Healthy Mississauga: Exercise? How often and why?

Common questions I receive from our Mississauga, ON and Greater Toronto Area patients about exercise are the following:

1. Can I exercise if I still have back pain and neck pain
2. Do I need to exercise if I have a good diet?
3. If I walk every day at work, do I still need to exercise?
4. If I garden, do I still need to exercise?
5. Is exercise really that important at my age?

THE ANSWER TO ALL THESE QUESTIONS is… YES!

When you look at the certain requirements that we have as humans, one of the most important requirements is the ability to move.  As humans, we were designed to move.  Our bodies were made for speed and range of motion.

As time has progressed, our lifestyle has dramatically changed.  As a society, we have become increasingly comfortable and we are always content with our day-to-day lifestyle.  We reward ourselves for walking from one side of the building to the other. We feel as if we could place a check mark in the box for our daily exercise component.

So, the question is… WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON’T MOVE???

The answer to that is very simple.  We affect the outcome of our overall health and lifestyle.

BUT…let’s dig deeper and find out what type of movement we really need.

To understand this concept, you must look at your body like a HIGHLY SPECIFIC AND VERY SMART MACHINE.

Your body is made from an amazing skeletal frame and also different levers.  For this reason only, you need to make sure that there is some weight bearing exercises introduced at least three times a week to increase stress and strength to these areas.  This means that you can incorporate some free weights and utilize certain functional movements such as dead lifts, squats, pull-ups, or push ups or bench press (if ready) in your routine to support your skeletal frame and muscles.

But…THIS IS ONLY A SMALL PIECE OF IT.

The other half is that you want to utilize exercises that will actually increase your CARDIOVASCULAR AND RESPIRTATORY output and allow your ENGINE (heart) to rev up and down.  This will allow your PIPELINES (arteries and veins) to slowly help break down areas of excessive plaque buildup and prevent from any future related issues – will also affect your kidneys.  Some recent strategies we see our friends using are High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T.), running sprints, or working out at an intensity where you can elevate your heart rate to a “controlled” level.

If you can maintain focus to utilize movement at least three times a week, you will be able to maintain structure and live a more “functional” lifestyle.  In addition to this, for your machine/body to move you need the proper FUEL (water and nutrient dense foods – very important and more information available at Modern Nutrition 1.0 – June 24th).

Finally, a question we had this week in the office was that even though Mississauga, ON and Greater Toronto Area patients had a strong FRAME, working LEVERS, a top notch ENGINE and PIPELINES… Where did “Structural Chiropractic” fall into this health care plan?  Structural chiropractic deals with locating spinal shifts/displacements that can affect the overall transmission of the NERVOUS SYSTEM which in this analogy is the SPARK PLUG.  Without a properly functioning SPARK PLUG (nervous system), the other components of the machine will NOT work to the level of efficiency as they are designed to.

The take away from this blog is to make sure you have balance in all your lifestyle components.  Make sure to increase your weekly MOVEMENT, take in the right FUEL, and keep a POSITIVE thinking mind.  Also, if you haven’t already done so…make sure to have your spine and nervous system (spark plug) checked for any spinal displacements.  It could one very IMPORTANT component you and your family are missing on your way to true health.

Healthier Families. A Healthier Mississauga.