Sports Spine Specialist Chiropractic Team: Athletes strive to achieve their body’s maximum performance by participating in numerous training regimens consisting of strenuous exercises and physical activity and ensuring they meet all of their body’s nutritional requirements. Through proper fitness and nutrition, many individuals can condition themselves to excel in their specific sport. Our training programs are designed for athletes that look to gain a competitive edge in their sport.
We provide sport-specific services to help increase an athlete’s performance through mobility, strength, and endurance. Occasionally, however, the excess workouts can lead many to suffer injuries or develop underlying conditions. Dr. Alex Jimenez’s chronicle of articles for athletes displays in detail the many forms of complications affecting these professionals while focusing on the possible solutions and treatments to follow to achieve overall well-being.
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.”
I�m an original member since the gym opened 2 � years ago.
I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas.
I�m single and I have one child
I wake put at 6:00 a.m. and get to work about 8:00 a.m. When I get to work there is not time to waste. I�m on an adrenaline rush until I clock out for the end of the day; yet I am not really ever off. I work out at the Femmefit class at 6:00 p.m. I make it a point to WOD at least five days a week.
My biggest accomplishment was just being able to WOD and finishing a WOD. When I walked into the box, I was morbidly obese and unsure if I could do it. I remember being so scared, but willing to try because I was tired of just going through the motions. Since being a BULL, I have been able to accomplish things I never thought I could ever do. I�ve snorkeled, kayaked, zip-lined, played basketball�Most importantly I, now, enjoy life. I�m no longer a spectator but an active participant.
It�s hard to just pick one favorite WOD or movement. I love almost all of them. I guess if I had to pick something it would be rowing. Least favorite, that�s easy. I hate burpees.
My goal is to lose 70 more pounds and, hopefully, one day compete at Boxtoberfest. A girl can dream, can�t she? LOL.
I make it a priority. It is an investment in myself. I make sure that I get my work done on time so I can get to the Box on time. Cross Fit is part of who I am now and not being in the BOX with my peeps just doesn�t feel right.
I have so many great memories here. I love the coaches. I love the difficult WODs. I love the friends I�ve made here. If I had to pick up�the first time I competed at a Labor Day event. It was when I first started. It was so difficult, but I don�t know the meaning of the work quit. I remember throwing up in my mouth and swallowing it, because quitting was never an option. I also remember Coach Jessa. She was one of my first coaches. I remember having a biggest loser moment with her and her encouraging words as she left me cry my little heart out. Sometimes, I still hear her encouraging me. She was amazing!
You can do anything you set your mind to. Your greatest obstacle is your own mind. If you can get out of your mind, you can accomplish anything.
Lucila Pineira aka Lucy or P.
I�ve been a member at Bullstrong since it opened on July 29, 2013
I was born and raised in El Paso, TX!
Currently in a relationship
I am a mommy of four kids whom are 10,7,3,1.
My typical day involves dreading hearing my alarm at 415am, then realizing it�s
the best way to start off your day at a 5am CrossFit class. After that it consist of
showering, getting my kids ready, feeding them, heading out to school/ work
which involves me being a TEACHER. After my work day it involves me going
back to CrossFit at 4/5pm to work on my goats (weakness in CrossFit skills).
After that, it involves picking up my four kids, making dinner together, talking
about our day, getting them ready for bed, then finally sitting down or laying down
in my bed.
Where do I even begin to describe my biggest accomplishment at Bull Strong. I
would have to say one of the biggest accomplishments I have had at the facility
was GAINING my dedication, motivation and determination in becoming a better
version of myself. I have always been over weight, low self esteem and even
more after having my kids I lost a lot of self confidence. Now that I�m fully back
after having my miracle baby, it�s been a reminder of how dedicated, determined
an motivated I am to be a better version of myself. Bull Strong coaches and
members have given me that confidence that I am capable of reaching goals that
I never saw myself accomplishing. My biggest weakness in life has always been
trying to exercise and having others tell me what to do, I�m the type of person
who had the mentality of MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY, but thankfully it�s
completely different now. Now I allow myself to hear others advice and allow
them to show me and tell me how to do things correctly. Bull Strong has definitely
been a life changer and I wouldn�t change facilities for anything.
Where do I even begin to mention my favorite WOD! I would honestly have to
admit that as much as we all hate every movement I honestly LOVE them all.
Reason being because the more we work at them the better we get at them.
Even though I might not have every movement down or lift a lot of weight, I�m
slowly getting up there and I�m slowly starting to truly enjoy this way of staying fit.
Definitely a unique and amazing way of getting your body moving.
Honestly my goal in CrossFit is to one day become a CrossFit Kids Coach. I truly
enjoy teaching kids. Teaching is honesty my true passion in life and to be
surrounded by kids, what a better way to accomplish more goals then by showing
kids different ways to stay fit and also learn new things. Kinesthetic learning is
the new way of learning. I would love to embrace this type of learning into
workouts to show kids that learning can also be completely adventurous and fun.
Ohhhh my alarm at 4:15am is the one who tells me to get up and workout daily.
That�s how it�s become a routine in my life. I started going 3 times a week then
5/6 times a week, it�s just part of my daily routine. Don�t get me wrongs, there�s
days I am dead tired and sleepy, but I still remind myself that the only person who
can change, is myself.
I don�t think I have an ultimate favorite experience/story in CrossFit because
honestly everyday is AMAZING! So if you ask me, to me everyday is my favorite
experience, everyday I learn something different about CrossFit but better yet
everyday I�ve learned something about myself and how to improve myself.
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