Toronto Chiropractor Presents an Appetizing Mid Spine (Thoracic Spine) Stretch

Morning Guys,

Hope the weekend was great for everyone.

Today’s video features strength and conditioning Guru, Brett Jones, doing a stretch called… you ready? The BRETTZEL.

Amazing stretch for getting rotation and movement into that all important mid or thoracic spine.

I really can’t stress enough how important I feel proper mobility is in this area of your body. Without proper function here other areas of your body (ie. low back, neck, shoulders) will no doubt be affected eventually. Which is why if a patient is coming to see me with low back, neck or shoulder issues you better believe they are getting some sort of manual intervention or stretch to help get that oh so important mobility back.

Without further ado…. The BRETTZEL

Just one more quick thing before I let you go. Tomorrow’s post is going to feature Dr. Lisa Camilleri, a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, whom I have the pleasure of working with in my Toronto Clinic. She has a ton of insight into natural remedies, acupuncture, homeopathy, and herbal medicine. A great clinician and resource and just a really  nice girl. Come and read her thoughts on how to get ready for that all so harsh cold season.

Have a good one guys,

Joy

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor and 3 Small Tips in the Gym with Massive Effects

Friday… Friday…Gotta Get Down on Friday…. Ahem. Sorry about that.

Hi guys,

So today I have 3 simple tips/ideas that may be just what you need to get the gains you are looking for.

1. KEEP THOSE SHOULDERS BACK

Although this should be done for most if not all exercises there is one particular muscle group in mind that this will have great effects on: the Chest. After careful observation in the gym this little mistake was evident on most individuals. So when doing a bench press/chest fly the tendency is for people to push up/out all the way forward. When you do this though, your shoulders tend to follow and come forward. You are actually recruiting your shoulder muscles into the mix and thus are activate less of the pectorals.

Focus on keeping those shoulders from rolling forward and you should feel that increased burn in your chest.

2. THROW A ROPE IN TO THE MIX

A rope can be incorporated into a bunch of exercises as oppose to only primarily the tricep pulldown (which is what I see it being used for 99 percent of the time). Rows, bicep curls, lat pulldown, chops, pretty much anything you can do on a multi-purpose cable machine can use a rope. This will help work not only those muscles that you are trying to target but also help work on your grip strength.

Increased grip strength will then in turn help you if you hit standstills in deadlifts and conventional close grip rows.

3. TRY UNILATERAL (ONE SIDED) TRAINING/LIFTING

By only loading one side of your body your body is forced to activate internal muscles that will act to stabilize your core.

A Suitcase Carry (holding a dumbbell in one hand and walk in a straight line turn around and come back) for example will activate a muscle called the Quadratus Lumborum which . This muscle is important in core stabilization as well as stabilizes the 12th rib during breathing and helps in changing direction when sprinting and dodging.

That’s all for now. Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Joy

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor Presents Philosophy Nutrition and Sweet Citrus Chicken

Hey Guys,

Half way through the week. Hump day again. Check out another great recipe from my friends at Philosophy Nutrition.

Today we have a Sweet Citrus Chicken. Wicked dish. Another amazing way to liven up a simple chicken dinner. Pair it with a salad for a light dinner or pasta and rice great for a post workout refuel.

Sweet Citrus Chicken

http://cloud.snappages.com/499c81d82b51b948a9168a5d466bd256a77a55db/Sweet%20Citrus%20Chicken.%20Philosophy%20Nutrition.pdf\

Have a good one folks,

Joy

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor Strengthens Your Core part 2 (The Plank)

Hi Guys,

Welcome back to another rousing blog post. Today’s topic of discussion is one we’ve tackled before: strengthening your core. If you read my last post on the this topic you know my thoughts on core strengthening.

1. Core strengthening is not abdominal strengthening.

2. My thoughts are not to strengthen the core by doing repetitive movements, but instead resisting movement.

Today we are talking about one of my favorite core exercises: The Plank.

The plank may look fairly simple and easy but anyone who has done one with proper form and technique knows that you are quivering and shaking like a scared little girl by the end (no offense to scared little girls out there). It’s also an exercise that can be modified in a few different ways to make it more challenging as you feel you progress to more advanced phases.

Here we go folk.

1. Lay face down on the ground with your body straight and your feet shoulder width apart.

2. Brace your core. By brace I don’t mean suck in your stomach. Flex your stomach muscles as if someone was going to punch you.

3. Come up on your forearms so that your elbows are directly below your shoulders and the angle at your elbows is at 90 degrees. Hold your body in a straight line from head to toe AND KEEP THAT CORE NICE AND TIGHT!!!

4. Hold for as long as you can.

5. Drop down and relax. Rest for 40 seconds or so then repeat.

A

B

Note: Both these two ladies have pretty good form. Back is nice and straight and in line with their legs all the way down to their toes. Their butts are not too high and not dipping low. It’s a perfect line.

There is one slight difference, however, between the 2. Can you guess what it is? Yup. While the lady in A is looking up causing her head to be tilted back, the woman in B is looking straight down keeping her neck nice and straight and maintaining that oh so important neutral spine.

Once again an amazing exercise. Great for working that core and alleviating back pain. Add this one to your workout. Do it today. Right now. Go on.

Have a great day everyone,

Joy

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor and Dr. Jessica Lee on Alzeimer’s Disease

Learn more about Dr. Jessica Lee

Happy Monday,

Everyone notices that as we get older, there is a decline in our memory abilities.  Suddenly, we forget to buy certain items at the grocery store, we can’t remember where the heck we put our glasses, and what was the name of that person you just met??  While a certain amount of memory decline is expected with age, there is a condition affecting many people nowadays called “Alzheimer’s Disease”.

I recently attended a talk regarding Alzheimer’s Disease that was mainly geared towards understanding what a person with Alzheimer’s may be experiencing and being prepared financially for chronic diseases.  Dr. Lisa Genova, author of “Still Alice” described what it feels like to undergo the disease during the presentation as well.  It made me recall my own grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s towards the end of her life and how my mom and sister found it quite tough to care for her.

As this condition is becoming quite common, I have compiled some quick information about it.

What is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain condition that leads to significant memory loss, making it very difficult for these people to communicate with others.  The circuitry in the brain becomes blocked with clumps of protein called amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.  It is the most common form of dementia and there is currently no cure.  There are medications available to slow the disease, but nothing that will reverse the damage.  It usually develops after the age of 65; however, there is a genetic type of the disease where people can get it between 30 and 60.  It is much more common in females (72% of cases), and the prevalence is expected to be quite high in the coming years.

Early warning signs include forgetfulness (more than usual and quicker than typical aging), severe feelings of depression, severe mood swings for no reason, confusion, and inability to think and process things as before (such as paying bills).  Other signs include difficulty performing familiar tasks, problems with language, disorientation in time and place, problems with abstract thinking (such as counting), poor or decreased judgment (such as dressing inappropriately), misplacing things in unusual locations (such as watch in the fridge), changes in personality, and loss of motivation.

As a chiropractor, one symptom we may notice of regular patients is a loss of body mass over time.  There is evidence that the loss of BMI in the elderly may clinically predict the development of Alzheimer’s Disease.

There are other conditions that present with dementia as well, so it is important to get checked out early if some of the signs are noticed in order to rule out other causes.

So what are some things we can do to prevent or slow down Alzheimer’s Disease?

• Long-term physical activity – exercise helps to slow the protein buildup in the brain
• Engaging in mentally stimulating activities
• Maintaining social networks and social involvement
• Don’t smoke!
• Eat foods rich in antioxidants
• Eating fish and omega-3 fatty acids
• Taking heart health boosters such as garlic, coenzyme Q10 and folate

How can your chiropractor help? 

Chiropractors are great at helping you perform at your best.  We can make sure that you are able to exercise and perform your activities without pain and to your fullest ability.  It is important during exercise that your joints and muscles are moving properly in order to prevent injury.  Providing care for any aches and pain that emerge and promoting better body awareness is another role we play.  Acupuncture treatment has been suggested to help with cognitive function, and nutritional advice is something we would be happy to give.

It has been found by Robert Vassar of Northwestern University that when the brain doesn’t get enough of the energy source that it needs, changes occur that leads to the clumps of protein that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s Disease.  He suggests that improving blood flow to the brain may be an effective therapy to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease.  Based on this information, some chiropractors have suggested that chiropractic neck adjustments may improve the blow flow to the brain and thus, may help prevent/slow this condition.  However, as this correlation has not been studied, so we have to be careful before jumping to conclusions and to take this hypothesis with a grain of salt.

For those of you who have a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, please remember to take care of yourselves as well.  It becomes extremely difficult to watch someone deteriorate in mind and body, so make sure you get the help and therapy you need and to take a rest sometimes.  There are many support groups out there for patients and their caregivers as well

Thanks for reading,

Jessica

Learn more about Dr. Jessica Lee

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor and Dr. Jessica Lee

Hello everyone,

Hope you had a great weekend.

Just wanted to write a quick introduction for another good friend of mine, Dr. Jessica Lee. Jess is again a really well rounded practitioner who does it all. Sports, family practice, insurance, you name it… Her specialties do lie in two kind of extremes, kids and seniors.

Her post today on Alzeimers is really informative and may touch home with many of you who have had experience with a family member having it in the past.

Great post. Thanks Jess.

Enjoy the read everyone,

Joy

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor and Stretching Your Butt

Hi All,

So the title says it all. Today I’m gonna show a great butt stretch.

We are specifically going to target a muscle called the piriformis. It acts to externally rotate your thigh at the hip and helps in walking, balancing, and generally stabilizing  (see below, ignore the X’s. Those are typically trigger points or tender spots in the muscle).

Here we go:

1. Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground.

2. Bring your right ankle up and place it on the lower portion of your left thigh (just above the knee). Your legs should look like they are now forming a 4.

3. Using your hands pull your left thigh towards your chest while keeping your back on the ground. The right ankle and leg should come with it. 

4. You should feel the stretch in the lower and outer part of your right butt cheek. Hold for 12-15 seconds.

5. Lower your leg and repeat on the other side. Do 3 times on each side.

This is a great stretch people!!! An absolute essential. This is a go to exercise I give to many of my patients experiencing low back pain, buttock pain, and knee pain. Definitely one to add to your daily regime if you haven’t already.

Take care,

Joy

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor Strengthens Your Core

Hey Everyone,

Hope you had an amazing thanksgiving. Lots of food and lots of love I hope. If you’re weekend was anything like mine you might have woken up this morning feeling a bit softer in the midsection if you know what I mean. So let’s do something about it shall we.

Try this exercise to work that core.

Now before I begin I just want to let you know that this isn’t a traditional “ab workout.” If you look at a lot of what is seen as conventional ab workouts (ie. sit ups, crunches, the whole P90X ab dvd) this exercise won’t seem like you are doing a whole lot. What the problem with a lot of these “traditional exercises” is that while you are blasting your abs and getting that washboards stomach, your back may be getting wrecked in the long run. Think of what your body goes through when doing a sit up. You are bending your spine then straightening your spine. Then bending your spine then straightening your spine. Then bending your spine then straightening your spine. Now repeat this 50 times. Now do 3 sets of these.Now do these everyday…. for years.

Now think about how you would break a credit card that you don’t want anymore. Get the picture?

Now keep in mind that I think that an Abdominal workout and a Core workout are completely different things. The former is targeting the external abdominal muscles (or 6 pack abs)  that will give you the traditional fitness cover model look. Lean, chiseled stomach, and (perhaps) wrecked back. The latter is targeting the inner core stabilizing musculature. These are the muscles that are closest to you spine and will help create a stable core to help offset or reduce low back pain.

So that being said, trends in core strengthening and back care have gone away from these repeated motions targeting your external abdominal muscles and instead focused on resisting core movement as to strengthen the deeper and more core stabilizing musculature.

Alright. Back to the exercise.

1. Jump on a cable machine in the gym and grab a handle. Adjust the level so that is at the level of you chest.

2. Stand in line with the cable so that it is immediately to your right or left (you should be facing 90 degrees away from the cable). Stand nice and straight 2 or 3 feet away.

3. Begin with your hands and the handle close to your chest. Relax your arms, brace your core and slowly extend your arms in front of your chest until your arms are completely straight.

From here there are a couple of things you can do.

4a. Hold this motion for a count of 10 – 12 seconds. You should not be feeling it too much in your arms and shoulders. Try to keep them nice and relaxed. Focus on keeping your core nice and tight.

4b. Slowly bring your hands and the handle back to your chest. Repeat the motion 10-12 times. Remember the purpose of this exercise is to resist movement (specifically rotation). Make sure your hips, torso, and shoulders are all in line and do not hike your shoulders. You should see no rotation throughout your entire body.

5. Release the cable and repeat on the other side.

6. Rest and repeat for 3 sets total on each side.

Note: pick a weight so that the last few seconds are a challenge (4a) or the last few reps are a challenge (4b). Make sure to keep that core tight throughout the entire exercise.

So do you see what I mean about resisting movement as oppose to repeated movement. This is an exercise that will definitely work to strengthen that core with minimal stress on your back and spine. This is often a exercise I will give to patients who are looking to reduce back pain.

Thanks for reading everyone,

Joy

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor Breaks Down the Squat

Hi All,

So today we’re tackling a bit of a challenging topic: how to perform a squat.

This is one of my favorite compound exercises. Great for hitting multiple muscle groups, burning fat, increasing metabolism, etc. The list goes on and on. I think everyone and their mom should squat.

But this is a hard exercise to do with perfect form even with someone (ie. a trainer)  right there with you coaching you on how to do one. So learning how to do it properly by reading about it is going to be extremely extremely hard. Let’s try anyway. Start slow (bodyweight or bar only) and pay particular attention to form and technique. Quality movement over quantity of movement.

I’ll explain it here using just your own body weight.

1. Feet shoulder width apart with feet angled out 30 degrees. The angle of your feet will be important in achieving proper squat depth.

2. Brace your core and slowly begin to squat down (have your arms straight out in front of you to help balance you out). Pop your butt out as if you were trying to sit on a bench 2 feet behind you.

3. Make sure your knees are in line with your toes the entire time. Come down till your thighs are slightly beyond parallel to the ground. Your knees MUST NOT drift over your toes. This is going to absolutely wreck your knees in the long run.  Your heels should be on the floor the entire time.

BAD!!

4. DO NOT look straight ahead and stick your chest out (A). Although this is what is commonly seen in a lot of squat techniques it is actually more likely to cause more stress then necessary in your spine and knee. Instead focus on keeping your back in a neutral (flat  position). Tilt your head down and look at the ground. Keep the back of your head in line with your back and butt. If someone is looking at you from the side they should be able to draw a straight line from the top of your head to your butt (B). Remember that your knees should not be ahead of your toes (even though the picture has his knees beyond his toes).

A

B

5. Move back up to starting position and repeat.

Some things to note:

• I suggest starting off with body weight squats. If you’ve never done a squat before or have never done it using good technique then this will be hard enough for you. If you can’t do a squat with proper technique using just your body weight you have no business using external weight. Once you can do this using just body weight for a full 12-15 rep, 3-4 set workout then add the bar with no weight. Once you can do it with the bar add weight.
• The addition of a bar should not change your squat form or mechanics. Everything should remain the same.
• Actually put a bench behind you when you are starting it will help you get used to the depth you need to go to and emphasize that butt popping out.
• Your heels must remain on the ground the entire time. If you can’t keep them down you need to address why (tight hamstrings, stiff hip). I have seen people popping weights under their heels to help them squat. DON’T. This is only a compensation. Doing this tricks you to believe that you have good form.
• Make sure you are hitting that proper depth. If you are not you don’t engage enough of the hamstrings to counteract the quads it creates unnecessary stress on the knees.
• Squatting for health and squatting for performance are sometimes very different things. Don’t be too focused on the weight. Doesn’t matter if you can squat 5 plates if you are wrecking your body in the long run.
• If you are having problems performing some of these points (ie. heel on ground, proper depth of squat, etc) you must address them. Drop the weight or lose the weight completely. Stretch the hips, hams, calves, etc until you can hit all the points covered here.
• Grab a spotter (preferably someone who knows how to squat) and work on it. Have them help tweak and critique your form till you got it down pat.
• I cannot emphasize enough how important technique is in this exercise. When done properly this is one of the best exercises you can do. When done improperly it is hazardous to your joints and may actually cause damage in the long run.

That’s all for now folks.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Joy

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Yonge and Eglinton Chiropractor Presents Philosophy Nutrition and Honey Hoisen Glazed Salmon

Happy Hump Day Everyone,

Today I thought I would keep it simple and show you this delicious Honey Hoisen Glazed Salmon recipe brought to you by my friends at Philosophy Nutrition.

It’s a delicious twist on a bit of a traditional dish (and pretty simple for those of you not so comfortable in the kitchen). Great for a nice light dinner or add some rice or pasta to the mix for a post work out feast. Enjoy!!!!

http://cloud.snappages.com/499c81d82b51b948a9168a5d466bd256a77a55db/Honey%20Hoisin%20Glazed%20Salmon.%20Philosophy%20Nutrition.pdf

Take care,

Joy

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