By Dr. Manny Kumar B.Sc., M.Sc., D.C. ?Structural Chiropractor at Modern Chiropractic
Common questions I receive from our practice members:
1. Why is exercise so important?
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?
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 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. This means that you can incorporate some free weights and utilize certain functional movements such as dead lifts, squats, pull-ups, or bench press/push ups in your routine to support your skeletal frame and muscles.
But…this is only half of it.
The other half is that you want to utilize exercises that will actually increase your cardiovascular 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. 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).
Finally, a question we had this week in the office was that even though practice members had a strong FRAME, working LEVERS, a top notch ENGINE and PIPELINES… Where did “structural” chiropractic fall into this lifestyle? 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 column is to make sure you have balance in all your lifestyle components. Make sure to increase 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 nervous system (spark plug) checked for any spinal displacements. It could be the one component you are missing on your way to an EXTRA-ordinary life.
Dr. Manny Kumar is a structural chiropractor located in the heart of Hillcrest, San Diego. To reach Dr. Manny, please email him at [email protected] or visit www.getmodernchiro.com.
