Tune Up 2018!

Why You Might Need a Tune Up?
Nobody skates through life without injury. Injuries typically heal but often leave us with altered movement patterns that leave us at risk of injury. Do you ever wonder why it is that friends and family say they made it to 40 or 50 and then they started to fall apart? That is because all of those injuries that “healed” without incident, really left the body weakened. The human body compensates well for injuries.  In the process of making up for a weakened area, other muscles strain to pick up the slack. This leaves the body at risk of new injuries. 

The Fit Guy Who Had No Inner Core....
Take my good friend, a personal trainer. He works out with weights, does cardio and looks super fit. And yet, about every 6 months, he throws out his back. One day he made his way to my office and it was easy to tell that his big, MOVER MUSCLES were strong, but, his inner core of stabilizer muscles were not working well together to stabilize his spine. I watched as he lifted his leg and his entire spine contorted under the strain of lifting his leg against gravity. We in the fitness industry are great at training Mover Muscles, but, we really fall behind when it comes to training inner core. Activating your inner core appropriately takes more than activating your Transverse Abs. It means training your system to work efficiently and synergistically.
A Tune Up identifies your areas of strength and weakness. It gives you a step by step plan to attack those areas of weakness. A Tune Up gives you insight to your most important asset.. YOU!

TIPS FOR WHEN YOU NEED A TUNE UP:
1.   HAVE YOU HAD A SIGNIFICANT INJURY IN THE PAST?
2.  HAVE YOU SPRAINED AN ANKLE? (A SPRAINED ANKLE CAN IMPACT YOUR PELVIS AND CORE, BUT THAT IS                    RARELY ADDRESSED IN THERAPY.) 
3.  DO YOU HAVE INTERMITTENT OR CHRONIC PAIN IN ONE OR MORE AREAS OF YOUR BODY?
4. HAVE YOU RECENTLY HAD AN ACHE OR PAIN THAT CAME AND WENT A WAY BUT WITHIN A MONTH OR TWO,               ANOTHER STARTED?
5.  DO YOU SIT FOR LONG PERIODS DURING THE DAY?
6.  ARE YOU A WEEKEND WARRIOR?


TIPS TO MAINTAIN HEALTH IN 2018
1.  THE OBVIOUS: DRINK PLENTY OF WATER (THE HARDEST FOR ME!).  BREAK IT UP THROUGHOUT THE DAY.                   ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WITH INCONTINENCE, IT CAN BE DISASTROUS TO  DRINK ALL OF YOUR FLUIDS AT                 NIGHT.
2.  BREATHE: FOCUSING ON A PROPER BREATH HELPS TO TURN ON  YOUR INNER CORE CONTROL ACTIVATION               SYSTEM PROPERLY.
3.  DON’T GIVE UP ON POSTURE! PROPER POSTURE ENABLES YOUR INNER CORE TO ACTIVATE OPTIMALLY. IT                  ALLOWS FOR OPTIMAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE PRESSURE OF GRAVITY THROUGHOUT YOUR BODY AND SETS YOU  UP FOR A BETTER BREATH.
4.  GET TO KNOW YOUR PELVIC FLOOR. CAN YOU DO A PELVIC FLOOR LIFT (KEGEL)? DO YOU FEEL THE FRONT               MUSCLES OR BACK MUSCLES OF YOUR PELVIC FLOOR MUSCLES ACTIVATE? IF YOU FEEL THE BACK  OF YOUR PELVIC FLOOR MUSCLES ACTIVATE YOU NEED TO WORK ON POSTURE FOR SURE!
5.  SLEEP. MOST OF US HAVE HEARD THAT WE NEED TO SLEEP MORE AND MANY OF US, (INCLUDING MY SELF)                MAINTAIN THAT THERE IS NO WAY TO FIT IN MORE SLEEP. BARRING THOSE OF YOU WITH TINY ONES WHO ARE SUPER UNPREDICTABLE IN THEIR SLEEP PATTERN, I OFFER THE FOLLOWING CHALLENGE…   IF YOU ARE NOT SLEEPING THE RECOMMENDED 7-8 HOURS, TRY JUST ADDING 30 MINUTES TO YOUR SLEEP TIME. A SLIGHT  INCREASE IN SLEEP TIME IS BETTER THAN NONE!
6.  SET ASIDE TIME FOR YOURSELF. WE ARE CONDITIONED TO GIVE AND OFTEN FEEL BADLY ABOUT TAKING TIME FOR OURSELVES. WE NEED TO TEACH OUR KIDS THAT SELF CARE IS IMPORTANT. TAKE THE TIME TO MEDITATE,  EXERCISE OR WHATEVER FILLS YOUR SOUL!

WISHING YOU ALL A GREAT END TO THE HOLIDAY SEASON AND A GREAT START TO 2018!