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The exercise classes for the New Year (2011) are as follows. Now that all of the holidays are over, it is time to get back into the swing of things. Join Dr. Zager in getting back into shape.
Monday mornings – 8am at Triple E in Poth – Senior exercise class (no getting on the floor) aerobic and strengthening exercises.
Thursday mornings – 9:15 am at Zager Chiropractic (Floresville) – core strengthening, aerobic, and some strengthening
Thursday afternoon – 4:00 pm at Triple E in Poth – core strengthening – (this one will start Jan. 13th)
Top 10 Wellness Tips from Dr. Zager
1. Start walking 20 minutes three times a week
2. Drink at least 2 glasses of water a day (in addition to your other liquids)
3. Make sure you get 7+ hours of sleep a night
4. Get a chiropractic adjustment to make sure your body is balanced and there are no Subluxations
5. Stop and smell the roses (slow down and relax for 10 minutes every day)
6. Use a smaller plate and bowl for your meals.
7. Strengthen up some of your Core Muscles daily
8. Improve your posture
9. Increase your portions of vegetables and fruit while you decrease your portions of carbohydrates.
10. Add 2 snacks a day (morning and afternoon). Great snacks include: yogurt (live active cultures), nuts, cranberries, small amounts of cheese and fruits, trail mix bars.
Ask about our individual wellness programs or our small group wellness programs, if you want or need help taking control of and improving your health and wellness.
How to do Garden Chores Correctly
The first thing is to make sure that you take breaks, walk around and stretch throughout the time you are gardening! The old adage of “Stop and smell the roses (or daylilies and iris)” is important to take heed of so that you don’t over stress your muscles or joints.
When you start lifting things, you should remember these rules:
- Face the thing you are picking up.
- Bend at the knees to pick things up.
- Keep things close to your body, near your center of gravity.
When weeding you should:
- Either weed on your knees or bend over with a hand or arm on one thigh.
- Don’t over reach and twist.
When digging, shoveling, or raking you should:
- Use the correct size shovel/tool for your size (women should typically use smaller tools—I personally use a ditching shovel for all my planting and transplanting chores).
- Alternate sides you are shoveling or raking from—yes, this takes some getting used to.
- Try not to twist too much.
- Use more legs than back.
Headaches
Most people at one time or another get a headache. For some, simply taking a couple of pain relievers, such as aspirin, will knock the headache down and let you continue on with your day. That is fine for an occasional headache; however, if you have repeated headaches you should get checked by a physician or a chiropractor to determine the cause and a treatment plan to correct the underlying problem.
Kinds of Headaches
There are several different types of common headaches (that I will cover here) : tension headaches, sinus headaches and migraines. Read more in the newsletter to see various strategies to relieve these types of headaches, including chiropractic adjustments, foods to avoid, and exercises to do.
What is the Treatment
By gently adjusting the cervical (neck) and upper thoracic (midback) vertebrae, a chiropractor can take the pressure off of pinched nerves, restoring the normal nerve impulses, and helping to balance the surrounding musculature; thus, decreasing or alleviating the headache.
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For kids you want to do exercises that are not only fun, but that also build up coordination and nerve pathways. All of these exercises are old standbys that we sometimes forget about.
Simon Says – works listening skills, visual skills, and balance.
Paddy Cake – anything that works the arms and legs across the body builds up neural pathways and will increase coordination in the future. Patterning is also great for memory. Clapping their hands to the beat of the music is also a great exercise.
Cats - on your hands and knees, stretch the back up (like a cat), and then sink the stomach down like an old horse. This puts motion throughout the spine.
Airplane – standing, have them stand with one foot in front of them and slightly off the floor – hold this for a count of 5. Then move the foot to the back for a count of 5, then lower yourself horizontal like an airplane. This works balance and all of your core muscles.
Somersaults – this works balance, and teaches them control over their different muscles. It uses muscles in succession.
Conga Line – this works rhythm, balance, and coordination.
Small Group Wellness Program
starting April 19th
Mondays at 6:00 pm for 8 weeks
If you want to strengthen up, learn how to be healthier, and lose weight.
Each class will include: a core/strengthening exercise class and an education topic including: how to eat better, relaxation techniques, biofeedback, vitamins, nutritional choices, and others.
Cost is $20.00 per week
Meet at Zager Chiropractic Services, 2840 Business Loop 181 N, suite 140 Floresville, TX.
Call 830 393-6554 or e-mail jonelle@zagerchiro.com to reserve your spot.
The Spring session of Zager Chiropractic’s Small Group Wellness Program will start on April 19th, Monday nights at 6:00 pm.
This class is for you if you want to strengthen up, learn how to be healthier, and lose weight or inches.
The Wellness Program will last for 8 weeks, meeting each Monday night at 6:00 pm at Zager Chiropractic in Floresville.
Zager Chiropractic’s Small Group Wellness Program includes: a relaxation component, weekly nutritional guidance and coaching, and an exercise component.
Dr. Zager will lead the class and help educate you on all the different things you can do to create new wellness habits in your own life. In addition she will lead a core/strengthening exercise class each week for the participants.
The Spring group program is limited to 4 participants, so Dr. Zager can give them individual attention.
Call 830 393-6554 early to reserve your spot. If you would like more information, please call us and we will e-mail you the program schedule and costs.
Wellness topics include: tips and techniques to relax your muscles, biofeedback, vitamins—what do you really need, what types of exercises can I do and the benefits, lots of nutritional information on food and which foods will help you control your appetite and lose weight.
Individual programs are also available.
Here are my Top 10 Wellness Tips. They can be easily implemented into your daily lifestyle. For more information on the individual tips, just look at upcoming blogs and articles that are already on our website.
1. Start walking 20 minutes three times a week
2. Drink 2 glasses of water a day
3. Make sure you get 7+ hours of sleep a night
4. Get a chiropractic adjustment to make sure your body is balanced and there are no Subluxations
5. Stop and smell the roses (slow down and relax for 10 minutes every day)
6. Use a smaller plate and bowl for your meals.
7. Strengthen up some of your Core Muscles daily
8. Improve your posture
9. Increase your portions of vegetables and fruit while you decrease your portions of carbohydrates.
10. Add 2 snacks a day (morning and afternoon). Great snacks include: yogurt (live active cultures), nuts, cranberries, small amounts of cheese and fruits, trail mix bars.
Ask about our individual wellness programs or our small group wellness programs, if you want or need help taking control of and improving your health and wellness.
Many people have low back pain at one time or another in their life time. It could be just a short episode where you overdid some work and have an achy feeling for a couple of days and then it completely resolves itself with no more pain. It could also be where you have weeks, months, and years of low back pain that started as a simple ache, but which has progressively grown worse over the years to be a strong ache or sharp pain. It could even limit what you would normally do like walking, sitting for prolonged periods of time, and even keep you from good sleep at night.
What is the Cause? There can be a number of different causes for low back pain. You may have overworked some lumbar muscles which in turn have pulled a vertebrae out of place. You also could have irritated the disc (the padding between the two vertebrae). This typically causes deep ache and/or sharp pain when you move wrong. You may even be slightly off center (antalgic) as the body tries to take additional pressure off of the disc.
With chronic low back pain, you may not even remember how you originally hurt your low back, but the vertebrae and sacrum are usually out of alignment and there may even be a slight to moderate curve (scoliosis) in the low back. You started off with some low back pain for a couple of weeks with it getting better on and off, and then it eventually becomes sore all the time.
Chiropractic treatment helps to realign the vertebra, balance out the muscles, and takes pressure off the disc and the nerve roots. Dr. Zager also gives all her patients at Zager Chiropractic Services strengthening exercises and stretches that will help you prevent future back pain and will increase your flexibility and the mobility of your spine.
Stretches: Back Rocks: lying on your back, bring one knee up to your chest, then the other knee. Then bring both your knees up to your chest and pump your knees. This exercise puts a lot of motion into you low back and sacrum.
Low back ranges of motion: standing or sitting, lean forward (with your hands on your thighs), lean back slightly, turn to the right and the left, and lean to the right and left. Do not go past a point of pain, and always do pure movements.
Ice: Use an ice pack for 10 – 15 minutes at a time. This helps take some of the inflammation out of the area.
Heat: You can use heat (moist heat is the best – i.e. a hot shower), but you MUST follow it up with 10 – 15 minutes of ice, otherwise you will stiffen up after the heat.
Strengthen your Core Muscles: your core muscles include your stomach, back muscles, buttocks, and thighs. These all need to be strengthened and BALANCED with each other. See our website www.zagerchiro.com for Core Exercises or join one of Dr. Zager’s core exercise classes to learn these exercises.
These 5 exercises are my top picks to strengthen your core muscles, stomach, back, thighs, and buttocks. By strengthening your core muscles, you reduce the chances of having low back pain.
CATS+ 4: on your hands and knees, arch your back up to the ceiling, then sink your stomach down. Do 3 reps of CAT, then raise each limb straight out individually for a count of 10, then raise opposing limbs for a count of 10 – as you improve you can increase the counts.
Back Rock to Bridge: Do 5 back rocks, then go to the Bridge (lying on your back, lift your pelvis off the floor. Tighten your abdominal muscles, hold for a count of 20 (make sure your breathe through this), then relax. A more advanced version is to do the bridge, then straighten out one leg and hold it for a count of 20. Do the other leg.
Half Sit ups (Crunches) with leg raise – lying on your back with your knees bent, support your head with your hands. Slightly raise your head and shoulders off the ground. Do 10 lower crunches. Then with your head still up, hold one leg up off the floor for a count of 10 working up to 20.
Standing Leg flexion/extensions – Standing up straight, hold one foot out in front of you (about 6 inches off the floor) for a count of 10, then in back of you (about 6 inches off the floor) for a count of 10, then straight out behind you while you lower your torso horizontal hold for a count of 10.
Kegals – Sitting down or standing, tighten up your pelvic floor (like you are trying to stop urinating), hold for a count of 30. For added difficulty, while tightening your pelvic floor, tighten your abdominals, then your buttocks, then your thighs and hold for a count of 30.
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