- The Authors
Jeff Thiboutot
Matt Schoeneberger
Exercise for Function, Not for Weight Loss
I’m a Corrective Exercise Specialist, and my graduate studies were focused in rehabilitative exercise. I have professional relationships with great physical therapists, chiropractors, and myopractors. Enough about me. What does this have to do with you?
I’ve seen what intelligent, focused exercise can do for people in pain, especially when it’s combined with help from a qualified and competent practitioner. Since we know exercise does not increase weight loss (if you don’t, you should read S.P.E.E.D. – The Only Weight Loss Book Worth Reading), we should focus our exercise on keeping us healthy and functioning on the highest level possible.
What we want to do is prevent injuries from occurring. If you’re in pain, it might be too late. So, get checked out even if you’re not experiencing any symptoms.
Recently, I had a consultation with a great chiropractor.* I knew I had some issues from my ACL tear last year and some other things that I couldn’t help with corrective exercise alone. I found out I had more issues than I thought, and now I can fix them before they become a serious problem.
This is where exercise comes in. Along with my adjustments, I’ll be doing specific stretching, strengthening, and integration work to make sure I get these issues resolved. I’ll be using self-massage, trigger-point, and self-myofascial release (SMR) techniques to help out too. You should be using these too!
The great part is that while you’ll be avoiding future injury, you’ll also be maintaining muscle and bone mass during caloric restriction. It’s the best of everything!
* If you’re in the Phoenix area, look-up Dr. Dominic Pisaro at Desert Springs Chiropractic for a consultation.
Filed under: Exercise — Tags: corrective exercise, weight loss — Matt Schoeneberger M.S. @ 9:40 am
Killer Computers!!!
The information age has enabled us to communicate in incredible ways, ushering in a fast-paced society where anything is possible. We can accomplish anything we need with a few clicks of a mouse or keyboard. We’ve become best friends with our computers, dependant upon their service and lost when they fail. Could this relationship be the death of us?
The human body is not designed to sit in a chair at a desk hour after hour, day after day. The human body is built for moving. Unfortunately, we don’t move much at all. The information age has also ushered in a new posture, one with rounded shoulders, a forward positioned head, misaligned hips and the pain and dysfunction that result. Associated symptoms and conditions include, but are not limited to, headaches, neck pain, back pain, bulging or herniated disks, degenerative disk disease, facet syndrome and other more complicated impairments.
A well designed corrective exercise program can help you avoid or repair postural distortions that could lead to pain and dysfunction. After all, it is the imbalanced muscular system that creates a misaligned skeleton. But, what you can fix in the gym in 30 minutes, you can easily tear down in the other 23.5 hours in the day. So, be mindful of your posture throughout your day. Maintain proper alignment, avoid repetitive movements while seated (like twisting and reaching into a filing cabinet), and get up and move around as often as possible. Remember that the best posture is one that is always changing.
