Wellnessrevolution101’s Blog

For the longest time, I’ve been one to pack my schedule with as many activities and plans as possible. At some point, I lost sight of what and why I was doing these things. I once thought relaxation was meant for the weak. In 24 hours, I would try to accomplish 48 hours worth of work. It all caught up to me one day, when I was getting a massage during graduate school and all I thought about was what I was going to do after the massage and what needed to be accomplished after this “short break” from the madness. Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy or let myself enjoy my “relaxation” time.

My mind is a very powerful thing, but when it’s on the move, I can’t stop it. This behavior led to further mental breakdowns and physical breakdowns, as well. I was increasingly getting more anxious and wasn’t able to sleep many nights. Furthermore, I put on so much pressure to perform that during one of my exams I had a panic attack. It was probably one of the scariest things to happen to me, because the room got warmer, my vision began to blur, my breathing rate increased and I felt as if everyone could hear me breath. My hands began to tremor. My world got very small and very isolated at that moment. I didn’t finish the exam, because I couldn’t.

Looking back now, I knew that my mind was made up: if I didn’t take that break now, I would lose my mind forever. I marched myself up to my academic adviser broke down in tears and told her I just couldn’t do it. For the first time in my life I saw the limitations of my mind and body. I forfeited 15K dollars of tuition to finally take my break. I spent the rest of that semester volunteering and helping low income and underprivileged youth. I enjoyed spending time with my friends; I laughed more and breathed more.

In the end, it was worth it. It truly has made all the difference in my life. I came back to graduate school and finished (with less stress of course) on the Dean’s list multiple times. I enjoyed life more and absorbed more. I just became more present. Now I know there are some of you out there that deal with this on a day to day basis, but practice putting yourself first. Be mindful as in my book, Mindful Movement, (get your free copy here). Be present, because once your mind goes, so will your body. And you might not have the insight to just take a break. But do it, because that dark horizon could be very near and you may not see it.

Enjoy the air and keep breathing,

Justin

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
…Robert Frost

Who drives the industry to make it better? People like you do. This is going to be one of my ranting blogs, but I’m sure many of you will agree with what I say.

Today, I was sitting around thinking about how much my life has changed, as I have aged and matured. Then I thought about how little I knew when I was much younger and less experienced. Although, at the time I thought I knew it all and was very content. It took my further questioning of life and my career development to seek me to get the proper guidance and advancement I needed. With every twist and turn I’ve grown and seen that modifications and changes needed to be made in order to further myself.

I could certainly take this topic in many directions. I choose to speak to you about how you, the public, drive the advancement of health care. Naturally, we seek the attention of the very best. We’re willing to wait hours to see the doctor that has treated us well and paid attention to us. It’s worth the time.

As in many similar topics I have referred to, YOU drive US to get better and more efficient. When you ask questions and seek the best advice, the industry has to evolve. Physical therapy for one has needed to change and progress. Although not without resistance from older or narrow-minded practitioners, the physical therapy practice has evolved greatly and is looking to become the preferred provider for all your musculoskeletal needs. Many people and industries become obsolete if they don’t stay current with the public’s needs, desires, and concerns.

With your fitness trainers, you should ask them about their schooling, their certifications and what they learned from them. You look to them for professional advice and the least you can ask for in return, is to be in safe hands while achieving your greater goals.

Personally, if something were to happen to my parents and I needed the appropriate care of someone, I would want them to be in the very best hands. The practitioner should be on his or her “A” game and afloat with all the latest knowledge. Time is crucial and the practitioner should take the correct measures to get them where they need to be. As a consumer, I expect the best from my practitioners, those whom I work with and those who I go to for advice and treatment. So why wouldn’t I pursue the same? I’ve been told that I treat patients well, because I treat them as if they were my friend, sister, parents, or loved ones. After all, that’s what counts…isn’t it? So ask those you go to, to be at their very best. That’s the least you should ask. YOU drive US to be better. It’s my courtesy to help you get the very best advice along the way.

Live great! Check back soon!

Justin

Today I was prompted by my student who reported that he had gotten in a heated argument with a trainer, who trains using workouts from a certain website that instructs you to do as many 3-4 intense exercises with certain form and weight in a determined period of time. This website, and others like it, has been recently the latest craze of fun and innovative ways to perform exercises and build lean muscle. Meanwhile, poor guys like me continue to preach the boring stability and postural exercises that I do.

I wanted to tell you all. Websites like these, KEEP ME IN BUSINESS AS A PHYSICAL THERAPIST.
While many of you don’t question this latest craze, I will. Although I am not an opponent to doing fun innovative exercises with jumps and twists, I realize there is a time and a place for those tasks.

Why is it so successful? Well, the premise is to get you active and tire you out after 20-30 minutes of circuit typetraining, which makes the average person feel like they have gotten a great workout.

What is circuit training? It’s a type of training that works on expending energy quickly with different exercises and little rest. It’s meant to increase endurance and work on decreasing fatigue over time, as well as build lean muscle mass.
Sounds pretty good right? Like I said, there is a time and a place for these exercises.

What ’s the downside? Fatigue usually yields poor stabilization to moving joints. Poor stabilization usually yields injury. Also, being sore for 2-3 days isn’t a good thing. See The “Sore” Truth blog entry.

If I want to build muscle and strength quickly, will this circuit training help? Of course, if you pass the initial risk of injury and get through with decent form, you’ll gain lean muscle mass. Heed my warning, muscle strength and mass adapt and change more quickly than your tendons. Give your tendons time to grow.

What can happen if you build muscle too quickly? Well, the end result is muscle failure, where the stress is much more than tendons can handle. Tendonitis and even worse a muscle or tendon tear can result.

Now I am going to assume that many of you haven’t trained correctly to get yourself to ready for these intense exercise regiments. What’s that mean for you? INJURY can result and then you would have to continue doing those exercises I have always recommended that you start with, for a much longer period of time. You will also be sidelined and out of fun life activities because of these seemingly fun new innovative short workouts.

Your #1 Fan,

Justin

Greetings Wellness Friends, I hope life has been treating you well. Over the past month, I’ve encountered people who have performed exercise with the “no pain, no gain” mentality. Although many individuals feel that it’s considered a good work out only if they achieve soreness anywhere between the end of their workout to a few days after.

I hate to spoil it for you all, but this is unfortunately a common misconception. Here’s why: Our bodies tend to follow the General Adaption Syndrome or (GAS).When introducing a new stressor, like an exercise, our body will become stimulated. The body will respond in two ways: If it meets the correct stimulation and threshold, your muscles will get stronger and bigger or become more “toned.” However, if the stress is too much, it goes into the exhaustion phase and leads to breakdown.

Soreness is our body’s response that our muscles are breaking down and trying to recover. It also means you likely have an inflammatory process (much like a blunt injury) that creates a little or a lot of swelling in the area. Swelling has been shown to deactivate important muslces for stabilization of moving joints. If it persists for a couple days after, it is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS. In simple terms, if you don’t give yourself adequate rest and continue to break down too much of your muscle cells, this will eventually lead to injuries or the compensations of wrong muscle groups. If you are experiencing soreness, remember to ice several times a day, on and off for 20 minutes.

What’s that mean? If you trying to rehabilitate your shoulder with the mindset that you need to be sore in order to be working out correctlys, you will likely see little or no progress. Make sure you seek advice for recommended program from a fitness or health expert who can design you a program tailored for your level of fitness or rehab.
And if you are seeing a professional that promotes this…find someone else.

Wishing you a fun-filled and healthy day,

Justin

Since I have been in the health profession, I can expect most people I encounter to ask me a question like this: “I get weird popping, snapping, or cracking noises each time I move this. Is it bad? What is going on?”
Is it bad? Of course it is. Some may tell you otherwise, but if one day your car made a funny noise when you turned left, would you suspect something was wrong?

Someitmes, a tight tendon that runs over some structures, such as the side of your hip, can cause a snapping noise. On other occasions, a knee out of alignment that doesn’t track properly can cause that noise when you straighten or bend it. Does it hurt? It may or may not hurt, but it does mean that something in your body isn’t lining up correctly. A joint may have positioned itself incorrectly or is restricted due to tight or weak structures.

What these weird noises in your body probably mean is that you’re joint is INSTABLE. The necessary structures to prevent increase movement may have undergone some changes or tears, become weak, or is overused.

Some unstable joints can cause a locking up feeling when they move out of place just far enough. Same goes for your feet, hands, hips, knees, ankles, back, neck, and shoulders.

Long term, these unstable joints may increase shear forces and can grind out of your joints. So what’s the definition of arthritis? It’s just that.

What can you do about joints that are instable? You exercise them and work on postural and stability exercises. For example, when a knee cap continues to pop out of place, you need to perform strengthening exercises for the muscles surrounding the knee cap. This would ensure that the muscles are strong enough to keep the knee cap in place.

Go see a licensed professional to have your specific concerns checked out immediately. Waiting for the noise to go away can cause greater harm than you expect.

In some cases a joint that isn’t moving or a bone that isn’t gliding correctly needs to be moved and in some instances it needs to be adjusted into the correct place. So instead of trying to correct it, please do me a favor and leave it to the professionals to take a look and to align it, if needed.

Be fantastic and have a wonderful day.

Justin

A tribute to my patients and clients, past and present.

I wanted to side track from my usual fitness topics. I was just thinking today how big of a fan I was and the many thanks I owe to all of you. I realize I wouldn’t be the type of practitioner or person I am without any of you.

I’ve seen many things in my life but the purest feeling is something I see every day. I think you should all know the secret that keeps me going: Your courage and will to better your health and revolt against your current situations. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for trying to better our situations in life. So many people just settle. It takes strength to walk into a place and ask for help because you may not know what is going on. It takes persistence to go to the therapy clinic or the gym 3-5 times a week.

I don’t think I could have chosen a better profession. Granted, not every day is sunshine and rainbows and work is work. However, I am always excited to be a part of your lives for that very moment and be the one you turn to for your health and personal concerns. I get to celebrate births, help you chase a dream of participating in a triathlon, or give you the chance to be more active. The list goes on.

My dream is to travel around the world and to speak to anyone who would listen. I am envious that many of you have had a chance to travel, live, and experience a life I could only dream. I ask you about foods you’ve eaten, the sites you’ve seen, or why you chose to live at a particular place. You tell me about your jobs as if I were a colleague and explain so many things I don’t know anything about. I learn about the intricacies of your life day in and day out. I see your fears and upsets and I share in your joy in accomplishing your goals.

With your active lives and achy joints or your goal to lose 10-20 pounds, I realize you have to be inspired to dedicate your time to the tasks I recommend. You set an anticipated goal with me, you fit me into your life, and then together we fight for it. That is amazing!

From moments when the outlook is grim and you are fighting a terminal disease, to when you ask me to help you at your sickest moments to sit up from your hospital bed and assist you to the bathroom rather than call a nurse, I get to play a part in all this.

It is this role that keeps me going back to the clinic or the gym, so that you can tell me your feeling better or that you tried this one exercise and it makes sense in your life. The powerful addition to the health equation is YOU. Thanks for letting me be part of your life and for being a part of mine. I appreciate the adventures and stories. The life knowledge you give to me is priceless. Don’t forget that each and every one of you holds a fascinating life with limitless of potential.

Your #1 Fan,

Justin

What is compensation? Compensations and compensatory muscles are given a bad name in the rehab and fitness world.  How many of you know why compensations happen or what it implies?

I’ve recently had to explain to patients what compensation is and found it very challenging.  We use the word so often, its meaning is essentially “lost in translation”.

So what does it really mean? Compensation is the recruitment of the incorrect muscles is an adaptive change that your body undergoes to perform a chosen task.

Let’s use walking for instance. Typical desk jobs can create compensation issues when walking. By sitting most of the day, your hip flexor complex located at your groin area tightens or shortens.  A shortened hip flexor muscle will then cause you to tilt forward.  So, when walking few people will walk hunched over because then you’ll be facing the floor.  We, therefore, compensate by walking upright and therefore causing the front of your hips to tip forward instead.  Now what muscles will allow you to walk upright with a tight hip flexor?  Well your tiny thin back muscles (paraspinals) are going to over extend your low back and be over used ALL THE TIME!  Then….I think you know the breakdown process: low back pain.  The hip flexor and low back muscles are compensations for your glutes muscles and your abdominal muscles such as your transverse and oblique abdominals.

This is just one of many compensatory strategies your body could do.  Let’s breakdown the main principle: YOUR BODY WILL USE UP ALL AVAILABLE RESOURCES TO PERFORM A TASK. That means that if you have a limitation, you’re body will find a way to rearrange itself to perform the task the best way it can.  It won’t be the healthiest way, but the task will be accomplished.  The main task you thought was perhaps to just walk, but the real underlying task is to walk upright.  You’re body will compromise from using the correct muscles because your hip flexor is a limiting factor and prevents you from being upright. Compensations ultimately lead to the breakdown of other muscle groups that are relied upon to complete those tasks. Those muscles weren’t built for those specific tasks and when overused, will break down. Thus, it becomes important to reduce compensation as much as possible.

How do you decrease the likelihood of compensating? Better muscle timing will decrease compensation.  As I spoke about in my press release with Dave Cosnotti, it’s necessary to create a re-organization of the strategy and to have your muscles fire at the correct moment during each movement. If you’re muscles are not firing properly, other muscles can compensate for this lag. So please read the press release here for more information.

It’s also critical to maintain a proper posture to prevent compensation. Constantly engage your core muscles, at detailed in Core Correction 101, and always be mindful of the alignment of your body, whether sitting or standing. If you’re sitting for too long, stand up every 15 to 20 minutes to re-position your body briefly.

Additionally, I use manual techniques to re-educate the muscles and taping techniques to keep joints from moving too much. If compensations are a great concern for you, it’s best to see a physical therapist. But, if you are only in a mild level of discomfort, you can decrease tension by using a foam roller.  You can click on the link here if you wish to purchase one. Use the foam roller to roll out any tension in your body. For example, for stiffness in you buttocks from sitting too long, simply sit on the roller and roll it back and forth. Similarly, you can use the roller on different areas of your body.

Compensations can cause all sorts of discomfort in your body. Be mindful of what muscles you are using, so that other muscles are not overcompensating for weak ones and thus, causing you discomfort.

Your #1 Fan,

Justin