lifting one foot and putting it back down.
�Once she was able to do that, we focused on squeezing her knees together and moving them apart. In the beginning she needed assistance, but over time, she was lifting her knees, rotating her shoulders and pulling herself out of her chair with little assistance.
�When she was finally able to lift herself out of the chair without help, she asked me �is there any way I can dance?� The music was turned up and after a little help, she was able to dance for the first time in years!�
Another highlight of Dr. Kareem�s career was helping save the life of a four-day old baby who was born 18 weeks prematurely. This baby was the youngest baby ever born at that hospital and doctors didn�t think this baby was going to survive.
What Dr. Kareem did was to put the baby in different positions:
�Instead of it cringing into fetal position because of all the noises, and sirens, and bells, and whistles going off in the hospital, we opened him up and let his chest breathe a little bit. We moved the baby�s arms in diagonal patterns so he could actually get more breath. We also put a little pressure on the diaphragm so the baby could take deeper breaths, then took the pressure off as the belly would expand and contract.
�All of these factors led towards the baby really just developing a little bit more easily and a little bit faster. Of course, in an infant that�s that young, you really just have to be as gentle as can be. Oftentimes, instead of a hand, it�s just barely a fingertip touch that you�re going to do. When it came to actually moving the baby�s muscles, light, little taps in the areas where the nerve ties into the muscle to say, �Hey, right here.�
�Sure enough, baby got better, grew up totally healthy, and ended up living a healthy life.�
When Dr. Kareem consults with his clients, he shares his philosophy on health: �Your body is designed to heal or decay. From now on, decide on your own health momentum. Regain control while you begin to look and feel years younger.�
Dr. Kareem started on his health journey by simply wanting to help his mother with her health issues, but soon discovered he had health issues of his own. After close scrutiny, he was able to determine that his ailments were due to a muscle imbalance, and they were all alleviated by simply straightening out his posture. He eventually graduated from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and became a physical therapist. Shortly thereafter, he added personal training to his resume, opening the world�s first clinic where these practices were taught all under one roof. Dr. Kareem believes the body is meant to move, and the key to good health is getting it to move correctly.
This is the basis of muscle balance therapy, and it is designed to assist the body with the following health issues:
Alleviating pain
Faster healing
Improved mood
Improved posture
Increased athleticism
Greater quality of life
� Causes of Common Muscle Imbalance
There are many causes of muscle imbalance, following are the most common:
Improper Exercise When it comes to traditional exercise, many of us tend to exercise in a one or two-dimensional way, which is primarily comprised of movements that are either forwards and/or backwards. For example, the bench press and running are two exercises that are extremely popular, but they can cause muscle imbalances if other complementary exercises are not included in the workout regimen.
In many cases, muscle imbalances mean that the larger muscles are becoming stronger at a faster rate than the smaller muscles. According to Dr. Kareem, the issues caused by muscle imbalance affects more than the disturbed area and may cause a domino effect. For example, if a person has a rotator cuff imbalance, the nerve signal that shuts down the muscle is turned on. When a muscle gets shut down, not only does it stop a person from being able to move the way they want, but it slows down their metabolism as well. This can make a person less effective at many other things, which could eventually affect their mood.
Even as adults, we are meant to play. Our bodies are designed to move in every possible direction. That�s how you would naturally hit all the different muscles. Unfortunately, many of us don�t play. We go to a gym and try to simulate the movements, yet we�re missing different diagonals, rotations, and areas that would be balanced by real life dynamic movement. Repetitive workout routines can create muscle imbalances that wreck our bodies over time.
Moreover, imbalances can lead to injury. For some exercise enthusiasts who are getting chronic injuries, it may be from an underlying muscle imbalance. A person can be big and strong in certain areas, but his smaller stabilizer muscles are not being used. As a result, the body is thrown out of balance, oftentimes creating a functional problem.
Muscle imbalances can affect people of all ages. Kids can experience overuse injuries very quickly, making them less capable of excelling in a sport. In adults of all fitness levels, muscle imbalances can have a negative impact on performance; they�ll be slower, less coordinated, and unable to learn new movements quickly. In older individuals, muscle imbalances can result in decreased coordination, decreased strength and joint pain. Many times, the pain seems to have come out of nowhere or flares up suddenly, but in reality, it was based on a long history of improper movement.
Sedentary Lifestyle
The human body was made to move, not sit at a desk or in front of the television for an extended period of time. Excess sitting can cause muscles to become tight and eventually shorter than they are designed to be. The dangers associated with the sedentary lifestyle are well documented. According to data from the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)1
Sedentary people have the highest rate of heart attacks.
For every 2 hours a person watches television, their risk of Type 2 diabetes�increases 14%
Sedentary individuals have an increased risk of breast and colon cancer.
The risk of stroke is reduced by two-thirds in physically active men and women by 50%.
Bone loss�increases in physically inactive individuals.
Walking for sixty minutes daily can reduce a person�s risk of obesity by 24%.
A Weak Core
A strong core helps keeps the muscles and internal organs properly aligned. A weak core can cause slouching, which can lead to poor posture, which could lead to muscle imbalances. These imbalances in the core can lead to health issues such as constipation, acid reflux, and other issues.
Common Muscle Imbalance Areas
Muscle imbalances can happen throughout the body. Some of the most common imbalances include the following:
Neck flexors.�A person�s neck flexors actually end up quite stretched, while their neck extensors become compressed. This often occurs if a person is right handed and they�re always writing with their right hand, typing in a specific way, reaching for a mouse or a stapler, or just rotating their spine in a very specific pattern and shoulder in the same manner over and over again.
Tight hip flexors. Tight hip flexors are caused by sitting for extended periods of time. The human body was not designed to sit as long and as often as we do, and the result is the hip flexors become shortened. This in turn causes the pelvis to rotate or tilt downward, causing the glutes to become lengthened and weak. This will put more pressure on the hamstrings, increasing the risk of hamstring tears, strains and pulls.
Weak upper back. Another common problem is forward shoulder posture, or �upper crossed syndrome.� This is common among individuals who spend long hours in front of a computer. The head goes forward, and as people make that adjustment, chin comes up, which causes an additional strain. Another cause of the upper back imbalance is performing �pushing� exercises such as pushups and bench presses, but not doing any �pulling� exercises for the back such as bent over rows or pulldowns.
As a result of these imbalances, the trapezius and rhomboid muscles become lengthened and weak, while the pectoral muscles and anterior deltoids become tight.
Tight calves. Women who wear high heels increase their probability of having tight calves. The soleus, gastrocnemius, peroneal, and other muscles in the lower leg become tight. This muscle imbalance can lead to different foot, heel, and ankle problems such as plantar fasciitis and fallen arches.
Tight Piriformis. The piriformis is muscle in the glutes which is also part of the external rotator in the hip. A tight piriformis occurs more often in men than women because men tend to sit with their legs open more often than women. Individuals with a tight piriformis often have knee problems, while others may experience problems with sciatica, which is shooting pain from the glutes to the back of the legs.
Tight abductors. Tight abductors usually occur in women because they tend to sit with their legs crossed. If a person has tight abductors, the femur may become internally rotated, which increases the probability of knee pain.
Muscle imbalance can occur in many different ways. Not only is It important to be aware of their causes, but it�s also important to know the various ways they can harm the body.
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Dangers of Muscle Imbalance
Many people are unaware how muscle imbalances can affect their overall health. Oftentimes, I would explain to my clients how �structure affects function.� I would show them an x-ray so they can see how an imbalance could erode their discs early and cause injury. However, it was a challenge for me to get them to understand how that affects their immune system.
Dr. Kareem explains the dangers of muscle imbalance by looking at the problem from both an Eastern medicine philosophy and Western medicine philosophy. He feels both viewpoints are valid, even though they are based on different rationales.
For example, in Western medicine, it�s understood that if we don�t take care of our bodies and keep them in proper alignment, they will begin to deteriorate and become weak very quickly. Pain signals will take over instead of muscle signals and contractions. We�ll begin to lose coordination, which ultimately, means we�ll lose our mobility and become less active. We�ll be less motivated to eat right and begin to feel helpless and assume the fetal position.
When we�re stressed, we curl up in the fetal position, and that�s a position of self-defeat. This position is a sign of anxiety, depression, and tension throughout the entire body. As we begin to look at illness from this perspective, we start to branch over to the Eastern medicine philosophy: how does this affect quality of life?
As we delve deeper into the Eastern medicine philosophy, we must consider the importance of the central nervous system and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and how it relates to muscle balancing: If you have a block in CSF flow, and it gets disrupted (through your brain, through your spinal cord, and back up,) it will change the way your entire body communicates.
Dr. Kareem elaborates further: �If there�s something more critical going on in your body right now, like for example, your nervous system�s compromised because CSF flow is blocked, then it doesn�t care if you want to lose weight. It doesn�t care if you have a cut or a laceration on your skin. It�s not going to heal it as well. It certainly doesn�t care if you have wrinkles that you want to get rid of or if your energy level isn�t what you want it to be. You got to fix the root cause, the number one priority in your body, and a domino effect takes place.
�That, perhaps, linked with oral health are two of the most important foundational things you can do to improve your health, period. If you�re not taking good care of your mouth, and you�re not taking good care of the messaging system for your entire body, those are primitive areas of your body that change everything else. The body�s organized in a way where it�s going to work from the highest priority backwards.�
When it comes to health, many people are focused on the wrong things. People are concerned more about the wrinkles� and the weight loss so energy and focus goes there. They don�t realize that root canals, cavitation, and amalgam fillings�in their mouths are making them toxic. It�s important for people to understand these things can cause inflammation, accelerated aging, and other issues. Toxins do this by getting into the cells the nervous system, and ultimately the anterior head. They�re not aware how their spinal cord is stretched and interfering with their nervous system. Instead of focusing on issues like the skin and weight loss, it�s more important to look upstream�and get to the root cause of our health issues.
Dr. Kareem believes that it is important to work on the number one system first, which is the endocrine system. When the endocrine system is under stress, hormones are more important than going on a particular diet. For example, if your pelvis is out of position and it�s properly realigned, you might uncover a six-pack you didn�t know you had:
�This is one of my biggest lessons and one of my earliest personal training finds. This was an introduction for me to muscle balancing. You see, there was this girl named Lindsey, and she worked as hard as anybody could work. She wasn�t anorexic, but she was borderline at that point where she was just doing everything she possibly could in the gym. She was eating correctly, so she wasn�t really skimming off food, but she just couldn�t get that final six-pack. She just wanted a little bit of definition. She always had the four at the top of the abs, but nothing at the bottom.
�Finally, I ended up doing a postural assessment on her. I took a peek. You know what? We just needed to tip her pelvis backwards a little bit. When we tipped her pelvis backwards a little bit, lo and behold, all those folds went away. Her love handles weren�t actually there. There was no extra body fat on her body preventing her from having the body she wanted. She just needed to be in a slightly different position.
�Now, the coolest thing is not only did she end up getting the body that she wanted, but she starting moving so quickly, all her results accelerated. It was months of work to get to this point, where then all of a sudden, in the next 30 days, she hit every single one of her goals. Truth was, it only took two weeks to tip her pelvis back into position and a few simple exercises that anybody can do at home with just their body weight alone.�
Do You Have Muscle Imbalances?
Our subconscious mind knows when the body�s out of position. If we turned the lights off in the room, you know your arms are behind you. You don�t have to look over to see that. That�s because there�s these little mechanoreceptors in every muscle telling your brain, �We�re over here.�
Same with when the head is forward. The mechanoreceptors are firing, letting the brain knows it�s out of position. When something is out of position, it sucks the energy right out of the cell. This �energy drain� is disruptive to your central nervous system and, if uncorrected, your entire body over time.
The subconscious mind knows this, but the average person is unaware the imbalance is occurring. They don�t know their head is tilted forward or their hips are slightly misaligned. They look in the mirror and think they are ok. I remember when I did this type of work saying, �Look at your low shoulder,� and they would look at themselves and say, �What low shoulder?� The point is this imbalance is the norm, but it�s can be a huge performance zapper.
If a person has had muscle imbalance for a period of time, one or both of these things can happen:
Our bodies are going to balance themselves out. If your head is tilted one way, you�ll subconsciously raise your shoulder a little bit to balance.
A person may opt to take medication to try relieve symptoms of discomfort. However, medication doesn�t get to the root cause of the issue, which is the muscle imbalance. In reality, a slight adjustment may be all that is needed.
Checking for Muscle Imbalances
You can check for muscle imbalances in the comfort of your own home:
Take a string and hang it from the ceiling, or have someone hold it for you. With the string, divide your body between right and left sides. Take a picture of yourself and compare your two sides.
1. When you look closely at the picture, look for the following signs of muscle imbalance:
Is one shoulder is up a little bit more than the other?
Is your side bent a little bit?
Is your head slightly tilted?
Is one hip raised little higher than the other?
Do you have a little bit more of a love handle on one side?
Is one hip is tighter than the other?
2. Take a second picture with the string dividing the body from front to back by taking it with the string at your side.
Is your head forward?
Is your chin tipped up?
Is one shoulder a little bit higher or rounder than the other one?
Is your pelvis tipped so that your lower back is arched a bit, and your belly is sticking out?
These imbalances can affect a person in many different ways. For example, if you�re a runner or athlete you may ask yourself �why can�t I get my hamstrings stronger?� or �why can�t I get faster?� This may be a case where you�re not getting the signal because your back�s arched, and you�re tipped out of position. Identifying the imbalances with a concrete image you can reference is an excellent place to begin looking for clues.
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Correcting Muscle Imbalances
Once the muscle imbalance is found, steps can be taken to correct it. While many people have the same types of muscle imbalances, Dr. Kareem stresses that it�s also important to focus on personalized health. This simply means to tailor muscle balancing techniques based on your symmetry.
�A lot of people say, �My right bicep is stronger than my left. Should I just lift heavier on my left and try and make up for it?� No. You actually want to back down. You want to cater to the more limited side of your body. Symmetry comes first. The fastest results come from slowing down to balance your body�s strength, and then everything accelerates from there. You want to back off from your weights on both arms to match the strength of your left, and then you would increase.�
�The same thing reflects ability and mobility in tissue release. If you can raise both arms up into the air, but one of your shoulders is hiking up a little bit, don�t go quite as far. Cater to the more limited side just before your shoulder hikes up, and come back. Work on your mobility just here, opening up your chest, increasing your ability to take a deep breath through your diaphragm. Then what happens is before you know it, even just a few reps in oftentimes, you�ll start to get a little bit further. If you just keep pushing past that point of resistance, sure, the left can keep going as far as it wants, but the right�s never going to get any better. That just results in more twisting through your body.�
Dr. Kareem has devised a short, five-minute program that uses a diagonal pattern that brings the body back into alignment naturally:
1. Free Squat
Stand hip width apart or slightly wider
Exhale and slowly lower, looking straight ahead
Inhale and rise back to starting position
Repeat for 50 seconds
Notes: Keep feet firmly planted. Arms can be crossed in front of body, fingertips at your ears, or held out (as shown.)
2. Superset pushup
Start with hands close together
Exhale and lower
Inhale and rise to starting position
Move hands out to shoulder width apart
Exhale and lower
Inhale and rise to starting position
Move arms out passed shoulder width apart
Exhale and lower
Inhale and rise to start position
This is one rep.
Repeat for 50 seconds
Notes: Pushups can be modified by doing them on your knees.
3. Fast Bridges
Lay on back with your feet planted onto the ground
Keep arms on your sides for stability
Raise hips toward the ceiling and lower quickly
Repeat for 50 seconds
Notes: Keep upper back planted on floor. Make sure to raise both hips evenly. Do not tilt the body.
4. Middle Trap (Bird Exercise)
Lower body into squat position
Feet shoulder width apart
Dig heels into floor
Tuck your chin
Extend arms out to sides
Lower arms to floor
Raise arms parallel to sides
Lower
Repeat for 50 seconds
Notes: Move shoulder, not the arms.
5. Rotational Plank
Start in pushup position
Keep core tight
Exhale and slowly roll body upwards on your left side
Inhale and slowly lower body back to pushup starting position
Repeat for 50 seconds
Notes: Keep core tight at all times. Body should be rolling back and forward in one fluid motion. Keep arms in plank positions at all times. Exercise can also be done on forearms.
For more information on these exercises, go to Dr. Kareem�s website.
This exercise program is designed to stimulate the front of body, the back of body, the lower body, and the upper body. This excites all of the nerves in the body and involves the smaller muscles. As a person performs these exercises, his body will quickly learn how to challenge the smaller muscles as well.
The body will begin to balance itself out by recruiting the big muscles to send the signal to the smaller ones. The idea here is to �train a nerve, not a muscle,� and that nerve starts in your head.
Dr. Kareem recommends performing these exercises every day or every other day. 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest before you transition to the next exercise. Everything is one minute, and it�s a total of five minutes every other day.
A popular misconception is we must do a certain amount of weight or reps for an exercise to be effective. Popular opinion is we are to do three sets of 10, three sets of 15, five sets, etc. In actuality, there is no solid evidence saying that that has to be the number instead of three reps or instead of six. The reality is your body just wants the cue in the right direction and let it take over. Instead of overanalyzing, we should just let nature take its course. We can self-optimize and trigger our small cues to say, �hey, body, I want to do this now.� When we send that signal for the first time, the body will understand, and it�ll start to superimpose it onto our lives and our body.
The Power of Visualization
An important part of this exercise is visualization. When a person thinks about a movement, the body begins to respond to that movement. Elite athletes use this method to prepare for a race or athletic event. They visualize the entire race before it happens.
It�s important to watch somebody else demonstrate properly first, then picture yourself doing the same move identically. This is the fastest way to learn a movement, and your body will begin to subconsciously learn how to perform the movement as well. Visualization techniques are very effective, and have shown to increase contractile strength by 30%.
On average, it takes about six weeks for a new exercise or activity to become second nature. A good example is getting out of a chair: the average person just gets up and walks without thinking about it, but in the beginning it may have taken effort. This is often the case with babies first learning to walk or people who are going through rehabilitation. They have to learn certain things all over again until they can do them without thinking about them.
Dealing with Chronic Injuries
When dealing with chronic injuries, Dr. Kareem suggests a person back off from their current activities or lower the intensity to ensure they�re not overtraining. It�s time to allow the body to learn something new, and that can be accomplished by performing the five muscle balance exercises described above. Here are a few tips from Dr. Kareem:
Weekend warrior.�If you�re not moving at all during the week, it may be helpful to decrease the intensity on the weekend warrior activities. If you�ve been playing two hours of basketball a day, cut it down to one just for a few weeks until you get the postural piece right.�
Elite athlete.�If you�re an elite athlete, maybe you�ll cut out a little bit of the time that you�re spending in the gym weight training. What you want to do is just use these five exercises initially, and then replace them over time. Use these five exercises. Do your workout, so you�re still playing basketball, or you�ll still play your sport. Within a few weeks, you�ll notice that your posture�s improved. Do that plumb line test, and you�ll see, �Where do I stand?�
Older individuals.�If you�re an older adult, avoiding falls is going to be the number one predictor of your longevity and quality of life. Take the same five minutes and use it as your five-minute mini circuit, or five-minute circuit in anything that you�re doing to enhance your health.�
�Once you know your body�s moving the way you envisioned, you can replace the five exercises with something different and something more powerful for you. It can be coordination training, speed training, balance reaction training, etc.�
In addition to athletics, doing muscle balancing exercises can help alleviate many other health conditions as well.
Additional Benefits of Muscle Balancing
Muscle balancing therapy has shown to help many conditions including the following:
Arthritis
Speed
Chronic pain
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Muscle balancing exercises are designed to improve health on a cellular level, giving attention to cells in the body that need them most.
Improved circulation. Muscle balancing helps the circulatory system become more efficient. This is important because red blood cells carry oxygen and the oxygen mitochondria needed to create energy production for every cell in the body.
Strengthened nervous system. Muscle balancing teaches the body to contract a muscle at the right time and in the right sequence by targeting our nerves instead of our muscles. The body then creates a �pump effect� that allows the deoxygenated blood stuck in your ankles and fingertips to find its way back to your heart efficiently and easily. This allows the heart to focus on getting rich, oxygenated blood back to the rest of your body.
Muscle Balancing with Massage
Dr. Kareem believes in myofascial release, which is a method of applying gentle pressure to eliminate pain and restore motion. When a person gets a massage and they experience a �good hurt,� that can indicate they either have a muscle imbalance or a knot in the muscle.
In addition to the five exercises, a tennis ball, foam roller, or massage are all effective ways to help remove knots and eliminate muscle imbalance. By using these methods, you�re taking something that functions almost like scar tissue, and giving it more slack. When you give your body more slack, you give it more forgiveness. Ultimately, that leads to a more effective, younger-feeling body.
Muscle imbalances can affect a person in many different ways. By eliminating imbalances, a person can see quality of life improve physically, mentally and spiritually. However, fixing muscle imbalance is one piece of the puzzle to realizing optimal health. I encourage you to address any imbalance, but to get real and lasting results a Multi-Therapeutic Approach must be implemented. My MTA involves diet change and variation, proper exercise, fasting, True Cellular Detox�, emotional detox, and more. Combining multiple proven health strategies is the most surefire way I know to fix cellular dysfunction and enjoy your best life.
Walk into any gym or health club and you�ll find people exercising�their core. Coretraining has�taken the world by storm, and for good reason, as every DC knows. Strengthening the�core creates stability and better movement and helps prevent lower back pain. To help patients get the most from�their efforts, it�s important they understand what they�re doing. You can explain the difference between the local and global muscles, as I�ve outlined�below, and help your patients�perform core work safely and effectively.
What Is the Core?
I like to tell patients that their core is a shorthand way of referring to all the muscles of their�lower back/pelvis/hip area. It�s where your center of gravity is located and where movement begins. A strong core stabilizes the spine and pelvis and supports you as you move. The core has 29 pairs of muscles that�fall into two categories:
��Local Muscles. Patients can think�of local muscles as the deeper muscles, the ones close to the�spine and responsible for stabilization.�They don�t have much ability to move the�joints. The local muscles are further broken down into primary and secondary categories. The primary local muscles are the transverse abdominus and multifidi (the two most critical muscles for providing stability). The secondary local muscles are the internal obliques, quadratus lumborum, diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles.
��Global Muscles.�The global muscles are the outermost layer of muscle�they�re the ones you can feel through your skin. They�re responsible for moving joints. The global muscles in the core are the rectus abdominus, external obliques, erector spinae, psoas major and iliocostalis.
The core should operate as an integrated functional unit, with the local and global muscles working together to allow easy, smooth, pain-free movement. When the muscles work together optimally, each component distributes, absorbs and transfers forces. The kinetic chain of motion functions efficiently when you do something dynamic, like exercise or run.
Core Injury
An injury to one of the core muscles usually means an episode of lower back pain for your patient. When that happens, the deep stabilizers change how they work as a way to compensate for the injury and protect the area. The stabilizers now have delayed action; they�re turned on only after you move, instead of as you move. Because now they�re not functioning as they should, the�brain recruits the�global muscles to compensate. That causes a core imbalance. The result: pain in the lower back, pelvis and glutes (the big muscles you sit on).
Exercises designed to help get patients� core muscles back in balance are the best way to prevent re-injury and avoid lower back pain. Traditional abdominal exercises are often recommended to strengthen the global muscles. These exercises can actually increase pressure on the lower spine. Similarly, traditional lower back hyperextension exercises meant to stretch out the lower spine also may actually increase pressure on it. A better approach to preventing lower back pain is restoring stability with the core exercises below.
Abdominal Brace
The abdominal brace activates all the contracting muscles in the abdominal wall, without involving the nearby obliques and rectus muscles. This exercise strengthens the connection between the global muscles and the deep local muscles. This helps restore the balance between them and improves spinal stiffness.
To get an idea of how the muscles in your core work, place your thumbs in the small of your back on either side of your spine. Next, do a hip hinge: bend forward from the hips about 15 degrees. You should feel the muscles in your lower back move as you bend and stand back up again.
To do the brace, stand upright and suck in your stomach, as if you were about to get punched. Hold hat for 10 seconds, then relax. Repeat 20 times; do three sets.
You�ll know you�re doing the brace correctly if you poke your extended fingertips right into your side below your ribs and then brace. You should feel the muscles move under your fingertips.
Curl-Ups
Curl-ups train the rectus abdominus, the long abdominal muscle that runs vertically from your breastbone all the way down on both sides of your bellybutton.
Start by lying on your back with your hands palm-up beneath your lower back. Bend one leg and put the foot flat on the floor; extend the other leg. Hold your head and neck stiffly locked onto your ribcage�imagine them as one unit. Lift your head and shoulders slightly off the floor by three or four inches and hold that position for 20 seconds. Your elbows should touch the floor while you do this. Relax and gently lie back again. Repeat 10 times. Switch legs and repeat 10 times gain. Do three sets.
Tip: If your patient has�neck discomfort doing this, have them push their�tongue against the roof of the�mouth�to help�stabilize the neck muscles.
Side Bridge
The side bridge, also called the side plank, trains the quadratus lumborum, lateral obliques, and transverse abdominus muscles, all local muscles that help stabilize the�spine.
Start by lying on your side. Place your top leg in front of your bottom leg (the heel of your top foot should touch the toe of the bottom foot). Raise your body using the down-side shoulder and elbow. Cap the opposite shoulder with your free hand. Hold for as long as you can, aiming for 30 seconds. Switch sides and repeat.
Bird Dog
This exercise is great for training the back extensors, including the longissimus, iliocostalis and multifidii.
Start on your hands and knees (quadruped position). Raise and extend the opposite arm and leg simultaneously, like a dog pointing to where the bird is. �Hold or eight seconds, then return to the quadruped position. Repeat eight times, then switch arms and legs and repeat for eight reps. Do three sets.
Conclusion
All the muscles of the�core must work together to produce efficient and effective movement. The core is the center of the�body�s motion�training it is a critical part of any exercise routine. Teaching your�patients proper technique for core training will result in�big benefits for them now and in the future.
Share this Core Strengthening guide with patients, courtesy of WebExercises
Walk into any gym or health club and you�ll find people exercising�their core. Core training has�taken the world by storm, and for good reason, as every DC knows. Strengthening the�core creates stability, better movement and helps prevent lower back pain.
Strength training and building strong muscles can help an individual lose weight. Exercising in general is a great way to burn calories and improve fitness levels but, muscle tissue can burn as many as 15 times more calories per day than fat tissue, including during rest.
Building strong muscles can also help protect an individual�s joints, especially the back.�when the muscles are stronger, the body places less pressure on the joints and connective tissue during physical activities, including exerting activities such as weight lifting. Building strong muscles to relieve strain on the joints is also essential for preventing and/or treating arthritis. Also, building stronger muscles can help improve an individual�s posture.
Strength training and building stronger muscles is also healthy for the heart. Muscle tissue is able to perform with less amounts of oxygen, in other words, the heart doesn�t need to pump harder when being active.�Additionally, building strong muscles can be good for managing blood pressure.
Strength training can greatly benefit individuals as they age, helping to prevent injury or certain conditions. As we age, the body undergoes natural physical changes, such as degeneration of the joints, causing the development of certain health conditions, such as a degeneration of the spine or arthritis.
Building strong muscles through strength training is essential towards maintaining overall health, fitness, and wellness.
By learning how to participate in strength training workouts, a majority of individuals can ultimately benefit from their body�s natural functions in order to prevent, improve, and maintain, their ideal fitness goals.
Dr. Alex Jimenez D.C.,C.C.S.T�s insight:
Strength training is a type of exercise which specializes in resistance training to build muscle strength and size as well as increase endurance. Besides building strong muscles, strength training offers several other benefits for both men and women, and especially for people above the age of 50. For individuals seeking to improve their overall health, fitness, and wellness, strengthening their muscles should be a top priority. For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at (915) 850-0900.
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Muscle balancing therapy has shown to help many conditions including the following:
Curl-ups train the rectus abdominus, the long abdominal muscle that runs vertically from your breastbone all the way down on both sides of your bellybutton.
The side bridge, also called the side plank, trains the quadratus lumborum, lateral obliques, and transverse abdominus muscles, all local muscles that help stabilize the�spine.
This exercise is great for training the back extensors, including the longissimus, iliocostalis and multifidii.
