Back and Spinal Fitness at PUSH as Rx leads the field with a laser focus on supporting our youth sports programs. The PUSH-as-Rx System is a sport-specific athletic program designed by a strength-agility coach and physiology doctor with a combined 40 years of experience working with extreme athletes.
The program is the multidisciplinary study of reactive agility, body mechanics, and extreme motion dynamics at its core. A clear quantitative picture of body dynamics emerges through continuous and detailed assessments of the athletes in motion and under directly supervised stress loads.
Exposure to the biomechanical vulnerabilities is presented to our team. Immediately, we adjust our methods for our athletes to optimize performance. This highly adaptive system with continual dynamic adjustments has helped many of our athletes return faster, stronger, and ready post injury while safely minimizing recovery times.
Results demonstrate clear improved agility, speed, decreased reaction time with greatly improved postural-torque mechanics. PUSH-as-Rx offers specialized extreme performance enhancements to our athletes no matter the age.
There are 3 primary parts of exercise: cardiovascular exercise, strengthening exercises, and flexibility training. And let�s face it�those first 2 typically get more emphasis. Cardiovascular exercise (running, for example�anything which gets your pulse up) and strength training (lifting weights) come with some rather immediate outcomes. They help us build muscle and lose weight , all while helping us be more fit. It takes longer to see those advantages.
But here�s the deal: flexibility becomes more significant as you grow old. Being limber can help battle those aches and pains related to aging; stretching can help you maintain better joint health. It can also make those daily jobs�carrying groceries, going up and down stairs etc. much easier.
However, you can�t wake up when you�re 64 and unexpectedly be equally as adaptable as you were when you were 24. It�s much better and even more efficient to work flexibility training into your workout routine throughout your own life.
(Rest assured: if you are 64 and were hoping to regain some of that youthful flexibility, you can start working it in your workout routine now. Simply be realistic concerning the outcomes. You will, most likely, never be as flexible as you once were, but working on flexibility at any age is rewarding.)
Talk To Your Physician Or Physical Therapist Before Beginning A New Workout Plan
They could help you establish realistic targets and create a plan that best suits your life. You may want to think about working with a personal trainer to assist you ease into the brand new routine.
Flexibility Training Is More than Doing A Few Stretches
After a run is yes, better than nothing, doing a couple of hamstring stretches, but you won�t find as many long-term gains as you’d see from a flexibility plan that is more developed.
To get the most benefit from flexibility training, you should have a personalized program, one that takes into account your body and demands. As stated earlier, a personal trainer or physical therapist is able to help you develop the best plan for you.
And remember: the more time and attention you give to flexibility training, the more gains you�ll see�especially those long term gains.
Take Your Actions Into Account
Think, also, about your daily life: does your job involve a lot of sitting or lifting?
A personalized flexibility training program is able to help you enhance your freedom (how well your joints move) and stability (keeping good posture and body alignment during actions in order for your body isn�t under undue strain). It can allow you to excel in sports or your activities, in addition to help you take good attention to your body on a daily basis.
Give Special Focus To Muscles That Feel Tight
The shoulders, chest, hamstrings, and hips are often tight, but you may find tightness in other regions depending on harms, pressure in your lifetime, or how rough a particular workout was. By tailoring your flexibility training to your body, you�ll prevent overstretching muscles�or muscles that are lost that need consideration.
Your Body Knows What�s Best for It
Listen to your body, and don�t push it too much when you�re stretching. Instead, ease into a stretch when you�ve reached the limit of what you are able to do at that point, and understand.
Also, you need to prevent ballistic stretches�that sort of extending where you bounce in and out of the stretch. That strategy isn�t as successful holding the stretch for about 10 to 30 seconds and then as slowly stretching your muscles.
You Can Be Creative With Stretching
Within the plan that was developed for you, you can use resistance balls, towels, or other props that’ll allow you to go deeper in your stretches. Assortment will also make you more likely to stay with your flexibility training plan.
Warm Up For Stretching
You may be a bit confused�isn�t stretching a warmup? How do you warm up for stretching? This is where a brisk walk or short jog can help: get your heart pumping and your muscles limber before stretching.
Take A Flexibility Course In The Fitness Center
Assess your gym�s class program; it may be that they have a few flexibility or stretching classes. Sometimes these courses combine cardiovascular work, strength training, and flexibility work�all 3 parts of exercise in one class! Or you may take a class that�s exclusively focused on stretching.
Your Mind Can�Stretch
Pilates and yoga are outstanding flexibility training trainings. Plus, they teach you about relaxation, meditation, and other head-body techniques�ways to help calm your body and emotions, which can, subsequently, make your body more receptive to being stretched.
Stretching Is Significant for Everyone
Maybe you’ve got this bogus organization with extending�that only individuals in rehabilitation do it or that it�s only for individuals who aren�t actually in shape (that’s: it’sn�t �real� exercise). Well, it�s time to go past that misconception. Everyone should stretch. Look for inspiration or proof at Olympic and professional athletes: they know that flexibility training is a key section of peak performance.
You Must Be Consistent
It needs to be part of your routine, for stretching to be as effective as possible. This isn�t something which you do for a few weeks and after that move on. Regular stretching and flexibility work�along with cardiovascular exercise and strength training �will assist you to take good care of your own body for years to come.
The analysis of 13 clinical trials found that exercise therapy was generally good for stroke patients’ “cognition.”
Cognition refers to vital mental processes such as thinking, learning, understanding and remembering. A stroke, which cuts off blood flow to the brain, can impair those abilities.
The findings bolster what experts have long believed: Exercise can aid stroke recovery in multiple ways.
“This isn’t new,” said Daniel Lackland, a spokesman for the American Stroke Association who was not involved in the research. “We’ve known that exercise is good after a stroke.”
But, he said, the findings offer more clarity on exactly what works. They suggest, for example, that a combination of moderate aerobic exercise and training in strength and balance is most effective for improving stroke patients’ mental acuity.
Lauren Oberlin, a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, led the study. She said the findings confirm the value of exercise after a stroke.
A Structured Exercise Program Can Help Stroke Survivors Recover Physically & Mentally
It Can Improve Mobility, Strength, Quality Of Life, & Cognition
Oberlin said. And that mental boon, she noted, may give stroke patients “additional motivation” to start an exercise program.
For the study, Oberlin and her colleagues pooled the results of 13 clinical trials that involved a total of 639 patients recovering from a stroke.
The studies all differed in a number of ways — including the type of exercise they tested, and the duration of the program.
But in general, Oberlin’s team found that patients who exercised showed bigger gains in certain mental abilities — namely, attention and processing speed — versus those who did not exercise.
And it didn’t take a long time, Oberlin said. Even exercise programs lasting four to 12 weeks were effective.
It also appears that exercise helps even when patients begin more than three months after their stroke. In fact, Oberlin said, those patients were, on average, about 2.5 years past their stroke.
The most effective programs offered patients exercises aimed at strength, balance, stretching and aerobic fitness — the kind, Oberlin noted, that “gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat.”
But that doesn’t have to mean an intense workout, Oberlin noted. Walking on a treadmill does the job. And for people with balance problems or other physical limitations, she said, there are options like recumbent stationary bikes and rowing machines.
Does it necessarily take a formal exercise program? Maybe not, Oberlin said. As long as stroke patients have been cleared to exercise on their own, they may be able to do something as simple as take a daily walk.
“But if you have mobility issues, you might need a supervised program,” Oberlin said. “What’s critical is that you talk to your doctor first, to make sure that any activity you want to do is safe.”
Lackland agreed, and also noted that exercise is just one part of stroke recovery. He said patients need to take “comprehensive measures” to improve their health and reduce the likelihood of suffering another stroke.
“That includes good blood pressure control, weight control, not smoking and limiting salt in the diet,” Lackland said.
Why Would Physical Activity Benefit Mental Sharpness After A Stroke?
Other research points to several possible reasons, Oberlin said: Exercise may improve blood flow to the brain, promote the growth of new brain cells and connections among those cells, and reduce inflammation, to name a few.
Oberlin was to present the findings Wednesday at the International Stroke Conference in Houston. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Call Today!
SOURCES: Lauren Oberlin, M.S., graduate student, psychology, University of Pittsburgh; Daniel Lackland, Dr.P.H., spokesman, American Stroke Association, and professor, medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston; Feb. 22, 2017, presentation, International Stroke Conference, Houston
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
One of the things I love most about our community at 2020 Fitness is how it cuts across so many demographics. People who may be unlikely to encounter each other in day-to-day life find themselves chatting and having a great time together in class. Chandler and John Moenius are a great example. Here’s Chandler’s 2020 Fitness story in her own words:
Who plans what their fitness activity is going to be in their sixties? Certainly not me. After all, when I was in my thirties, forties and even fifties, sixty seemed light years away. Then, suddenly, I was celebrating my 60th birthday and I decided it was time to get my act together. I always had been active, running when I could fit it in my schedule, even training for two marathons, and attending a bootcamp class for years, but CrossFit? I never dreamed I would set foot in a CrossFit gym, but when I realized my almost 90-year-old mother had lost six inches in height and could barely open a jar without help, I decided it was time to listen to the experts who were saying strength training and flexibility were necessary for successful aging.
I turned to 2020 Fitness since it was close to home, and convinced my husband, John, to go with me. I quickly saw that it was more about doing the workouts with correct form than how much weight I was lifting. While it has been rewarding to increase the weight on my bar and master some moves in the gym, the best part has been my increased flexibility. The coaching staff is so knowledgeable and they give personal attention to everyone in the class. It amazes me how they will remember the sore muscle I had a few days ago or that I struggled with a workout last week and will offer suggestions to work at mastering it the next time. Recently, a lifelong back issue reappeared one Monday morning. I went to class but the coaches quickly pulled me from the workout and had me spend the hour doing mobility exercises instead. I kept with this routine for four days and was able to resume the workout by Friday. Need I say more about the attention and expertise available?
While I’m sure I am pretty close to the oldest female at the gym, I’ve never felt like anyone was singling me out because of my age, and when I need to scale back a workout, the coaches are always willing to provide an alternative. The encouraging atmosphere lets me know that everyone is hoping I will succeed and wants to help me in any way to get there. The camaraderie is outstanding and spills across all age levels from middle school students to my 68-year-old husband. I’ve definitely found my fitness home and I’ve told the coaches many times that I’m not going anywhere. In fact, I plan to be in the pilot class for 90-year-olds in 2044!
We pride ourselves on being able to offer a productive, positive environment for people of all ages. In fact, this summer, we’re hosting a five-week day camp for kids 6 to 10. Check out our website for details and registration information.
This Sponsored Column is written by Jon Rowley of 2020 Fitness. 2020 Fitness provides a positive and fun fitness environment dedicated to improving the lives of its clients.
Parking yourself in front of the TV may make you as likely to develop dementia as people genetically predisposed to the condition, a Canadian study suggests. In a study of more than 1,600 adults aged 65 and older, those who led a sedentary life seemed to have the same risk of developing dementia as those who carried the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene mutation, which increases the chances of developing dementia.
Conversely, people who exercised appeared to have lower odds of developing dementia than those who didn’t, the five-year study found.
“Being inactive may completely negate the protective effects of a healthy set of genes,” said lead researcher Jennifer Heisz, an assistant professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
However, the study didn’t prove that lack of exercise caused dementia risk to increase. It only found an association between the two.
Prevalence of Dementia Due to Inactivity
The APOE mutation is the strongest genetic risk factor for vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, Parkinson’s disease and, especially, Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers said. People with a single APOE “allele” may have a three to four times increased risk of dementia than non-carriers, the study authors said. How exercise may reduce the risk for dementia isn’t known, Heisz said.
These study results, however, suggest that your physical activity level can influence your dementia risk as much as your genetics, Heisz said. “You can’t change your genes, but you can change your lifestyle,” she added.
The kind of exercise that’s best isn’t known, although the people who were physically active in the study reported walking three times a week, Heisz said.
“Which means you don’t have to train like an Olympian to get the brain health benefits of being physically active,” she said.
The report was published Jan. 10 in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Dr. Sam Gandy directs the Center for Cognitive Health at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He said the study findings aren’t “really a surprise, but it is good to see it proven.” Other scientists showed some years ago that people with the APOE mutation could virtually erase the risk of developing amyloid plaques in the brain if they became regular runners, Gandy said. Amyloid plaques are one of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s.
“That was an amazing report that, I believe, has been underpublicized,” Gandy said.
However, this new study suggests that if you are blessed with genes that lower your risk for Alzheimer’s, you could lose that benefit if you don’t exercise, he said.
“I cannot understand why the fear of dementia is not sufficient to induce everyone to adopt a regular exercise program,” Gandy said. “I tell all my patients that if they leave with one, and only one, piece of advice, that the one thing that they can do to reduce their risk of dementia or slow the progression of dementia is to exercise,” he said.
About 47.5 million people around the world are living with dementia, the researchers said, and that number is expected to surge to 115 million by 2050. With no known cure, there’s an urgent need to explore, identify and change lifestyle factors that can reduce dementia risk, the study authors said.
SOURCES: Jennifer Heisz, Ph.D., assistant professor, department of kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., director, Center for Cognitive Health, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City; Jan. 10, 2017, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
Additional Topics: Chiropractic Care for Older Adults
Chiropractic care is an alternative treatment option which focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injuries and/or conditions associated with the musculoskeletal and nervous system, primarily the spine. Chiropractic utilizes spinal adjustments and manual manipulations to treat a variety of injuries and conditions. As people age, degenerative injuries and conditions can commonly occur. Fortunately, chiropractic treatment has been demonstrated to benefit older adults with spinal degeneration, helping to restore their original health and wellness.
Even though obesity can indicate a risk for heart disease and diabetes in white people, it may not be as reliable for predicting these risks in other racial and ethnic groups, a U.S. study suggests.
Almost one in three people with a healthy weight for their height based on a measurement known as body mass index (BMI) still had at least one risk factor for heart disease such as elevated blood pressure or high levels of sugars, fats or cholesterol in the blood, the study found.
Among white people in the study, only 21 percent normal weight individuals based on BMI, or about one in five, had risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. But a much higher proportion of healthy weight people in other racial and ethnic groups had heart or diabetes risk factors: 31 percent of black people, 32 percent of participants of Chinese descent, 39 percent of Hispanics and 44 percent of South Asians.
“These results show that having a normal BMI does not necessarily protect an individual from cardiometabolic risk,” said lead study author Unjali Gujral, a public health researcher at Emory University in Atlanta.
“We advocate a heart healthy diet and lots of exercise in all individuals, regardless of race/ethnicity and body weight, but especially in those who are members of racial/ethnic minority populations,” Gujral said by email. “It is also important for patients, particularly those who are Asian American, Hispanic American and African American to have conversations with their physicians/healthcare providers regarding their increased risk for heart disease even at normal weight.”
For the study, researchers examined data on adults aged 44 to 84 living in seven U.S. cities. Within this group, 2,622 were white, 803 were Chinese, 1,893 were black, 1,496 were Hispanic and 803 were South Asian.
They used data on participants’ height and weight to calculate BMI and then see how often a healthy BMI was associated with common risk factors for heart disease that are typically seen in obese people.
For most adults, including white, black and Hispanic individuals, a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered a healthy weight, 25 to 29.9 is overweight and 30 or above is obese, according to the World Health Organization.
Because Asian people are known to have a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes at a lower BMI than other populations, WHO created a different scale for Chinese and South Asian people. In this scale, a BMI of 18.5 to 22.9 is considered a healthy weight, a BMI of 23 to 27.4 is overweight and 27.5 or above is obese.
Even with these different BMI scales applied to the participants, researchers found that BMI alone didn’t explain heart or diabetes risk. Neither did age, education, gender, exercise, whether people smoked or where their body tended to store fat.
Researchers calculated that the ethnic and racial differences in risk mean a white person with a BMI of 25.5, which is in the overweight range, has about the same likelihood of heart disease or diabetes as an African American with a BMI of 22.9, a Hispanic person with a BMI of 21.5, a Chinese person with a 20.9 BMI and a South Asian person with a 19.6 BMI – all of whom would be considered in the “healthy” BMI range.
Current U.S. screening recommendations that emphasize testing for risk factors for heart disease and diabetes in people who are overweight or obese, may lead the risk to be overlooked in some normal weight people, especially if they aren’t white, the researchers conclude.
In particular, even normal weight people should pay close attention to their waistline and make lifestyle changes if they start to get thicker around the middle, said Jean-Pierre Despres of the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute Research Center and the Laval University in Canada.
“Your waistline, irrespective of your BMI, is an important vital sign,” Despres, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “You do not want it to go up if you are healthy, and you want it to go down if you have risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”
Regular exercise is potent medicine for older adults with heart disease, a new American Heart Association scientific statement says.
Physical activity should be a key part of care for older adults with heart disease who want to reduce their symptoms and build their stamina, said geriatric cardiologist Dr. Daniel Forman. He’s chair of the panel that wrote the new statement.
“Many health-care providers are focused only on the medical management of diseases — such as heart failure, heart attacks, valvular heart disease and strokes — without directly focusing on helping patients maximize their physical function,” Forman said in a heart association news release.
Yet, after a heart attack or other cardiac event, patients need to gain strength. Their independence may require the ability “to lift a grocery bag and to carry it to their car,” said Forman, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.
“Emphasizing physical function as a fundamental part of therapy can improve older patients’ quality of life and their ability to carry out activities of daily living,” he added.
And, no one is too old to get moving. “Patients in their 70s, 80s and older can benefit,” Forman said.
Cardiac rehabilitation is a crucial tool for elderly patients, providing exercise counseling and training to promote heart health, and manage stress and depression. But Forman said it’s not prescribed often enough.
“When treating cardiac patients in their 70s, 80s and 90s, health-care providers often stress medications and procedures without considering the importance of getting patients back on their feet, which is exactly what cardiac rehabilitation programs are designed to do,” he noted.
Daily walking and tackling more chores at home also can be helpful, Forman said. Resistance training and balance training can help prevent falls. Tai chi and yoga employ strength, balance and aerobic features, he explained.
The statement also outlines ways for heart doctors to assess patients’ levels of physical functioning.
The statement was published March 23 in the journal Circulation.
Heart disease in older Americans is a growing concern because the number of people 65 and older in the United States is expected to double between 2010 and 2050.
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Exercise Beats Weight Loss At Helping Seniors Hearts
Seniors who want to give their hearts a healthy boost may want to focus on exercise first, a new study suggests.
The research found that getting active may do more for cardiovascular health in older adults than losing weight does.
“Any physical activity is positive for cardiovascular health, and in elderly people of all weights, walking, biking and housework are good ways to keep moving,” study author Dr. Klodian Dhana said in a news release from the journal European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The findings were published in the journal on March 1.
In the study, Dhana’s team tracked 15-year outcomes for more than 5,300 people. Participants were between 55 and 97 years old, and free of heart disease when the study started.
Over the 15 years of follow-up, 16 percent of the participants developed heart problems.
In this group of older people, the researchers found no link between their body mass index (BMI) alone and heart disease. BMI is an estimate of body fat based on weight and height — the higher the number, the more fat.
However, the study did find that physical activity was tied to a lower risk of heart disease, no matter what a person’s BMI was.
“Overweight and obesity is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and it is recommended to lose weight,” said Dhana, who is a postdoctoral researcher at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
However, “in the elderly this is slightly different because weight loss, especially unintentional, is associated with muscle loss and death,” the researcher explained.
She said the study’s authors aren’t refuting the idea that overweight and obesity can raise heart risk in the general population.
But, “our results show that physical activity plays a crucial role in the health of middle age to elderly people,” Dhana said. “Those who are overweight and obese without adequate physical activity are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease.”
Expert guidelines currently recommend 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity physical activity to decrease the risk of heart disease, she said.
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Cancer isn’t inevitable, but many Americans don’t know that several lifestyle factors affect their risk of developing the disease, a new survey finds.
Only one in two Americans is aware that obesity can raise the risk of cancer. And fewer than half understand that alcohol, inactivity, processed meat, eating lots of red meat and low consumption of fruits and vegetables are linked to cancer risk, the researchers said.
“There is a clear crisis in cancer prevention awareness,” said Alice Bender, head of nutrition programs at the American Institute for Cancer Research.
A larger percentage of Americans mistakenly believe that stress, fatty diets and other unproven factors are linked with cancer, according to the institute’s 2017 Cancer Risk Awareness Survey.
“It’s troubling that people don’t recognize alcohol and processed meats increase cancer risk,” Bender said in an institute news release. “This suggests the established factors that do affect cancer risk are getting muddled with headlines where the research is unclear or inconclusive.”
Factors Affecting the Risk of Cancer
Highlights of the survey findings include:
Fewer than 40 percent of Americans know that alcohol affects cancer risk.
Only 40 percent know that processed meats are also associated with cancer risk.
Fifty percent of Americans are aware that being overweight spurs cancer risk, up from 35 percent in 2001.
Nearly one-third of common cancers in the United States could be prevented through diet, weight management and physical activity. That increases to half when factors such as not smoking and avoiding sun damage are added, according to the institute.
Research has linked alcohol to at least six cancers, including colon, breast, liver and esophageal. Studies have also shown that bacon, hot dogs and other processed meats may raise the risk of colon and stomach cancers.
Only half of Americans know that obesity increases the risk of several cancers and that a healthy weight is the second most important way — after not smoking — to reduce cancer risk, the researchers said.
“We know a lot of healthy people do get cancer and sometimes it’s easier to worry about genes or uncontrollable things rather than your everyday choices,” said Bender. “But the research says that being physically active, staying a healthy weight, and eating a plant-based diet has the potential to prevent hundreds of thousands of cancer cases each year,” Bender aded. “It’s a powerful message.”
SOURCE: American Institute for Cancer Research, news release, Feb. 1, 2017
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .�
Additional Topics: Whole Body Wellness
Following a balanced nutrition as well as engaging in regular physical activity and sleeping properly are all proper lifestyle habits which can help increase and maintain overall health and wellness. Many common complications associated with improper lifestyle habits, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, however, the risk of developing these can be prevented with a few lifestyle changes. In addition, visiting a chiropractor and receiving chiropractic care can help maintain and improve the overall health of the spine as well as its surrounding structures.
IFM's Find A Practitioner tool is the largest referral network in Functional Medicine, created to help patients locate Functional Medicine practitioners anywhere in the world. IFM Certified Practitioners are listed first in the search results, given their extensive education in Functional Medicine
