3 Ways to use Your Foam Roller

Most people like using their foam roller like a meat tenderizer on their muscles. Although it may work for some, I know of a lot of people that don't like the feeling and tend to stray away from using their foam roller all together.

Foam rollers can help with recovery and self care of tight sore muscles. In this video Dr. Adam gives three way you can use a foam roller that most people never thought of.

Foam rolling for posture, foam rolling for muscle tension and foam rolling for lymphatic drainage.

Staying on Track During the Winter Months

It’s so easy to fall off track with respect to healthy routines this time of year.

The excuses come from all directions. I’m too busy. The weather is too cold. The sky is grey and they are calling for snow.

As the daylight decreases at this time of year so does the motivation to stay active.

With that said here are my top 5 tips to stay on/or get back into a good exercise routine right now.

1. Motivation is temporary, find your why instead - Watching an inspirational video is good but that feeling will wane. Get solid on the reason why you want to exercise. Is if for your health? To be the best at something? To run your first 10k this summer? To be able to keep up with your kids? When your purpose is clear, you won’t need motivation.

2. Schedule it in - The North American lifestyle doesn’t allow for much downtime, and when you do get it it’s unlikely that you will have the energy to exercise. Make sure you carve out time during your week for it. Right now, grab your phone and plan out the days and times you are going to commit. Do not compromise.

3. Get it out of the way - Leading in from the last point, there are distractions everywhere. Another phone call, email, housework, kids, etc. Get it done early so you can clear your mind. If not you will be telling yourself “I will work out later” which translates to not getting to it anytime soon.

4. Consistency is key - Commit to a schedule that is achievable. You don’t have to go 0 to 100 in a week. Build a strong foundation on a routine that you can complete and stay on track. Add on when you are following through a few weeks in a row.

5. Make it fun - Exercise can be fun too! Incorporate things that you like to do and look forward to. For me it’s cycling, for you it may be hiking, enrolling your dog in agility classes, or going for a skate with family or friends.

Correcting Rounded Shoulders with Postural Devices

Mid-back tightness is very common and this is most likely caused by repetitive strain of bad posture.

Bad posture of this nature is characterized by hunching forward and having a rounded upper back with the head forward. Unfortunately, we are prone to this developing because so many tasks we do encourage bad posture.

There are different ways you can improve your upper back posture, and one of these is utilizing posture correction devices. In this video, Dr. Adam will demonstrate how to use a specific thoracic postural correction device to improve back posture. Dr. Adam will also show you how to use a foam roller to improve the rounded upper back.

Low Back Pain Compression & How to Ease it

Low back pain is the most common mechanical type pain in all of North America. Low back pain symptoms usually cause stiffness, aches and generalized fatigue, but there are many different reasons why you can get these symptoms.

One of the main causes of this discomfort is repetitive strain for a rounded low back. This rounding of your low back makes it susceptible to injury and you guessed it, low back pain.

If you are suffering from low back pain with acute onset then it’s important to know what type of injury it is and what you exercises and stretches you can do and which ones you should avoid.

In the video below I discuss how you can identify if the low back pain you are experiencing is getting irritated with compression, as well as three exercises which you can start today to help get relief.

Piriformis Syndrome - What it is and what you can do about it.

Back pain, sciatica, hip pain, tightness in the glute, trouble putting socks on, can’t cross my legs, painful while sitting.

These are all common descriptors of piriformis syndrome. To understand what piriformis syndrome is, let’s first discuss what the piriformis is.

The piriformis is a muscle that is deep to your large glute muscles. It attaches from the tailbone to the lateral part of the hip. Its primary function is that of an external hip rotator (think turning your knee outward away from the other knee).

Another important feature of the Piriformis muscle, is its close proximity to the sciatic nerve. In most people the sciatic nerve travels beneath the Piriformis muscle and exits below. There are normal anatomical variants that can happen however, including the sciatic nerve exiting above or right through the belly of the piriformis muscle. These variants can lead to increased risk of pirifomis syndrome and sometimes can be resistant to chiropractic care or physiotherapy.

Most of the time, the annoying glute or hip pain, is easy to resolve. However, sometimes it can be resistant to change. A common complaint that is often described is that it’s difficult to put one foot on the opposite knee while sitting, while the other leg the flexibility is there fine.

If you notice this discomfort here are three things you can do.

1. Knee to the opposite shoulder

2. Gluteal foam rolling

3. Pigeon stretch

Check out the video below for the demo.