The Best Way to Beat Back Pain is to Keep Moving and Wait It Out
About 25% of Americans say that they have had back pain within the past three months. Treatment of back pain with opioids has been a contributing factor to the crisis of drug addiction in this country. New guidelines recommended by the American College of Physicians say that non drug therapies such as massage, superficial heat, spinal manipulation,…
Tags: Fitness
My Talk with Dr. Eric Goodman, Creator of Foundation Training
A few years ago my friend Dave, who was dealing with back pain, asked me if I had heard about Foundation Training. I said, I think so, but let me take a look.” So I looked. Foundation Training is a strengthening and movement program designed to help people get out of back pain. After reading Eric’s first book, Foundation, I decided to take a deep…
Tags: Fitness, Inspiration
The Best Stretch for Tight Hip Flexors
Foundation Training Lunge Decompression Extensive sitting creates havoc on our physiology and our architecture. When we sit, our hip flexors tighten and shorten, which causes a whole lot of trouble for our body – lower back pain, knee joint discomfort; imbalance of muscle strength, posture problems, and even a difference in leg length. The Hip…
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Exercise Technique- Dead Bug
I love dead-bugs, not the insect kind but the core exercise kind. Dead-bug progressions are not flashy or sexy like a TRX atomic push-up, but I still really like them like them because they can teach you a lot. This is one of my favorite intermediate variations of the exercise. Having contact with the floor provides some feedback so you are more…
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Telomeres, The Secret to Healthy Ageing
Telomeres are a hot right now. Ok, maybe not with everyone, but telomere talk is big within groups interested in longevity and healthy ageing. What are telomeres? Telomeres are caps on the strands of our DNA and sort of look like the plastic tips on the end of your shoelaces. Shorter telomeres are associated with a shorter life span and chronic…
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Exercise Technique- The Push-UP
Exercise Technique- The Push Up Push-ups are one of my favorite exercises because you can accomplish so many things with this one simple exercise. It is a wonderful core exercise; it also strengthens the pushing muscles of the upper body. As basic as this exercise may seem, I often see mistakes like, Head dropped; you want to keep your head…
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Exercise Technique: Foundation Training Founder
The Founder is an excellent exercise for strengthening the back of your body, especially the underused and imbalanced muscles of the lower back. This exercise also teaches you how to stabilize your spine properly while it increases the mobility and stability of your hips. I can’t think of anyone who won't benefit from this exercise! Hold this…
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Habits Make Us Who We Are
It is the habits and actions we take, everyday, that move us forward in life or keep us stuck. An adult makes about 35,000 concsious decisions everyday. This number may sound crazy, but in fact, we make over 200 decisions everyday on food alone according to researchers at Cornell University. It is easy to see how during stressful times, or by by the…
Tags: Fitness, Inspiration
Don’t Take Your Aching Joints Lying Down
Early in my career I was at a seminar given by a talented physical therapist named Tom Purvis. Something he said has always stayed with me: “What is the most important part of the human body to consider if you want to live a long life?” Almost all of us responded by saying that the heart, or specifically a healthy cardiovascular system, was most important. …
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Don't Just Sit There
I am sure everyone has heard that we all sit too much. Even those of us who make the effort to work out for an hour or so a day, but then sit for long periods of time, are actually considered sedentary. With this sitting behavior we actually reverse some of the benefits of our exercise program. We are designed to move, and when we don’t, there are consequences. An…
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