Dear Reader,
Do you know anyone with a balky back? The typical scenario
has the person going about their activities of daily living like
a lithe pro athlete, and then, without any notice, they
stiffen up like a board and possibly slump over to lie down
because they threw their back out again.
Over the years, I've found this to be exceedingly common,
and few people seem to know how to effectively strengthen
their core to help prevent recurrent back sprains.
Yes, strengthening your abdominal muscles can help, but it's
also essential that you train your lower back to healthfully
contract when you are in positions that compromise the
stability of your core.
It's also critical that you ensure that your hamstrings are at
a proper length, as chronically tight hamstrings create a
downward pull on your pelvis, which causes instability
in your core region, predisposing your back ligaments and
muscles to sprains and strains.
For clients who are interested in effectively strengthening
their lower back, lengthen their hamstrings, and decrease
risk of back "pulls," the best exercise that I can recommend
is a form of a yoga stance called "Warrior Pose."
For the details on how to do this, please view:
It's also important to remember that injuries are far more
likely to occur early in the morning versus later on in the
day.
The reason for this is simple: as you sleep - presumably in
a horizontal position - there is far less gravity for your heart
to do its work against in keeping your blood circulation going.
So during sleep, your heart decreases its overall output, which
leads to less overall perfusion of your tissues with oxygen
and nutrient-rich blood. This is why all of us feel stiffer in
the morning, and for those who have weakened back ligaments
and muscles from years of recurrent sprains and strains, this
is why you can throw your back out yawning or waving at
your neighbour the wrong way first thing in the morning.
The lesson is this: if given a choice, it's always better to
engage in vigorous physical activity later in the day. As you
get up and move around, your heart increases its output,
which leads to better blood perfusion of your tissues, which
decreases risk of injury.
If you must participate in physically strenuous work early
in the day, be sure to do a thorough warm-up - if possible,
enough to cause you to sweat.
If you have a foam roller, you can gently roll your largest
muscle groups upon awakening to accelerate improved blood
flow to all of your tissues. But even early morning foam
rolling should be performed with caution and only after you
have walked around for a few minutes.
Please don't forget to have a look at the form of Warrior
Pose described in the post above.
***
Sometimes, sub-optimal blood circulation that isn't helped
by movement and stretching can be due to chronic
accumulation of fibrin. Fibrin is a protein that naturally occurs
in your body and is involved in helping your blood coagulate
when needed.
Your body is designed to break down unneeded fibrin over
time, but as we age, the pace of breakdown isn't always
fast enough to prevent unwanted accumulation within our
blood circulation and tissues.
When fibrin accumulates in our blood, increased viscosity
leads to less-than-optimal flow throughout the body, but
especially to the extremities.
When fibrin accumulates in specific tissues, it can impede
normal function - the most common place where this occurs
is in the lungs.
Fortunately, fibrin accumulation can often be fixed with
proteolytic enzymes like serrapeptase and nattokinase. To
learn more about these enzymes and the blend that I
regularly use with clients to address a number of chronic
health issues, feel free to visit:
***
That's all for today, Next time, I'll show you how to make
the world class cherry smoothie that I have some clients
take to address some types of arthritis.
Wishing you and yours a safe weekend ahead,
Ben Kim
Thought of the Moment:
As a parent, I can never spend enough time meditating on
the following thought:
Our children will forget much of what we say and do, but
they will not forget how we consistently make them feel.
The same is probably true for all those we interact with, but
what an important reminder as we nurture and love the little
ones in our lives.
***
