Author: Jared Gailes

Are you struggling to stay active while you’re cooped up and wondering how you can stay healthy and fit while in quarantine? You are definitely not alone. In the current circumstances of lockdown, working out may sound like a farfetched idea.

But there are exercises you can do at home without the need for fancy equipment. Before we get started, let’s address the “Achille’s heel” in your fitness agenda and how
to overcome them.

Can You Really Maintain a Work-Life Balance While Working From Home?

You might think that you just received a gift from the stars by getting the opportunity to work from home. You can work in your PJ’s all day long with your dog/cat curled up at your feet with flexible hours (you work when you want as long as the work gets done). Your partner and/or child(ren) is in the next room over. And there’s no commute! It looks like your job and life finally integrated…

But wait. You start sleeping later and later. Eventually, you lose track of the day, the time, and the hour.

Your face has become glued to the screen and you think, “OMG. I haven’t left my computer other than to sleep in 11 days.”

The lack of a routine is a silent killer of the work-life balance for people who work from home, which also includes exercise.
Ironically, the lack of activity also kills motivation and productivity.

This lack of motivation can also translate to more hours sitting behind the screen because you didn’t use your time efficiently — maybe due to those bouts of “brain fog” because you haven’t been active.

A sedentary lifestyle can lead to all sorts of health problems from excessive fatigue to weight gain to muscle and joint problems; which will inevitably cause you miss out on life going on right in your house.

The bottom line is that you need an exercise routine for your health, your family, and your friends.

How working in an exercise routine can improve your job performance

You might think that some people are more naturally “on” than others. But chances are, this appearance of productivity, wit, and enthusiasm might have more to do with a healthy lifestyle than innate talent.

Regular exercise can help you:

• Improve your mood and mental health: When you exercise, your body releases chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, serotonin, and more. These help you regulate your mood, energy, focus, stress levels, and motivation to keep you going strong. You can even get the coveted “runner’s high” from a chemical called anandamide, which also happens to be a chemical linked to your endocannabinoid system.

• Keep your brain structure and function strong: Exercise has been shown to stimulate the body’s release of chemicals that support learning and thinking.

• Improve your sleep: If you’re not sleeping, you’re definitely not going to think as sharply. A little exercise in your life can certainly help with this.

• Strengthen your bones and muscles: You may not immediately see the relevance of bone density and muscle mass to work focus, but it’s there. If you’ve ever experienced a “bad back” and had to sit at a computer all day, you know the importance of this. If you’re bones and muscles are strong, you’ll decrease the chance of aches and pain in your muscles and joints that can hamper your work efforts.

Best practices for working in an exercise routine while working from home
It’s never too late to start some healthy habits. Here are some tips to help you work exercise into your routine:

• Set a time (and stick to it) for exercise: Procrastination is your worst enemy when it comes to exercise. Just because we can’t go to the yoga studio at a set-time, does not mean we can’t schedule it. Set your calendar with a day, time, and hour for exercise with a link to your favorite exercise video.

• Include exercise as part of your day: If you have a choice between the elevator and the stairs, take the stairs. Alternate between running and walking while taking your dog out. Or hang laundry by hand during one of those “I must take a break to do chores” procrastination moments. You name it, you can find a way to make it “exercise.”

• Make your workstation an exercise station: You don’t have to set up a fancy standing desk or bicycle desk to stay active, but you can make it more active. You can stack books on a table, desk, or other raised surface to make a standing desk that you can step back and forth from in order to keep your body engaged as you work. If you can set up two screens with a splitter cable, that’s an added bonus– as you’ll be forced to regularly turn your head and twist your body slightly as you work.

• Make yourself accountable: Got a workout buddy? Schedule a zoom workout session together or create an exercise diary together. When someone is part of your routine, it is easier to make yourself do the work.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog post where we will give you:

5 exercises you can do at home that will get your blood
flowing and joints moving.

Answer: Your immune system could use the boost!

Chiropractors deal with the Central Nervous System (CNS) which controls all body systems. Your spine and skull, apart from giving you a vertical mechanical foundation, form a protective house for the CNS.

When the spine is in it’s natural, perfect alignment, the CNS is allowed to perform all of its functions perfectly.  When the spine is out of it’s natural, perfect alignment, CNS interference is created. This means the brain can no longer optimally communicate with the body and visa versa.

Chiropractors call these spinal misalignments, subluxations. Subluxations can cause much more than neck pain, back pain and headaches. In fact, some of the most frightening health problems are the ones you cannot feel, no pain is present to alarm you that some dysfunction is occuring.

Subluxations, if left undetected, can over time cause chronic body system dysfunction in the absence of pain.

You may or may not have back pain right now or have neck pain or headaches either – yet your immune system could be suffering right now because you have spinal subluxations, and you don’t even know it. Your chiropractor is your go to expert in detecting and correcting spinal subluxations, this corrective procedure is called a chiropractic adjustment.

A chiropractic adjustment is a painless, safe technique used by thousands of chiropractors every year. Spinal adjustment may be immeasurable for your current and future health.

Call or email Chiro Center Norwood today so we can discuss your health.

New clients specials are available.

chirocenternorwood@gmail.com

Phone: (781) 352-8146

1. Sports Performance, Injury Prevention, and Recovery

Percussive massage provided by a massage tool by a licensed healthcare professional helps improve the muscle contraction, which results in the lengthening and strengthening of the muscles and fascial tissues. The main purpose of a this type of bodywork is to help relax the muscles and relieve tension in the body, which would help shorten the muscle recovery time between workouts, as toxic debris are constantly being eliminated to allow the muscles bounce back within the shortest possible time. 

For every deep tissue Percussive Massage with the massage tool, fluids and tension are released within the deep muscles and this results in improved circulation, as the blood and tissue cells exchange substances which help boost tissue metabolism. The supply of nutrients and oxygen is also improved, therefore increasing blood circulation throughout the body. It also helps prevent overtraining due to the sedating effect it has on the nervous system. It heals and prevents injuries, as the improved circulation helps break down adhesions and the increased production of nutrients and fluids could help with quick tissue repair. 

Sports performance is also improved, as the massage guns help increase power and performance, which makes the muscles more flexible and efficient.

2. Advanced Vibrational Healing & Powerful Pain Relief

Vibrational healing is a form of healing that is based on vibrations and subtle energies, without any dependence on other systems of healing. It is based on each person’s unique energy field and is known to be efficient. Interestingly, a massage gun provides this same benefit, as it delivers vibrations deep into the muscle by using the “percussive therapy” technique.

The vibrations from the massage tool help improve blood and lymph circulation around the body, which helps produce more oxygen and nutrients into the muscles. The result of this is speedy recovery, improved range of motion, pain relief and relieving muscle fatigue and soreness. Pain in the neck, shoulders and lower back can easily be relieved with the advanced vibrating effect from massage tools.

3. Rehabilitation

Percussive Massage is known to be one of the most effective forms of injury rehabilitation therapy, as it not only speeds up the recovery process but also prevents re-injury. Massage tools work as a supplement to the standard injury rehabilitation process and encourage healing and recovery of atrophied muscles due to trauma or disease. Improved circulation into the muscles and fascial tissues helps the injured areas to become more flexible and heal within a short time. 

4. Release Lactic Acid

Lactic acid forms when the oxygen levels in the body are low and the body begins to compensate for it by converting newly formed lactate into energy. This often happens during intense exercise and the lactic acid tends to build up in the bloodstream faster than it can burn off. This could make you feel exhausted, nauseated and have cramp feelings in your muscles. A massage tool can reverse this, as it helps the release of lactic acid and other toxins from the muscles to surrounding tissues. This will help reduce the risk of muscle soreness that often comes after a prolonged exertion due to lactic acid accumulation.

5. Increases Blood and Lymphatic Flow

Percussive Massage provide deep tissue massage, which increases the rate of blood flow and stimulates the nerve receptors responsible for dilating blood vessels. The lymph works to remove waste and toxins from the bodily tissues and the flow is controlled by muscle contractions; this means less active people might not be stimulating enough lymph circulation while very active people might be accumulating too much of it. This could result in lymphedema if not controlled. However, with a massage tool, you can create a balance, as it helps improve circulation throughout the lymphatic system.

6. Relieves Muscle Spasms and Stiffness

Massage tools can help relieve muscle spasms and stiffness that may arise from an intense workout. The muscle spasm often leads to ischemia in the muscles, which means the muscle is lacking proper blood flow. This could result in spasms that are painful to the touch. The massage gun works by applying pressure to the muscle, tendons, and ligaments to help them become relaxed, thereby reducing spasms and painful contractions

7. Breaks up Scar Tissue

Scar tissue is made up of collagen fibers that help with the repair of damaged fibers in the body. However, the elasticity of the tissues does not measure up with the natural muscle tissues of the body. Massage tools provide deep tissue massage, which will help break down these scar tissues, thereby alleviating pain and relieving restriction. You can use massage guns not only for sports injuries but also for post-surgery scar tissues. 

Chiro Center Norwood offers Percussive Massage Tools as part as our patients treaments plans, call or email us today to schedule your appointment.

Back pain is the sixth most common health condition among adults in the United States, leaving chiropractors as the first line of defense for the physical health of nearly 16 million adults. But as social distancing has become the new norm, patients are wondering if their pain is even worth a visit to the chiropractor at the risk they may contract novel coronavirus COVID-19.

What the experts say

The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security has deemed chiropractors as essential workers during this pandemic meaning many Americans will still be able to visit their doctor for back treatment. But to some chiropractors, the decision as to whether that treatment is telemedical or in-person all depends on the severity.

Dr. Jared Gailes, from Chiro Center Norwood, recommends that you listen to your body and get adjusted when you are experiencing musculoskeletal pain that would normally be alleviated by receiving chiropractic adjustments. 

Any neck, back or extremity pain that prohibits you from performing normal Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) is reason to get adjusted by your chiropractor. Examples of ADL’s include all activities you normally perform in keeping yourself clean from brushing your teeth to taking a shower. Also getting dressed and performing all simple household chores. These activities require you to raise your hands above your head, when drying and combing your hair and pulling your shirt overhead. Also bending forward at the waist over the sink while brushing teeth, cleaning dishes, putting pants on and putting socks on your feet. Also bending forward while mopping and sweeping floors and squatting while picking things from the floor and carrying groceries and other items. 

All of these ranges of motion present your spine with various loading and unloading forces that may misalign your spine leading to pain at the neck, back or extremities. When your spine is out of alignment, pressure on the nerves can create pain, weakness and numbness. If left uncorrected, these misalignments can become chronic and present with more severe symptoms such as neuropathy, muscle wasting and loss of motor control to the affected body region.

Telemedicine

Chiropractors across the nation are already switching from in-person appointments to telemedicine in order to assure their own safety, even major insurance companies like BlueCross BlueShield and Anthem have been approving insurance coverage for telehealth visits. And those who have decided to stay open are taking heed to recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus such as waiting rooms requiring patients to sit six feet apart, sanitizing tables, and using face masks. 

“At Chiro Center Norwood, we are helping to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus by allowing space in the schedule between patient visits to both keep a minimum of people in the clinic at any one time and also thoroughly sanitize the tables between visits. Face masks are worn by patients and doctor and staff and hand sanitizer is used by all.”

Ultimately, the decision on whether to visit the chiropractor or not will be left to the individual patient to decide for themselves, but as cases of the coronavirus continue to rise the CDC suggests the best method to stay safe is to stay at home.

Source: WebMD Medical Reference and Jared Gailes, D.C., Chiro Center Norwood.