By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Sit with a lumbar lordosis!

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Did I say lumbar lordosis again?  Forgive me, but this is just as important in sitting as it is when lifting.  The correlation between individuals who sit more than four hours per day and lower back pain has been proven.  And one of the reasons is that these individuals are likely to slouch for the better part of the day.  Those of us with healthy backs can tolerate a slouched posture for 30 or 40 minutes at a time, but not much longer.

Actively sitting with a lordosis means that your own muscles are doing the work.  I cue my patients with my hand at the lower back, pushing them gently forward and up, and at the same time say “get your shoulders tall”.  I then have them maintain this posture for several minutes.    At the beginning, this can be quite tiring.  This is why I often tell the patient who sits most of the day to acquire a “lumbar roll”.  This product is basically a cylinder of spongy material with cloth enclosing it, and a strap that holds it to your chair.  When not able to sit actively with a lordosis, one should rely on it.

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Fix your seated posture!

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If you spend a lot of time sitting at home or at work, you may be putting yourself more at risk for head, neck, and  shoulder pain! Over time with prolonged sitting, your head and neck will shift forward, along with forward rounding of your shoulders. This increases the amount of stress on your neck and shoulders. A excellent way to combat this abnormal position is pull your shoulders ‘BACK’ and ‘DOWN’. Start with holding this position for 15 seconds at a time, progressing up to 45 seconds.

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Free Gym

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Many people are unable to find a consistent time to go to the gym or get the physical activity they need. This is not an excuse to not get any physical activity as there various ways to be physically active as we have access to “Free Gyms” on a daily occurrence. Instead of using an escalator or an elevator and use the stairs (also known as a “Free Gym”). Next time you buy groceries park farther away and carry a couple of the bags (the walk is a “Free Gym” and the groceries are “Free Weights”). If your dog is barking at you to go to the bathroom do not just open the back door and let him out, take him for a walk as he is really asking you to be his gym partner. There are dozens of daily choices we can make every day to make our lives a little more active and help fill in the times when life gets in our way of our regular exercise.

By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Avoid Losing Toenails!

Avoid Losing Toenails

As most long distance runners know, it is not uncommon to lose a toenail…or two.  It is caused by bruising that develops as a result of the repetitive impact between the toenail and the shoe and/or ground.  As the nail grows, it lifts off from the nailbed underneath and can eventually fall off.  So how can you avoid this from happening at all?

  1. Make sure you keep your toenails short.  The longer the nail, the more likely it is to hit the ground or your shoe causing the bruising.
  2. Buy running shoes a half size larger than your usual size.  This leaves a bit of extra room between the foot and the shoe, lessening the chance of impact.
  3. Check the shape of your shoes.  Avoid shoes with a tapered or narrow toe-box, and look for shoes that have a square shaped toe-box.
By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Exercise Recommendations

It is important to incorporate physical activity in our daily lives. The American College of Sports Medicine has released new recommendations on the quantity and quality of exercises categorized by cardiorespiratory, resistance, flexibility, and neuromotor exercises.

The recommendations are as follows:

  • Cardiorespiratory exercises: Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week.
  • Resistance exercises: Adults should train each major muscle group two or three days each week using a variety of exercises and equipment.
  • Flexibility exercises: Adults should do flexibility exercises at least two or three days each week to improve range of motion.
  • Neuromotor exercises: Neuromotor exercise (sometimes called “functional fitness training”) involving balance, agility, and coordination is recommended for two or three days per week.
By Administrator 0 Comments Health Tips, Markham

Ways to Prevent Job Stress

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  1. Take frequent breaks when you find yourself procrastinating, daydreaming, have a mental block or just feeling tense in general.If your task requires more concentration, take more breaks.
  1. Set your proirities every morning. Have a list and sort them from high to low priority. Make sure you can complete at least one of the high priority items, even if you have to say no to a low priotiy item.
  1. Make a day where you can clean up your desk, sort your mail, and return phone calls, preferrably on a Friday, so you can start your next week fresh.
  2. Try to avoid stressful / unneccessary meetings that you can accomplish by a quick call or memo.