When someone first enters into recovery, it can be tough to get motivated. When most of your life revolves around alcohol and not taking care of your body, it can be extremely difficult to break that cycle. Addiction gets us comfortable in an unhealthy cycle of sitting around abusing substances and not moving our bodies. Someone in recovery may have no idea how close they are to feeling better if they just started to get out and move. The start of recovery is difficult. Sobriety seems like an … [Read more...] about Get Moving: Exercise is Essential in Recovery
exercise
Chasing Health from the Inside Out
Anyone else out there taking a deep breath and bracing yourself for fall and winter and the expected increase in seasonal viral illnesses? Yeah, me too. While an uptick in seasonal viral illnesses seems overwhelming considering what we’ve collectively been through over the past 18 months, I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to cross your fingers, squeeze your eyes shut and hope that you don’t get sick. You can take action to set your immune system up to take on these bugs when they come … [Read more...] about Chasing Health from the Inside Out
Why Do Muscles Cramp?
We are in full-swing summer, which generally means full-swing muscle cramp season! I get a number of questions in my practice and on social media about muscle cramps. Today, I’d like to help you prevent and get rid of muscle cramps so that you and your muscles can have a more enjoyable summer. What causes muscle cramps? There can be many reasons that cramps happen, but I’m going to go over two of the most common causes of cramps. My hope is that teaching you why you cramp will help you … [Read more...] about Why Do Muscles Cramp?
Managing Summertime Injuries
For many of us, warmer weather means more time outdoors playing. These activities sometimes will result in an acute injury. Let’s talk about how to successfully manage these injuries by harnessing your healing process so you can get back outdoors again! In this article, I’m going to be discussing ligament and tendon injuries. This covers ankle sprains, injured knees, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, shoulder issues, etc. Ligament and tendon injuries such as ankle sprains, golfer’s elbow, … [Read more...] about Managing Summertime Injuries
We are Better When We Move
Turns out the Sundance Kid had it right. “I’m better when I move,” he explained, during a job interview to be a payroll guard, when asked if could shoot. And the truth is, so are we. Except now there’s a whole lot of research backing Sundance up, much like Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall Gang when they were robbing trains (which is a physical activity). Banner Health applauds physical activity. In an article published in 2020, the medical non-profit giant and largest employer in Arizona … [Read more...] about We are Better When We Move
Ways to Stay Moving With Your Dog
As hard as it may be to believe we are already in the fourth month of 2021, did you know that April is National Active Dog month? If you ever needed an excuse to get creative with ways to keep your dog (and yourself) moving, now is the time! I’m going to share with you some of the fun ways I’ve stayed active with my pup. The weather is getting warmer, so let’s get moving! A classic game of fetch or soccer are great activities that keep your dog energized and moving. Simply kicking a ball … [Read more...] about Ways to Stay Moving With Your Dog
The Importance of Movement
The human body is designed around movement; without it, we would cease to exist. As movement declines, so does health and longevity, which means that movement is so vitally important that it sustains life. Consider the human form. Without blood pressure, we cannot move our blood; thus, our heart must be in constant motion. Without transport of blood, we cannot deliver oxygen, nutrients or medicaments to our tissues and ultimately our cells, then send the blood back for a refill. Then, there’s … [Read more...] about The Importance of Movement
Science Offering Another Reason to Exercise
If binging on Netflix sounds more appealing than going to the gym, consider this: scientists are finding that cardiovascular exercise is having positive effects on the human gut microbiome -- the community of trillions of tiny organisms that thrive inside the dark, wet, warm walls of our intestines. That is important because research is linking poor gut health to a whole host of ailments and conditions including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, asthma and autism. “Most of the microbes … [Read more...] about Science Offering Another Reason to Exercise
Research Linking Exercise to Reduced Hearing Loss
Researchers have shown us that exercise is good for your hearing! We all know that regular exercise helps reduce weight gain, improves bone density, increases cardiovascular fitness and even helps to support your immune system. Now, the results are showing that lack of aerobic exercise in mice caused the structures inside the hearing organ (cochlea) to collapse or deteriorate. The hair cells or nerves that pick up sound and change it to electrical signal and the strial capillaries, which provide … [Read more...] about Research Linking Exercise to Reduced Hearing Loss
Include Massage in Your Exercise Routine
Most of us focus on the active part of exercise – running the miles or lifting the weights. Still, one of the most important goals of these activities, building muscle, takes place during recovery, not during exercise. For this reason, athletes of all fitness levels are paying equal attention to exercise routines and recovery periods. For many, regular sports massage has become an important tool in the recovery process. Sports massage is designed to help achieve the best possible performance … [Read more...] about Include Massage in Your Exercise Routine