The end of January is in sight! If you’ve been getting more active this month or sticking to a diet – well done!! Did you know that many sources cite about one month as the time it takes to form a healthy habit? The key now is sticking to it, and around this time of year, this might be getting hard…
Keeping active
Whether it’s running, biking, swimming, lifting weights, or doing yoga, many people use a new years resolution as an excellent reason to try to improve our overall health – that’s a fantastic thing, and many of us do manage to keep going through the first part of the year – but as January passes many people find they simply can’t keep up with their new regime and fall back into old habits. There are many reasons for this, but a key one is that it’s simply become too difficult for your body! – everyone wants to feel better and look better, but no one wants to be stiff, sore or just in pain!
For those of us who haven’t exercised consistently for a while, or are simply switching to a new form of exercise, some physical stress is to be expected – after all, you’re asking your body to live rather differently from how things may have been. The trick to success in the long term is supporting your body to maintain optimal movement while you make changes to your lifestyle. While we don’t have a magic wand and can’t magic away the pounds or improve your personal best overnight, chiropractic can help you maintain how well you can bend, twist, jump, and move overall so that you can stick to your goals!
How can Chiropractic care help me to be more active?
Chiropractic care has been part of the wellness conversation worldwide for well over 125 years. While most people now think of chiropractors as specialists in back pain (and yes, most people do come to see us complaining of back and neck pain) the primary focus for chiropractors is really movement-based care. We’re all about “move better, feel better, heal better.”
It’s no secret that when your neck, arms, shoulders, upper back, lower back, hips, legs, knees, ankles, or any other part of your body isn’t “stuck”, you feel better in yourself and are able to focus on your health and fitness goals without struggling just to make it out the door. When you’re able to move as freely as you wish, you have one less thing weighing on your mind – you feel less “run down” and you have less of a need for those over-the-counter pain medications, energy drinks or endless cups of coffee (which, by the way, may be ruining your sleep!)
Critically, Chiropractors don’t just focus on dealing with “sore spots” – rather, we’re concerned with improving your neuromusculoskeletal function as a whole, using techniques such as spinal manipulation and other natural, movement-based methods.
In fact, a focus based just on “where it hurts right now” isn’t the best way to improve movement at all! Your overall health is influenced by three types of movement, and chiropractic supports all of these. Segmental movement is how well your body’s individual joints move. Regional movement is how well your neck, low back, arms, and legs move, and whole-body movement is how well the regions interact with each other to allow full-body movement. It’s only when all aspects of movement are addressed that you can see tangible improvements in your ability to do whatever it is that you’re trying to do.
The great news is that chiropractic techniques address all of these areas together, and many of our clients see and are able to maintain significant benefits to their ease of movement with an adjustment lasting less than 10 minutes every week or two.
Regular chiropractic adjustments can positively influence the function of your nervous system, help decrease aches and pains, and help relax your muscles – this improves segmental movement[1]. As part of our care, we introduced and constantly adjust stretching and flexibility drills for each patient – regular stretching can help to improve your range of motion, biomechanics and energy levels, greatly improving regional movement.
Finally, the combination of these allows you to undertake exercises and postural improvement drills which address weaknesses in, and then seek to optimise, whole-body movement. Over time this allows you to support, and then optimise your movement patterns.
Stiff, Sore, in pain?
If you’ve started the year well but you’re feeling tired, sore and worn out after a month of your new routine don’t give up – come and see us at Complete Chiropractic and let us help you support your body as you make positive change!
[1] The Use of Spinal Manipulation to Treat Injury. J Can Chiropr Assoc. 2016.
