Spring Tune-Up

Spring is here! Just the other day, I was able to see my first lily bud sprouting in a neighbor's garden.  This was a prompt to me that I need to start my own garden preparations. An important reminder for myself and everybody else entering the "garden season" is that there are an increased number of injuries when starting up again for the season. The heavy lifting of fresh sand or mulch, twisting to pick those far reaching weeds, and hunching for extended periods of time can all contribute to the straining and spraining of our tissues. 

Luckily, a few simple "pre-season" exercises can help prevent weeks of aches and pains.  Most importantly, increasing core stability will improve our abilities to maintain bending postures for prolonged periods of time.  Recent research recommends that building the endurance of core abdominal and lower back muscles is more important than actually “strengthening” the low back.  Keeping correct posture with strong abdominal muscles will prevent injury down the road and enable you to garden at all ages. 

 If you would like some more information on these exercises and to have your own personal biomechanics (walking, bending, lifting, kneeling) properly assessed, please come see me. Or, stop by PISE for a FREE weekly core-strengthening class every Wednesdays @ Lunch. (April 24- June 19).

Chia Seeds: Superfood

List of why you should eat chia seeds!

1. Chia is gluten free

2. It is super high in dietary fibre, making it great for digestion and healing digestion issues.

3. It contains 20% Omega 3 ALA, making it a super food for the brain and heart. Chia has eight times more Omega 3 than salmon!

4. It boasts 20% protein

5. The protein is a complete protein with all 8 essential amino acids

6. It is high in antioxidants (It has a four times higher ORAC value than blueberries)

7. Chia contains five times more calcium than milk

8. Chia contains seven times more vitamin C than oranges

9. It contains three times more iron than spinach

10. It contains twice the potassium content of banana

11. It is food for healthy skin, hair and nails

12. It has a positive impact balancing blood glucose levels (making it awesome for diabetics)

13. Chia makes a great egg replacement. Just combine with water to form a gel, and add it to recipes that call for egg.

Upper Crossed Syndrome

The 30kg head position

I am sure everyone has seen someone with upper cross syndrome (UCS), whether they knew what it was called or not. A person with UCS will look like they are hunched over with rounded shoulders and head protruding forward. See the image below to get a better visual of what UCS looks like.

Basically, if someone has UCS they will have tight (overactive) upper traps and levator scapula muscle as well as tight chest muscles. Along with these tight muscles, the neck flexors on the front side and the rhomboids and lower traps on the back are weak. The tight or over-active muscles have become shortened and the weak or under-active muscles have been lengthened. This is what happens when there is a muscle imbalance in the body.

In the above image, the muscle on the left is the tight (overactive) muscle

and the one on the right is the weak (underactive muscle)

UCS is one of the more common muscle imbalances that people possess and the majority of them don’t know they have it. Someone can get UCS from doing repetitive things such as their job. People who sit in a chair all day tend to hunch over and overtime will start to possess UCS. If your job requires you to stand all day while slightly bending over while working with your hands the same would apply. Also, people that exercise and work out the chest/upper traps a lot more than the lower traps/rhomboids will eventually get UCS. If you already possessed muscle imbalances before you started exercising then it would gradually get worse as you performed exercises, unless corrected.

People with UCS may complain of symptoms such as neck pain, jaw pain, upper thoracic pain and headaches due to the muscle imbalances and altered posture. Over time, poor posture can lead to all the above symptoms as well as more long term complications such as osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease.

So how do you fix Upper Cross Syndrome? You need stretch the tight (overactive) muscles and strengthen the weak (underactive) muscles. The chest muscles and the upper traps need to be stretched. Here are some examples of stretching exercises that can be done.

Pectoral stretch

Stand against an object and form a 90 degree angel with your arm. Draw your navel inward. Slowly lean forward until a light stretch is felt in the front shoulder and chest area. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds. Switch arms. Perform 1-2 sets twice a day.

Upper Trap/scalene stretch

Stand in place with good posture. Draw navel inward. Retract and depress scapula on the side being stretched. Tuck chin and slowly flex head to one side, pulling one ear toward the same shoulder. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds. Switch sides. Perform 1-2 sets each side twice a day.

The rhomboids/mid-lower traps need to be strengthened. Here is an example of a strengthening exercise that can be done.

Pick a weight that you can perform 12-20 reps easily. You can also you resistance bands. Stand with feet shoulder width apart and with body in good posture. Draw navel inward. Pull bands/cable toward your lower chest area and flex the trap muscles. Make sure to use your back muscles to pull the bands/cable toward you and not your biceps. Lower your body as if you were squatting or sitting in a chair. As you lower your body let the bands/cable go forward. This should be done is smooth motion. Bring your body back up to the starting position as you bring the bands/cable toward your lower chest. Do 12-20 reps for 1-2 sets once a day. *You want to pick a weight or resistance that you can easily perform the 12-20 reps in order to execute proper form. ** Be careful not to elevate shoulders or protrude head forward while performing this exercise.

Lie prone(stomach down) on the floor. Activate the gluteal muscles and pinch should blades together. Lift chest off the floor with thumbs pointed up and arms externally rotated. Hold for 1-2 seconds. Slowly return body to the ground keeping chin tucked. Repeat 8-12 times, 1-2 times a day.

Stop by my Courtenay chiropractic clinic for some Upper Crossed Syndrome resolve.