I hereby Issue A Challenge!

The new year is upon us, and with it the inevitable resolutions to get in shape, drop a few pounds, and get healthier in general. The statistics are dismal, however, when it comes to peoples' ability to stick with their plans. This is often because the "plan" is more of a desire without any real thought put into the day to day realities of how to get anything done. The average person knows they should eat a little less and exercise a little more, so they set out with the best of intentions come January first (or, more often, January second after the post hangover meals of the first). I believe that the single biggest obstacle when it comes to obtaining ideal body composition isn't knowledge. It's accountability, or lack thereof.

Knowledge has its place, of course. I still run across people on a daily basis who think whole grains are good for you and so forth. But even if you're carrying around ideas about the details that are in error when it comes to losing weight and getting healthier the basics--eating less than you burn--are what will get you to where you want to go. The details can make things go a little easier, but the basics will get you there. 

Having an accountability partner will help you make more progress, and for reasons that are easy enough to understand: going to the gym or doing some form of exercise is a lot easier to do when there is someone holding you accountable to do so. Eating well is easier to do when you just killed it in the gym. After all, why go through the hassle to work out and then blow it eating some of the leftover bagels sitting in the lounge at work?

Introducing Fitocracy.com. It's a social media site where you can learn a lot about fitness from some smart people, keep track of your workouts, and help others do the same. I've been playing with it for a few weeks now, and I've gotta tell you, it's addicting to enter your latest stats from the gym or track (or whatever--there's just about every kind of exercise you can think of there). You get points for different movements, and can "level up" when you acquire enough points. Cool. I've got a friend or two there already, and we watch each others' performance and even "give props" when warranted.

In the coming weeks I'll give you my opinion about several exercise related topics. In the meantime, drop us a line at the office (info@greggreendc@gmail.com) if you're interested in joining me on Fitocracy. I'll be creating a group soon for interested friends/patients so we can help each other out. Let's get over the idea that dropping a few pounds with a temporary diet modification is the answer to anything. I'm committed to a lifestyle of health and fitness. Let's do it together and teach each other as we go.

Sitting and Your Neck Pain

More people than ever sit in front of a computer for a living these days, and if you're reading this it's likely that you're one of them. So before you get back to being productive for your boss, let's review some ways you can spare your neck in the process.

First, the basics: Your head weighs, on average, about 12 pounds. You have a fairly complicated series of joints and muscles holding that weight off your shoulders and giving you the freedom to look around. Like every other complicated system, the more moving parts to deal with, the more likelihood for something to go wrong. Some of the muscles that get tweaked and stretched when your head moves too far forward (the classic computer posture) are the deep flexor muscles. That would be these guys:

These muscles work in concert with others in the posterior part of your neck to give both stability and freedom of movement to the head. They also get beat up when we get our heads too far forward and keep them there all day, like you may very well be doing right now. Interesting fact--every inch forward your head moves takes three times more power to support the weight. Makes sense--if you hold a bowling ball close to your body it's easier to support than holding it out in front. And your head weighs about the same as a bowling ball. No disrespect.

Eventually, certain muscles get too tight which causes others to turn off ("reciprocal inhibition," again). This happens because muscles activated on one side of a joint cause the muscles on the other side of the same joint to become inhibited--when you flex your bicep, your tricep has to turn off so you can perform the movement. Your neck is no different, and when it happens for hours on end in only one direction neck pain is often the result. This is sometimes referred to as "upper crossed syndrome." It looks like this:

Upper crossed syndrome can lead to a wide variety of pain and instability problems, including shoulder pain, pain around the shoulder blades (especially at the upper, inside border), and, of course, neck pain. None of which is very fun. 

Incidentally, the shoulder pain I just referred to is more than just pain, it's lack of stability. The shoulder blades are essentially the reason your shoulders move the way they do, and the serratus anterior muscles you can see in that picture (the ones that get inhibited) are important when it comes to stabilizing your shoulder joint. If they get turned off and you go try throw a softball around or swing a racket of some kind you could be in for some shoulder issues. More on that in a future post.

An ounce of prevention, as they say, so let's look at the exercise I give every patient with neck pain who walks in the door here: The Brugger. This is done while sitting on the edge of your chair. Step one--tuck your chin straight back while keeping your eyes nice and level. This will create a really nice double chin that you can be proud of. Step two--try and keep your head in position while placing your palms in a a forward facing position with your arms slightly bent and back a little. You should feel a nice stretch where your chest connects to your shoulders.You'll be in this position at the end of the movement: Hold this position for three deep breaths and then go on about your business.

Sometimes the neck pain associated with the upper crossed syndrome is due to joint restrictions in your neck. Static postures held for hours on end can cause the joints to stop moving like they should, which can often lead to pain. Classically, the base of the neck (where your neck connects to your body) gets locked up, and when the muscles of the shoulders join the party to protect the compromised joint, the combination drives people to my office. The joint right at the base of the skull is another key location for dysfunction, and the combination of those locations can cause blistering headaches with a fairly predictable pattern, such as this:

Fortunately, those headaches respond quickly to manipulation of the affected joints, especially when combined with soft tissue work to release the trigger points in the muscles. I recently had a patient leave the office with tears of joy welling up in her eyes because her chronic headache had disappeared for the first time in about a year. 

So do your Bruggers, and take your eyes off the screen and focus on something on the other side of the room while you do them. This will help your back, neck, shoulders, and your eyes, too. Why don't you start now? And if the headaches have already begun, and this doesn't make them go away, come see me at Green Chiropractic. Tell 'em the blog sent you.