EmPower Pilates & Yoga - Free Healthy Tips

Lyme Awareness

5/18/2015

Most human cases of Lyme disease are caused by nymphal or immature forms of ticks. Nymph tics are about the size of a poppyseed & because their bites are painless, many people don't even realize they have been been bitten.
*Lyme disease is known as the "Great Imitator" because symptoms mimic many other diseases. Symptoms of Lyme disease include but are not limited to:

flu like symptoms that clear up without treatment
headaches
light or sound sensitivity
depression
abdominal pain
sleep disturbance
shortness of breath
**LESS than 50% of people develop the bull's-eye rash**
for a further list of symptoms visit: ilads.org
***Symptoms can persist even AFTER early treatment

*Lyme testing is ONLY 30-50% sensitive.

Our very own Erin Garvin tested negative 1 week & 6 weeks after being bitten. It was not until week 8, sending her blood to a lab that did more sensitive & comprehensive testing, that she tested POSITIVE for 4 bands of Lyme disease.
Make sure to find a tick literate doctor who is associated with ilads.org

Co-Infection

There is always a confection with Lyme/Borellia & 2 of those confections are not treated with the same antibiotics as Lyme/Borellia. For example, Erin has a co-infection which is in the malaria family that creates 4 week cycles of debilitating fatigue and weakness.

*Prevention

Wear light-colored long pants & long sleeves so you can easily see any ticks.
Tuck shirt into pants & tuck pants into socks.
Use DEET on skin & treat clothing with spray containing permethrin.
Do a thorough tick check upon returning inside and for several days following exposure.

**Homemade Tick Repellant**-2 cups water-1 cup white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar-Few drops of essential oil- peppermint and citrus smells deter ticksSpray on pets, yourself, clothing, and even your lawn to repel ticks

Breathing

5/18/2015

Decrease Pain & Stress by Simply Changing the Way You Breathe
Why is breathing well important?*When you breathe deeply you are less likely to recruit secondary respiratory muscles in the neck and collarbone that can cause neck & shoulder pain. *The diaphragm attaches to the lower back, breathing deeply promotes circulation to the lower back, decreasing lower back pain.
*Deep breathing supports the parasympathetic system telling your body to feel calm, whereas short, shallow chest breathing adds to over reactive adrenals & stress response.
Test YOUR breathing:* Place one hand on your chest & the other on your navel.* Take a breathe* If the fingers of your lower hand don't move, you've got potential to breathe deeper!
HOW to breath:
1. Forget about keeping your belly flat!
2. Place your hands side by side on your abdomen, fingertips meeting just below your navel.
3. Take a long, deep breathe in through your nose, filling your lungs, all the way down to your belly, causing your fingers rise with the inhalation, then filling up through your chest.
4. Exhale through your nose, feeling your hands lower with the breathe moving out
5. Repeat and feel yourself de-stress and calm
What a great trick to know! Try breathing deeply when you have to sit for long periods of time on a flight or watching your child's sporting event. Let us know if breathing deeply improves the way you feel!

Have you been experiencing muscle cramps or waking up with a Charley horse? Warmer weather could be the cause.

4/10/2015

    Who isn't enjoying the warmer weather, getting outside & being active? Whether it's playing tennis, riding a bike, or playing with your kids, as the temperatures rise, you'll find yourself going outside more. Unfortunately, this can lead to being jolted awake by muscle cramps in the middle of the night.
Q: What's the cause?
A: Research tells us that leg cramps are twice as common in the summer, & even more so as weather changes from cooler to warmer. As our bodies acclimate to the heat, we sweat more & lose body fluids more quickly. Sweat contains magnesium & potassium in the form of electrolytes, & a deficiency of these minerals can results in increased muscle cramps.
What can you do about it?
1. Stay Hydrated.  Drink water throughout the day; if you can't, make sure to drink water before bed. Water is a natural cramp reliever. Mixing tonic water with water may also help offset cramps. Another great natural hydrating drink is coconut water with it's high levels of potassium.

2. Stretch it out.  Stretching before bed can help prevent leg cramps in the middle of the night. Do a standing calf stretch with one leg in front of the other, knee bent, and back leg extended. If the problem occurs higher up on the leg, a hamstring stretch should do the trick. Stand facing your bed, place your forearms on your mattress, folding forward at your hips hold for a 20-30 second count. (Remember stretches should be gentle and not cause extreme discomfort or pain.)

3. Increase potassium & magnesium intake. A simple imbalance may be causing a vitamin deficiency in the body, making it difficult for the heart's system to push enough blood down into the legs. Magnesium regulates muscle & nerve function, blood sugar levels, & blood pressure, while potassium serves as an important electrolyte with similar roles in addition to water regulation. Great sources include: asparagus, bananas, leafy greens such as spinach, Swiss chard & kale, cantaloupe, white & sweet potatoes with skin on, citrus fruits, tomatoes, kiwi, papaya & squash. Other options include: almonds, cashews, peanuts & walnuts, as well as their respective nut butters.

Sources:

Garrison SR, Dormuth CR, Morrow RL, Carney GA, and Khan KM. Seasonal effects on the occurrence of nocturnal leg cramps. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2015&Livestrong.com

Is your driving posture hurting your back & neck?

3/15/2015

3 Quick & Easy Posture Driving Tips to save your body

1) Sit with a neutral pelvis. Sit evenly on the right and left side of your pelvis and evenly touch the right and left back side of your pelvis to the car seat. Imagine the pelvis is a bowl of water and the water doesnt spill forward or back (not too much arch like a gymnast and the tush shouldn't be tucked under flattening the lower back curve.)

2) Sit tall, & adjust your rear view mirror (and side view mirror) so you have to have correct posture when you drive.

3) Sit tall & Stick/Pin the shoulder blades & back of head to the car seat. Imagine velcro on the shoulder blades and back of head so they touch the back of the car seat when you drive.

Are you doing this posture no-no right now?

3/15/2015

Check your posture now. Are you projecting your head & neck forward when you read emails? When your head creeps even one inch forward of neutral, you put 12 pounds of pressure on the neck & 32 pounds of pressure on the lower back. It's an easy habit to fall into while reading, driving, or working at the desk, yet easy correct.

For proper, lengthened posture & to reduce posture-related pain,

1) Slide your head back (like its a drawer) until the ear is in line with the shoulder from the side view. Imagine someone put stinky cheese in front of your nose and you pull away from the smell. When you retract the head, beware not to accidentally tilt the head up, causing excessive extension & a deep crease where the skull meets the back of the neck. Instead,

2) Keep the jawline parallel to the floor when you retract the head. Throughout your day, notice where your head is in relation to the shoulders, & pull your head back. Frequent practice makes this habit easier to maintain. Start feeling taller & better now

Are you giving yourself wrinkles right now?

3/15/2015

Check your face right now.
Are you clenching your jaw or wrinkling your forehead? Over time, our faces show our chronic expressions in the form of wrinkles. Although I find smile lines attractive, many wish they could eliminate the worry lines between and above the eyes and reduce discomfort in the jaw. The jaw muscle is the strongest muscle per square inch in the body so clenching puts a lot of pressure on the jaw (think: TMJ.)

To reduce wrinkles & jaw discomfort, notice your face during times of stress or intense concentration. Without judgement, relax the forehead, relax the eyes, and relax the jaw. This mini- progesive relaxation for the face is a great tool to use throughout the day and to relax before bed.

Are you Exercising too much? 11 Signs of Over Training!

3/15/2015

Eleven Signs you're overtraining & need to REST:
1) Resting heart rate 5-10 beats higher than your average. Numbers are hard to argue so this method works well with highly motivated athletes who can easily talk themselves out of emotional signs of overtraining.

2) Large Change in Appetite: no appetite, Intense Craving for Sweets.
3) Decreased performance on same protocol
4) Emotional Changes (grumpy, apathetic, disinterest in workouts & usual hobbies that cause joy.
5) Injury, & tendencies towards injury.
6) Unproductive Sleep-you wake feeling unrested.
7) Easy to get sick/ Reduced Immune system
8) A personality of "having to exercising" even when you don't feel like it. PS Figure out what that is about so that demon doesn't rule you anymore.
9) Increasing workout volume & intensity over 10 percent per week. Overtraining is common in high achievers who just start a workout program and want results now. If you run 20 miles a week, this means only adding 2 miles total the next week.
10) Feeling like you are superwoman/man in your workouts (this is when you are at high risk of overtraining.)
11) Educated People who care for you question your amount of training.

Remedies:

1) Rest & Sleep Sleep raises levels of growth hormone a primary muscle repair agent and reducing inflammatory chemicals like cortisol, IL-6 and TNF-a (Dement 2000; Gonnissen, et al. 2012)Increases protein synthesis & helps nervous system return to relaxed state. Sleep improves immune function.Although individuals vary, 7-9 hours is usual, and athletes usually need more sleep (8-10) than non-athletes.
2) Eat enough highly nutrient foods -especially within the golden hour or half hour after finishing the workout. Nutritious foods help balance the body's internal pH and reduce acidosis and inflammation.
3) Establish a flexible, well-thought out workout plan that includes recovery & Rest. A couple key points are to:
a) never add more than 10 percent to your exercise load per week.

b) Train in Microcycles: For example, train 3 weeks harder followed by one week of lighter activity. A trainer that is educated in the power of recovery can help monitor signs of overtraining.

4) Decrease other stressors in life

5) Keep a journal of workouts, resting heart rate, how you feel upon waking & during a workout, & general attitude.  In short, Rest is just as important to your health as movemen t& nutrition. Keep it as part of your routine!

Protect yourself from Falling

3/15/2015

Are you at a high risk for falling? Can you Balance on one foot for 60 seconds? The inability to maintain balance for a full minute on one leg is associated with a greater chance of falling that year.  There is a strong relationship between advancing age and declining balance. Practice this one drill to improve your balance, decrease your risk of falling, and to stay functionally younger.

Try these Easy Tests:60 Second One-Legged Balance Drill: Eyes Open
~Stand barefoot with arms over the chest. Focus on a spot on a wall in front of you at eye level. Raise one leg to that the raised foot is near but not touching the ankle of the stance limb. Make sure not to lean or tilt the back. Try three times & record your best try. Keep striving to balance for at least 60 seconds.

30 Second One-Legged Balance Drill: Eyes Closed.~Stand barefoot on one leg, cross arms over chest, & close your eyes. If unsure of your balance & agility, keep fingers hovering near a stable surface like the back of a chair. Make sure not to lean or tilt the back. Try three times & record your best time.
Reducing visual input forces the brain to focus on input from the spine, hip, knee, and ankle thereby improving the stability of these areas. Strive for 30 seconds of balance with eyes closed.
Note your best times of these drills and practice daily to see improvements. Our group classes & private sessions at EmPower Pilates & Yoga always include balance so visit our studio or speak with your trainer for more ways to improve balance, reduce your risk of falling, and stay functionally younger.

Three Easy tips to strengthen your Feet & Prevent Falls

3/15/2015

Intrinsic foot muscles help us support our three natural arches of the foot, provide a solid foundation of optimal alignment for the rest of the body to rest upon, & improve balance & prevent falls. Foot muscles are like any other muscle in the body in that they need to be "stressed" beyond normal loads to get stronger. Try these 3 easy exercise daily to strengthen your precious feet!
Foot Crunch: While sitting or lying barefooted, curl all toes to the underside of the foot & hold for 3 seconds. Do this 10 times per foot.
Towel Walk: Place a towel on the floor. Starting at the end closer to you, use your toes to scrunch the length of the towel all the way towards your foot. At first try this exercise seated; for a challenge, try balancing on one foot while walking the towel with the other foot.
Towel/ Hankerchief Toss: Use your foot to pick up a dish rag or hankerchief from the floor. Toss the cloth to your other foot & repeat 5 times per foot. At first try this exercise seated; for a challenge, pick up the rag with one foot while balancing on the other.

Lyme: Arm yourself with knowledge & advocate for your health. From Tick-Borne Disese Alliance.org

3/15/2015

Lyme disease is a clinical diagnose because there is no definitie diagnositc test yet. Many eperts believe the Lyme's ELISA test is only about 30-60 percent accurate, & even less so within 2 - 6 weeks after the tick bite, the critical time to treat lymes for the best chance of recovery. The practioner should be lyme-literate to make a diagnosis, & must check for co-infections since many co-infections like Babesi & Bartonella, don't respond to the Doxycycline commonly used for Lymes. "There has never in the study of Lymes been one study that proves that 30 dys of anitiobiotic treatment cures lyme or tick-borne diseases. (Many practictioners default to an even more useless 10 day course of antibiotics.) However there is a plethora of documentation in the US and European medical literature demonstrating that short courses of antibiotic treament fail to eradicate the Lyme spirochete & other tick borne bacteria." Although a bulls-eye rash is definitive (DO NOT Wait for a positive, insensitive Lyme test before treating.) Fewer than 30 percent of lyme patients report a rash, & that should not be used as the sole sign of infection. If you suspect Lymes (flu-like symptoms in a non-flu season or after a tick bite although many people never see the tick)*Save the tick as it can be sent to labs to test for infection*Track symptoms*Bring a copy of ILADS guidelines & treatments to the doctor.*Contact a lyme-literate Dr (ideally ilads recognized) in the first visit or as soon as you can. *Make sure to send blood to a CLIA approved lab that specializes in tick-borne diseases & tests for bands 31 & 34 not tested in normal labs. e.g., www.igenex.com 1-800-832-3200. * For a lyme-literate Dr. email medicalinfo@tbdalliance.org. * For more info: Tbdalliance.org & ilads.org. Article cited From tbdaalliance.org