Tips To Stay Active In The Winter Months

Looking for some indoor motivation? Here are some tips on how to stay active at home:  

• If you work at a desk, set alarms on your phone as a reminder to move. Sit-stand desks are a great option to consider, and march on the spot or do calf raises while standing to break the stagnation of sitting. 
• Climb stairs. Deliberately add more steps to your day. Consider going up and down a flight in your home, the mall, or an office building more than once over the course of your regular daily activities. As little as five minutes can make a huge difference for your health. 
• If you have equipment at home, set up a buddy system for accountability. Helps to keep you motivated and allows you to stay connected socially during lockdown. 
• Use free online workouts. For example, there are many sites that offer yoga videos suitable for all skill levels and ages. Additionally, if you’re a member of a gym, many have online options now. 
• Get a small trampoline for low impact cardio, use a stationary bike with apps like Peloton, use a TRX or resistance bands at home for diversity and creativity in your movement. 
• Write down exercises on pieces of paper and place in a jar. Pull one out every day to keep your activity interesting. 
• With kids, build an obstacle course out of household items like couch cushions, pillows or cardboard boxes or set up a scavenger hunt to find items around your home. Make them race to put it back – and consider joining in on the fun!
• Get your kids involved in household chores to get them moving and participating. 

Tips To Avoid Back Pain When Shovelling Snow

Apart from dressing properly for the weather and making sure you have a sturdy, lightweight shovel, there are a few practices you can follow to help make snow-shovelling safer.

 

·        Stand with stability: Stand with your feet at hip-width apart to maintain your balance. It’s also best to wear boots that are non-slip when you shovel. This will help protect you from sliding when shovelling.

 

·        Keep the weight close to your body: Hold the shovel close to your body to guard against straining or pulling a muscle. When the snow is deep, try to shovel smaller amounts (3–5 centimetres/1–2 inches) of snow at a time.

 

·        Grip strategically: Space your hands apart on the handle to increase your leverage when lifting the snow.

 

·        Lift with your legs: Bend from your knees, not your back, when lifting. Not only does it protect your back, but you can strengthen your legs as well!

 

·        Engage your core: Tighten your stomach muscles when lifting snow. This helps to protect your back as you lift.

 

·        Don’t twist: Avoid twisting your body when you lift. Move your feet instead to turn your body.

 

·        Don’t fling the snow: Make sure to walk to place the snow on the side of the path rather than throwing it. Turn your feet in the direction you’re dumping the snow—this better positions you to maintain good form. Your whole body will thank you.

 

Snow shovelling can be a very strenuous activity, and even more so without the correct, protective form. Ask one of our Chiropractor more tips on improving your strength and stability.

 

With the proper preparation, tools, and technique you can make shovelling safer for you, and your walkways safer for your family, friends, and neighbours.

 

Happy shovelling!

 

9 Tips To Stay Active During The Winter Months

When it gets cold outside, we tend to spend more time indoors doing sedentary activities and it can be difficult to stay active. It’s helpful to plan ahead and set some time aside in your schedule a few days a week to make sure you’re getting the activity you need.

To have health benefits from exercise, adults need a total of 2.5 hours of activity spread across the week, in bouts of ten minutes or more. These activities need to be moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic activities. Moderate-intensity physical activities include brisk walking or bike riding. Generally, you know your activity is moderate-intensity if you sweat a little and breathe harder than when you’re moving about day-to-day. Vigorous-intensity activities include jogging or cross-country skiing, and you’re likely to find yourself sweating and feeling out of breath.

Here are a few tips to help keep you motivated to stay active during the winter months: 

• Plan activities ahead. When activities are in your calendar, you’re less likely to forget them. Preparedness also helps set good habits.
• Find a fun local activity, like snow shoeing, skiing, skating, or cross-country skiing.
• Dress in layers. Insulate your body. When you can keep your body warm, it’s easier to continue being active outside.
• Use your daylight hours. It’s easier to stay outside while it’s still light out. It’s easy to miss out on activities when you start them too late in the day.
• Find indoor activities at your local community centre. This could be aerobics classes, badminton, basketball, or yoga classes.
• Climb stairs. Deliberately add more steps to your day. Consider going up and down a flight in your home, the mall, or an office building more than once over the course of your regular daily activities. As little as five minutes can make a huge difference for your health.
• Visit a library to find more motivation. There are plenty of free exercise DVDs you can borrow, including dance, step, aerobics, or Pilates. You can use the return date as a deadline to pick up another one!
• Sign up for a fun run. You can often find non-competitive “fun runs” in your community that are usually between 5 and 10 kilometers. You can invite friends and family to join in!
• Find an activity buddy. Find someone willing to commit to being active as often as you are, and set a plan. That could be planning to meet for morning walks or afternoon workouts. Having a friend keeps you accountable.

For help on setting activity goals based on your specific musculoskeletal needs, you can always ask our Chiropractors about what activities are right for you.

Whatever your activity level is, remember to stay hydrated. It is easy to forget to drink water when it’s cold out, but your body needs just as much hydration in a snowstorm as it does in a heatwave.

Most importantly, stay motivated. Revisit your goals (or look for tips to set new ones) to make sure you’re still on track. Plan ahead and make sure you can envision your goal as you look ahead towards the finish line.

Here’s to staying active in the new year!

Get In The Sleeping Spirit

⛄ For many, the holiday season is packed with all sorts of excitement. But it's also full of things that can throw a wrench in your sleep schedule—and by the time the New Year rolls around, you can find yourself dealing with a serious case of post-holiday exhaustion! 🥱

HOLIDAY EATING 🍰

All of those rich, decadent foods can make it harder to fall asleep after your big holiday meal. Luckily, you don’t have to forgo your holiday favourites completely in order to get a good night’s sleep; you just have to change the way you consume those foods. Try not to eat to the point of feeling excessively full.  Avoid foods that tend to cause you stomach pain, gas, or indigestion.

When you eat is also important. Eating your holiday meal early gives your body time to digest—so that by the time you’re ready to go to sleep, your body isn’t still trying to process the food you enjoyed earlier. 🍗🥧

HOLIDAY COCKTAILS 🍸

Alcoholic beverages may make you feel sleepy, and may even get you to sleep faster or earlier than it normally would, but alcohol gravely disrupts your sleep cycles to where you are actually getting mostly light sleep during the night—and you may not even be entering deep sleep or REM sleep [at all]. 💤

If you don’t want your holiday cocktails to mess with your sleep, try to limit the number of drinks you enjoy during the evening hours, and plan to stop drinking well before you go to bed. 🛌 Do your best to limit excessive alcohol consumption at night—and try not to consume any alcohol at least two hours before bedtime. 🕛

HOLIDAY STRESS 😧 🎄

If you’re one of the people that finds the holidays far more stressful than relaxing, it’s important that you find ways to manage your stress.

While the best way to manage stress will vary from person to person, some recommended strategies to help manage your stress for better sleep this holiday season include:

▶ Avoiding stimulants, like caffeine, throughout the day ☕

▶ Exercise, which reduces cortisol and releases stress-fighting endorphins 🎽

▶ Meditation and/or deep breathing exercises—especially before bed 🧘‍♀️

#holidays #sleep #eating #drinking #stress #wellness #wecanhelp #wilmot

Stay Standing This Winter!

Happy First Day of Winter!

Check out these tips to prevent slip-ups.

Falling on ice can leave you red-faced with embarrassment, or far more seriously, hurt badly from taking a knee to the ice or falling awkwardly on icy snow. Slippery sidewalks, driveways and icy parking lots can be risk factors for falls in winter. Avoid a bad fall with these top tips!

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Walk like a penguin

The penguin waddle helps you keep a centre of gravity over the front leg as you step, instead of split between the legs. Short strides also help keep your centre of gravity, which helps avoid falls. When walking, extend your arms out from your sides to increase your centre of gravity. Don’t keep your hands in your pockets!  Walk slowly, with short strides and try to land your steps with a flat foot.

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Keep walkways clear

Shovel snow and scrape ice as soon as possible. Liberally sprinkle ice melt product or sand onto walkways to provide foot traction and to make sure surfaces don’t turn to ice. This not only protects you and your family, but also postal carriers and others when they’re walking around your property. Where possible install or use handrails for extra support.

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Take all precautions

Be extra cautious walking after a storm. Tap your foot on potentially icy areas to see if it is slippery. Hold a railing while walking on icy steps. Stay steady by wearing proper winter footwear. Lightweight boots with a thick, non-slip tread sole will provide good traction on ice. If a sidewalk is icy down the middle, walk on the snow beside it to avoid slips.

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Lighten your load

Carry fewer bags on snowy days, since excess baggage can throw off your balance and make it tougher to regain your balance once you lose it. Keep your hands free by putting away your phone while walking – you may need to catch yourself!

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Boost balance with exercise

You can’t control the weather, but you can improve your balance through regular exercise. Exercise is an ideal way to help you stay safely on your feet because it helps improve balance, flexibility and strength. Talk to a chiropractor about ways to improve your balance and strength in order to prevent falls.

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Visit your chiropractor

Don’t let a fall get you down. If you do take a tumble, visit your chiropractor. They’ll get you back to doing the things you love to do and will work with the rest of your care team to help prevent future falls.

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#winter #staysafe #december

How To Make Exercise A Regular Habit

By Dr. John A. Papa, DC, FCCPOR(C)

The Christmas season is upon us and this means that New Year's resolutions are not far behind.  Starting an exercise program will likely be on many people’s resolution lists, and for good reason.  Regular exercise has long been identified as an essential element of good health.  Despite this fact, many struggle to make exercise a regular habit.  Below are some helpful tips that can help individuals stick with an exercise program.

Make Exercise Convenient:  Incorporating regular exercise into a busy life necessitates some planning and sacrifice so it becomes a priority.  This may require scheduling exercise into everyday routines and/or making regular exercise as convenient as possible, thereby increasing the likelihood that it remains a priority.  Exercise does not need to be time consuming.  Regular bouts of exercise for as little as 30 minutes a day can have a positive impact on health.

Make Exercise Safe:  An exercise that may be considered safe for one individual may not be safe for another due to age, physical limitations, and other health concerns.  If you are not sure where to start, consult with an experienced individual such as a personal trainer or health care provider who can assist in choosing activities that are appropriate for you.  If you have been inactive for a period of time, gradually ease into activity and take it slow.

Make Exercise Fun:  Individuals should choose a range of exercise activities that they enjoy.  Performing these activities with a workout buddy, friend, or family member also results in the exercise being more satisfying.  Those individuals who choose fitness and recreational activities they enjoy are more likely to be consistent with those activities.  Having another individual to share this with also increases the likelihood that you will continue with the exercise activity.

Make Exercise Feel Good:  Not only does exercise make you physically stronger; it also has the benefits of releasing excess tension, building self-esteem, and stimulating the body’s natural “feel good” chemicals called endorphins.  Although there may be some initial physical discomfort when beginning a new exercise program, this may be your body’s normal response when starting a new activity and should not last more than one to two weeks.  If discomfort or pain persists beyond this point, seek advice from a knowledgeable individual to make sure the exercise you are performing is appropriate and being done correctly.

Make Exercise Practical:  Individuals beginning an exercise program need to have realistic expectations about the amount of time they can invest, the activities they will enjoy engaging in, and the physical and psychological benefits they expect to experience.

Regular exercise leads to tremendous health benefits that can be initiated by individuals of any age or shape.  Hopefully we have inspired you to invest in the health of your future.  From all of us at the New Hamburg Wellness Centre, good luck and Season's Greetings!

This article is a basic summary for educational purposes only.  It is not intended, and should not be considered, as a replacement for consultation, diagnosis or treatment by a duly licensed health practitioner.

Common Back Pain Myths

By Dr. John A. Papa, DC, FCCPOR(C)

80% of all Canadians will suffer from at least one significant episode of back pain in their lives.  Below are some of the common myths surrounding back pain and what modern science has to say about them.

Myth 1:  If you’ve injured a disc (i.e., herniation, rupture), you must have surgery.

Truth:  Surgery to relieve back pain should only be used as a last resort.  Even if specific testing reveals a damaged disc, recovery often results without surgery.  An injured disc in the back may become inflamed and put pressure on nerves and surrounding pain sensitive structures.  Non-surgical treatment aims at minimizing pain and discomfort from joint irritation and muscle spasm, and prescribing specific exercises to help with recovery.

Myth 2:  Most back pain is caused by injuries or heavy lifting.

Truth:  Injuries caused by heavy lifting do not account for all back pain.  In up to 85% of cases,
individuals can’t recall a specific incident that brought on their back pain.  Back pain can result from a single exposure to a bending or twisting incident, or it can be caused by small cumulative loads placed on the spine over time.  Scientific research also links the following risk factors to back pain: smoking, being overweight, poor posture, poor physical fitness, and stressful life events.

Myth 3:  X-ray images, CT and MRI scans can always identify the cause of pain.

Truth:  Even the best imaging tests cannot identify a muscle spasm or ligament sprain that may be the cause of pain.  Imaging is usually reserved for special cases such as those suffering trauma in a fall or accident, surgical candidates, unresolved cases of severe chronic back pain, and suspicion of underlying tumor, infection or other serious disease.

 

Myth 4:  If your back hurts, you should take it easy until the pain goes away.  Bed rest is the mainstay of therapy.

Truth:  Clinical data indicates that individuals who remain active do better than those who try bed rest.  Remaining active means continuing with daily activities as tolerated and easing back into a regular routine.  Activities may have to be modified while recovery occurs, but movement is important for recovery provided it does not put the individual at risk for further injury.

Myth 5:  Diagnosing back pain is simple and straightforward.

Truth:  The causes of back pain can be complex and difficult to diagnose.  There are many biological tissues that can generate pain in the back.  These may include muscles, ligaments, bones, nerves, and joints.  Quite often it is a combination of several or all of these structures that can manifest into back pain, and potentially radiating pain into the buttock or leg regions.  Sometimes stress and depression can also contribute to back pain.  A licensed health practitioner who deals with back pain is best trained to diagnose the source(s) of your problem and prescribe appropriate therapy when required.  For more information, visit www.nhwc.ca.

 

This article is a basic summary for educational purposes only.  It is not intended, and should not be considered, as a replacement for consultation, diagnosis or treatment by a duly licensed health practitioner.