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Gardening Tips

BACKGROUND-gardening

Warm up

Before you begin any physical activity, warming up is a key factor in preventing injury. Take a walk, even on the

spot. Ten to 15 minutes should do it. Don’t forget to lift your knees and gently swing your arms.

Stretch before you start

To plant and rake without the ache, do each of these stretches five times. Don’t bounce, jerk or strain.

Stretches should be gentle and should not cause pain.

Upper Body

YOUR SIDES

1. Extend your right arm over your head.

2. Bend to the left from the waist.

3. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat on the other side.

YOUR ARMS AND SHOULDERS

1. Hug yourself snugly.

2. Slowly rotate at the waist as far as is comfortable to the left, then to the right.

YOUR BACK

1. In a seated position, bend forward from the hips, keeping your head down.

2. Reach for the ground.

Lower Body

YOUR THIGHS

1. Face a wall or tree and support yourself against it with one arm.

2. Bend your right knee and grasp your ankle or pant leg with your left hand.

3. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat on the other side.

YOUR HAMSTRINGS

1. Stand.

2. Reach your hands to the sky.

3. Then bend at the waist and reach toward your toes.

Dr. Roger Singh

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Tips at your Computer

Keyboard Height

Sit with relaxed shoulders in an upright posture.  Adjust your seat height until your elbows and knees are bent at 90-degrees, and your feet rest on the floor.  You may also move your keyboard, the height of your desk, and/or use a footrest to achieve this position.  When possible, you may try using an exercise ball (stability or Swiss ball) as an ergonomically-sound replacement for your chair.

Footrest

Adjustable footrests are ideal.  An adjustable height Wobble Board is a good alternation, because the dynamic movement means that your legs and feet will not get tired of being in the same position for hours.  You can also stand on a Wobble Board when talking on the phone.  This is a great opportunity to enhance your balance and proprioception.

John Li, Massage Therapist

By Administrator 0 Comments Brampton, Health Tips

Importance of Warming Up Before Exercise

 

What is a warm-up?
Warming up is a session which takes place prior to being physically active. Typically warming up will consist of cardiovascular exercises combined with dynamic stretching.

What happens in a warm-up?
Lets take a look at the example already given in terms of cardiovascular exercise as well as stretching. The cardiovascular exercises are designed to increase circulation, increase body temperature and bring the heart rate up, while stretching warms the muscles and prepare them for the movements they will be with exercise.

Effects of the warm-up
Warming up should prepare the body for exercises by increasing the heart rate and circulation. This will loosen the joints and increase blood flow to the muscles. Stretching the muscles prepares them for physical activity and prevents injuries.

Preventing injury
The most important reason for warming up is to prevent injury during exercise. Keeping the muscles warm will prevent acute injuries.

Paul Henein

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Yes, You Still Have to Eat Your Fruits & Vegetables!

fruitsandvegetables2-1

As the price of fresh produce continue to rise, money often becomes a limiting factor to eating healthy. Organic vegetables and fruits are preferred to reduce your exposure to pesticides, which may disrupt hormone levels in the body. However, the high cost of organic foods is often a deterrent.

Fortunately, the Environmental Working Group helps you make better decisions for your body and your wallet, by providing a list of foods which are safer to eat non-organic, and which foods are better eaten organic.

The “Dirty Dozen”

These foods were found to have the highest pesticide exposure. When possible, purchase the organic options for these foods:

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty_dozen_list.php

The “Clean 15”

These foods were found to have the lowest pesticide exposure. Save your money and choose the non-organic options for these foods:

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/clean_fifteen_list.php

One final thought: my patients often ask me whether it is safe to eat vegetables and fruits even if they are not organic, due to the risk of pesticide exposure. My answer is always the same: Remember that the levels of fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in produce outweigh the potential risks of pesticides. So Yes! You still have to eat your fruits & vegetables.

Wishing you good health,

Dr. Odette Bulaong ND

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Proper Running Form

runningform

A common question that many people have is about proper running form. If you are a beginner or advanced runner, form is everything!

To avoid unnecessary muscle strains, make sure that you are landing on your midfoot and leaning slightly forward from the ankles.

Avoid overriding, heel-striking and bad posture!

 Furthermore, always make sure get a good warm up before a long run and cool down and stretch afterwards to increase recovery time.

If you need help or advice regarding running tips and tricks, come by Form and Function Clinic. Our physiotherapist and chiropractors would love to show you how.

Dr. Luvraj Sandhar

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Look up for Neck Health!

NECK-CRACKING

As technology is getting more advanced, we spend more and more time looking down at screens from laptops to tablets to phones. Looking down, especially for a prolonged period of time, is horrible for your neck. In fact, for every 15 degrees we look down, our neck/spine bears an EXTRA 10-15lbs. That’s a whopping 60lbs of weight at 60 deg neck flexion. So next time you are looking down, I suggest you spend an equal amount of time looking up (or just put the technology away for a while). Your neck will thank you for it.

Manni Wong, Physiotherapist

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Breathe Correctly

Relaxed senior woman doing some breathing exercises
Breath is life. Everyone breathes but few breathe correctly. By learning the art of breathing one can live a healthy life, full of mirth, as the blood gets oxygenated.   Right breathing is breathing deeply and rhythmically.

Benefits:

Deep and rhythmic breathing brings about harmony between the body and the mind . It alleviates unfounded fears and relieves one of deep-seated stress. It improves concentration and gives mental power.

Technique:

Sit in a comfortable posture on ground, in the chair or even in bed.   Inhale and exhale deeply through the nose focusing on dropping your diaphragm and protruding your belly. Make sure to reduce the expansion of your chest . Repeat it 50-60 times or more. Make sure that your mind is attuned to each breath that you take in or out. No nasal sound should be made during the process.

Deep breathing should preferably be done at an open place or park. Morning time is the best time for practicing the technique.

Physiotherapist Smriti Kaushal

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Shovel snow with your legs and hips

Mike Flynn shovels snow Tuesday, March 5, 2013, in Minneapolis as a winter storm dumped snow on much of the state. Tens of thousands of Minnesota students got a day off Tuesday as the second day of a slow-moving snowstorm made travel difficult across much of the region. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

With winter finally upon us, it’s time to bring out those snow shovels.   The next time you have to shovel remember to hinge at the hip and lift the snow using your LEGS.  Keep the shovel head as close to the body as possible, and try not to lift too much at once. Wet snow is surprisingly heavy so use your legs and avoid back pain.

Dr. Jon Leung

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Improving Leg Circulation

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One way to keep the circulation moving in those legs is to keep your legs up i.e. with a foot stool, ottoman, chair when in a sitting position. Oftentimes, we tend to sit too much or stand too much in a span of a few hours. As a result, gravity will keep the blood pooling at our feet. This will increase our risk of getting varicose veins and swelling to our ankles. So keep those legs up whenever you get a chance!

Jennifer Lam, Chiropodist

By Administrator 0 Comments Brampton, Health Tips

Text Neck

business-people-texting

Our modern digital age has brought us many conveniences. BlackBerry devices, iPhones, tablets and e-readers allow us to communicate and be entertained with the push of a button. Technology can improve our quality of life, but it comes with a price: being huddled over devices for long period of times can do more harm than good.

Using certain devices for extended periods of time can easily lead to neck strain, headaches, and pain in the shoulders, arms and hands. Anyone who has used a cellphone or tablet for an extensive amount of time has probably experienced the peculiar strain it puts on your upper body. These conditions even have their own name now: Text Neck. Here are some simple strategies to help shut down text neck strain:

Take frequent breaks

Taking frequent breaks and looking up from your device can provide your neck with some relief from the
pressure of looking down.

Sit up straight

It is important to sit up straight while texting. This way you can maintain good posture, relieving your back and shoulders from the strain of being hunched over.

Hold the phone a little higher

Holding the phone closer to eye level helps maintain a healthy posture and puts less strain on the neck.

Stretch

Be sure to stretch often between long periods of extended use of devices. You can rotate your shoulders with your arms by your sides to relieve tension. You can also tuck your chin down to your neck and then look up – this helps to relieve some of the tension in your neck built from the common forward-down position you adopt
when looking at your device.

Dr. Roger Singh