Physical Health

For an athlete to reach his or her full potential, proper nutrition is essential. The right fuel at the right time—before, during, and after a competitive event—not only ensures sustainable peak performance but also helps with injury prevention and recovery. As a former amateur athlete and a father who watches his daughter endure the intensity of competitive volleyball, I have developed a great appreciation for the power of food (both positive and negative).  

Nice weather inspires an extra mile or two. Cheering at an interval class leads to setting a new personal record with kettlebell swings. An extra hour gardening means the job gets done sooner. Trying kickboxing for the first time? Push it to keep up with the class! Who wants to be left behind? 

The cold sucks. Ok, I said it. In case that first sentence was not clear enough, I am not a fan of the cold. In fact, I don’t like it at all. It just makes me want to grow a beard and hibernate. In college, I used to grow a beard every November through March and try to stay indoors as much as possible during that time period. When I braved the cold to attend classes (apparently, most teachers did not want to hibernate like I did), it was always as quickly as possible. School, home, school, home. Extra sleep during those months was always welcome.  Strange hibernation and facial hair habits aside, sleep is a very important part of our lives.

Twitter. Pinterest. Instagram. Facebook. Trivia Crack. Fantasy football. Email. Text messaging. Many other things. We use our phones for almost everything but phone calls. All of these things involve staring at the screen, usually with some scrolling or tapping thrown in for good measure.

In our sports clinic, my friend and fellow PT, Mark, states it best. He sees a patient sitting in our waiting chairs, hunched over and cramped up like a wadded up napkin after dinner (hopefully without the meatball stains). The question that follows is as perfect as the answer he gives to his own question. He asks them: "Do you have back pain (or neck or shoulder pain)? No, not yet? Ok, you will."

Have you ever accomplished anything great with an inconsistent effort? Unless failure is considered a great achievement, you probably haven't. You must exercise consistently to get the results you want! It blows my mind how many people don't even try to be consistent with their diet and complain about not seeing results. Even the best programs are ineffectual if they are not followed on a consistent basis.

Women are sometimes afraid at the idea of adding muscle due to their fear of becoming "bulky." Relax; it's a little harder to add that kind of muscle mass than you think.

What if the epic training montage from Rocky IV (YouTube it if you haven't seen it) were real life? While we can't all have a song like Hearts on Fire as our personal soundtrack or own an American Flag robe like Apollo Creed's, we can still take some lessons from Rocky's training.

Let's pretend for a minute that this montage is actually a single exercise session. In the aforementioned film clip, Rocky and Ivan Drago are shown performing interval training involving resistance exercise intermixed with bouts of high intensity cardio. This type of high intensity interval training (HIIT) is extremely popular at the moment.

You are tired of it! All of those people slowing traffic by jogging and biking on the road. Don’t they know that people are trying to get to work on time, shop for a new outfit or are hungry and want get to a restaurant? How RUDE! Ever been in a checkout line behind a guy who just left the gym? PEEEW! Besides a 15 item express lane, there should be one for sweaty and smelly post-fitness-routine customers. For the sake of the general public’s convenience and welfare, please read this article and gain powerful insights into why you should NOT be doing any exercise!

Myth: Stretching reduces the risk of injury

Fact: In early 2004, the US Centers for Disease Control released a report which analyzed over 350 studies arouond the globe The report’s bottom line: Stretching has not been proven to lower the risk of injury during activity and may even increase your chances of winding up on the sidelines.

Healthcare, Business Leaders and Professional Athletes Join Forces to Help Young Athletes Play Safe and Stay Healthy

Today, leaders in healthcare, wellness, safety and fitness came together to launch the STOP Sports Injuries campaign. The campaign will educate athletes, parents, trainers, coaches and healthcare providers about the rapid increase in youth sports injuries, the necessary steps to help reverse the trend and the need to keep young athletes healthy.

STOP Sports Injuries campaign highlights include teaching proper prevention techniques, discussing the need for open communication between everyone involved in young athletes' lives, and encouraging those affected to take The Pledge to become advocates for sports safety and take the preventative measures to keep kids in the game for life.

          Many of us walk like stressed out zombies- tensely dragging through a life that's like an over-filled martini glass spewing its mixture of stress hormones and toxins with our every move. Tight from worries about the past and fears of the future, our muscles desperately grip our bones. Adding to the aging process, each daily obligation engraves more wrinkles across our zombie foreheads. Are we too busy to truly live? Is there a way to break the trance of distraction that dominates our consciousness and ravages our emotional and physical health? If we are willing to change our zombie walk and bend our bodies a little, the answer is YES!

 “A Beginner’s Guide to Creating the Fitness Habit” 

Loathe it or hate it, in some form or another, exercise is one of life’s necessary ‘evils’. It doesn’t matter where you live, how much money you have in the bank or who you know – Your body is your responsibility… and you only get one.
Some think of exercise as pure hell.  Others simply refer to it as the “E-word”.  And then there are those who have found ways to completely eliminate all thoughts of physical activity from their minds (and have less-than-stellar medical records to prove it). But on the positive side, exercise doesn’t mean you have to join a gym or spend a ton of money on high-tech moisture wicking clothing. Exercise is supposed to be fun.  It’s what our bodies are meant to do.  Hard to believe, huh?

I am writing this article to hopefully clear up the misconceptions about Kundalini Yoga. As one of the few Kundalini yoga instructors in the area, I am often approached by persons with a certain amount of caution, hesitation, and questioning. “What is this style of yoga you teach?” and “I’ve heard that people can lose their minds practicing your style of yoga” and even “Are you the sex yoga instructor?”  Other yoga instructors will say, “You better be careful. Are you sure that Kundalini yoga is safe?” And then there are others who have never heard of Kundalini Yoga —yet another reason for writing this article.
The following is what I have learned to be true about Kundalini Yoga: it is known as the Yoga of Awareness, it is very safe, it is incredibly healing, and it is not sex yoga, though it does make you feel really good!