by: Lake Erie Spine & Injury Center

Embrace Your Inner Wisdom

Life is about our daily habits that make us who we are.  The other aspect to regular habits is they also create the opportunity for dynamic breakthroughs.  The wisdom of our bodies responds very strongly to our regular, daily habits.  Think of any time when you had a regular routine - either filled with good habits or bad.  The daily workout of a bodybuilder or the 16 hour computer routine of a professional game player will show the results of consistent patterns of behavior over time, the longer we do them.  Just like our lives can end up being defined by what we do with regularity, for both good and bad, the same goes for the body.

The body also responds strongly and quickly to receiving what it truly needs and has been missing.  Chiropractors see this regularly when someone new to care has dramatic symptomatic improvements very quickly.  This is obviously great to see patients have great changes quickly. However both of these concepts occur in tandem - even great breakthroughs don't change the power of habits to make or break us over time.

Chiropractic is the same - great lifestyle coupled with great care makes great outcomes.  And it is easier to facilitate a great change quickly with someone that has taken very good care of themselves. While habits may seem like work, they are actually part of what make the great breakthroughs occur.

"Don't Make Your Chiropractor Say 'Yikes!'"

One of the avoidable problems a chiropractor sees is when a patient has hurt themselves working out.  All of that hard work can end up going down the drain.  Make sure you get the benefit of the hard work that you do while you are exercising at the gym by avoiding the biggest mistakes.

Most importantly, avoid the very worst exercise for most people - sit-ups!  While some people can do sit-ups fine and get away with the various stresses they cause, the group of people that should be most cautious of relying on sit-ups as a big part of their fitness routine is anyone that has had a history of lower back trouble.  The most sensitive positions of the lower back involve rounding the low back forward, especially if that forward rounding involves side-bending or rotation movements - exactly the ones that many people use during sit-up variations.  These are the positions where the lower back is the most susceptible to stresses, and any force on it gets amplified substantially.

The reason why this exercise is so commonly used by the exact same people that should avoid them the most - people with a history of lower back trouble - is because they want to strengthen their core to avoid further injury.  This is the unfortunate definition of irony, and something that your chiropractor can help you avoid.  Once you know the most basic mechanics of the low back, you can be a lot safer in the gym.