When folks are in their 30's or 40's do you think they are thinking about mobility (on health, i.e. walking, jogging,riding a bike, etc) in their 80's? Probably not! The opposite is also true, many folks in their 80's routinely think, especially if they have mobility issues; "What if I took better care of myself when I was younger, would it of made a difference?" Of course it would make a difference if you focused on protecting your health in your early years.
Who wants to use a cane, walker or electric chair? Mobility matters.
No one, especially if they can prevent these mobility issues - and you can! It's not old age problem, get that fallacy out of your brain immediately. What can you do to secure your mobility well into your later years, here are three life altering tips that if you embrace will have you walking upright till you're 100.
Mobility Rules:
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Mobility
Rule: One
Move your butt. You must do weight-bearing exercises, walking is not enough. Oh sure, someone has an Aunt Jane who walked three miles daily and lived till 110 yrs. old and died with a smile on her face. Is that the norm? Not even close.
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Strength training exercises build muscle, building muscle helps enhance and then PROTECT mobility! Working to enhance the big muscle groups in your body is the key to long mobility, they are your posterior chain muscles, and leg muscles. Biceps look great on the beach, so work those too! And to walk up and down stairs and help prevent you from being placed in a nursing home you have to work the big muscle groups.
Rule: Two
You are what you eat! This is so easy to understand intellectually and yet practically many still drop the ball. Mainly because we think our bodies can take the abuse and there is always TIME to change. The reality is either you are building health or you are laying the ground work for chronic debilitating disease. Number 1,2, and 3 killers in America are directly related to lifestyle choices. There is no middle ground. All or nothing. Protein, good fats, good carbs - avoid the garbage as much as you can.
Rule: Three
You must protect the frame-work of your body - this is your spine and the rest of the skeletal system. You must protect your nervous system - which goes hand in hand with your muscles, fascia, and most importantly your spine. Doing yoga or Pilates is NOT enough, doing Cross fit is not enough - NO matter how much you mobilize with those foam rollers (I do cross fit - not bashing just telling you the FACT).
Why?
When you have a structural shift in your spine, pelvis that is outside normal, then your muscles, fascia, ligaments will not work properly. You will damage the joint surfaces and you will cause degeneration - osteoarthritis. Massage, yoga, Pilates, Cross-fit, running or any other exercise DOES NOT address correcting structural shifts.
They help:
increase strength
Increase flexibility
Increase stamina
Does not help structural shifts. Not a knock, just a fact. Correcting structure of the spine is an art and science, it's not a DYS with a foam roller and a personal trainer. As a Structural Chiropractor we look to cause plastic deformation of the ligaments, this is done by our non-invasive correcting technique that is specific and gentle, along with complementary SLR (Structural Ligament Restoration). Ligaments hold the spine together and hold all bones together, if they are not properly addressed it will not matter what exercise you do, because soon your body will fail and no exercise will be possible. Then you are looking at surgeries, pain pills and walkers. Not a scare tactic, this is reality - go out this weekend and just see all the people who are bent over and cannot stand straight or the people whose heads are so far anterior or forward you think they were going to fall over.
Each time you see a person that is hunched over, leaning side ways, rounded shoulders and have a "granny hump" realize that the majority of people IF they followed my three rules would be in dramatically better shape. When you are young, you can compensate for these shifts with medication, delay, rest and just realize the problem will accumulate and once enough damage is done - then you are toast. There is a limitation to how much your body can heal from, this I think we all can agree is reasonable.
Structural shifts must be addressed by a Structural Chiropractor, the focus is to get these joints back into normal range to help your:
Yoga
Pilates
Crossfit
Running
Biking
Swimming
All to work better, so you can perform better and so you can do these activities well into your eighties.
Have a great Day!
Dr. Chris Chase.
About Dr. Chris
Dr. Chris is the owner operator of Advanced Chiropractic in West Hartford; his focus is on structural correction of the spine which is different than traditional chiropractic. He uses gentle, specific, non-invasive procedures using the S.C.I to enhance your spine back into normal range and then teaches you how to protect your spine on your own.
More information, please call 860.523.5465
www.advancedwesthartford.com
https://www.facebook.com/advancedwesthartford1
