News: August 2015

Invasion of the chairs!

Before chairs, we walked, ran, jumped, and squatted. Now, we sit on our bottoms while our gluteals, abdominals, scapular stabilizers, and deep neck flexor muscles atrophy, and our hip flexors, pectorals, and neck extensors become short and hypertonic, pulling us into an unattractive slouchy posture that eventually stays with us even when we're not sitting. But aesthetics aside, these postural distortions strain your muscles and tendons, stress your ligaments and joints, compress your spinal discs and blood vessels, pinch your spinal and peripheral nerves, and put pressure on your internal organs. This translates into a whole lot of pain, weakness, inflexibility, and discomfort.

But we're not gonna take this sitting down! That's not to say we're going to boycott chairs. But it does mean we can take actions to prevent the detrimental effects of the sitting lifestyle. First and foremost, you've got to follow the ergonomic essentials outlined here.

Second, you need massage therapy to help release tight tissues and stuck joints, and help realign your body. Third, you must strengthen your deep core muscles and scapular stabilizers, and stretch out your hip flexors in order to maintain proper alignment and prevent injury. How do you do that? It's easier than you think. Watch my two short videos below and follow along!

Start here for a a strong, pain-free body

Learn these simple core and scapular stabilization exercises to strengthen and protect your body from pain and injury, and promote flexibility and ease of movement.

Save your hips and low back with 2 easy stretches

Many of us spend hours each day sitting in chairs. Over time, this can lead to chronic pain and injuries to the hips and low back. These 2 simple stretches will help to keep your hips and low back healthy and pain-free.

What's new with me ...

There is always something new to discover in New York City. Jesse and I went on a long walk and found the High Bridge. It just so happened that the bridge had been under renovation for over 40 years and only reopened two months ago. We visited several parks and then went across town to the Museum of the City of New York to see a really cool exhibit all about the history of New York City landmarks.

Sienna is starting "big-kid daycare" in September. I'm hoping she loves it! See her radiant smile here.