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You know the feeling: Your email inbox is overflowing, your to-do list is miles long, and you haven’t managed to hit to the gym in days. Trust us, we’ve been there. The result? A super stressed-out you.
While stress begins in the mind (“I need to finish this work presentation in the next hour,” or, “I only have one week to plan my best friend’s surprise party!”), it eventually manifests itself in the body. Think: clenched jaws, shoulder knots, and stiff necks. (Ugh.) And since stress takes such a toll on both your mind and body, it’s important to move in ways that intercept your emotional and physical strain.
Luckily, you don’t need to set aside hours to find your center. In fact, just 15 minutes of this calming yoga sequence might be enough to help you de-stress. This simple routine can be done anywhere—all you need is some space to put down your mat.
And as an added bonus, you’ll actually be strengthening and lengthening your muscles while doing the flow. This is one reason why yoga is the ideal activity for days when you’re feeling overwhelmed, says clinical therapist and yoga instructor Lauren Taus. The mindful practice gets you moving on the mat and focused on the present, so you pay less attention to what’s still on your to-do list.
In this video, Lauren takes you through a calming yoga flow that will help you find your center and slow down. Because who doesn’t want to feel more relaxed in just 15 minutes?
People who were active and exercised regularly before their stroke were less likely to face disability after the attack, researchers say.
But the amount of body fat a person had did not seem to be tied to post-stroke disability, the study found. Fitness was key, though.
“Being physically inactive before stroke predicts a higher risk of being dependent both before and after stroke,” said study author Pamela Rist, of Harvard University. Her team’s findings were published online April 5 in the journal Neurology.
The new study involved more than 18,000 people with no history of stroke who were followed for an average of 12 years. During that time, nearly 1,400 of the participants suffered a stroke but survived.
Three years after their stroke, those who had exercised regularly before their stroke were 18 percent more likely to be able to perform basic tasks — such as bathing on their own, the researchers found.
The fitter individuals were also 16 percent more likely to be able to perform more complex tasks, such as managing money on their own, compared to those who did not exercise before their stroke, the findings showed.
“We also found that a person’s body mass index was not a factor in predicting their level of disability after stroke,” Rist said in a journal news release. Body mass index is an estimate of body fat based on weight and height.
Two experts in stroke care who reviewed the findings said the study highlights the importance of exercise.
The research “provides additional evidence that regular exercise has health benefits that last into a person’s future,” regardless of stroke, said Dr. Andrew Rogove. He directs stroke care at Northwell Health’s Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, N.Y.
Dr. Ajay Misra is chair of neurosciences at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. He said the study “provides insight into the fact that doctors should emphasize to their patients not only weight-reduction strategies for stroke and possibly heart attack prevention, but also the importance of leading a very active lifestyle to improve their chances of survival and recovery in case a stroke occurs.”
SOURCES: Andrew Rogove, M.D., medical director, stroke, Northwell Health’s Southside Hospital, Bay Shore, N.Y.; Ajay Misra, M.D., chairman, neurosciences, NYU Winthrop Hospital, Mineola, N.Y.; Neurology, news release, April 5, 2017
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: What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic care is an well-known, alternative treatment option utilized to prevent, diagnose and treat a variety of injuries and conditions associated with the spine, primarily subluxations or spinal misalignments. Chiropractic focuses on restoring and maintaining the overall health and wellness of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Through the use of spinal adjustments and manual manipulations, a chiropractor, or doctor of chiropractic, can carefully re-align the spine, improving a patient�s strength, mobility and flexibility.
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.
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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.”
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