This is a video for those who have requested a simple routine of mobility exercises while remaining upright.
In this video, I use a dowel at times to help maintain balance. You can use a broomstick, golf club, or any other similar object, or you can try doing everything without support, which will help you develop your balance and proprioception. Read more about How to Work on Your Mobility While Standing
As mentioned in this video, many of us can use more extension through the spine. A sedentary lifestyle often leads to shoulders that are rounded forward to some degree, which puts the spine in some degree of forward flexion, which is what gradually robs intervertebral joints of their natural capacity to extend backward. Read more about Exercises for a Stiff Spine
A while back, a colleague in northern California told me that he had started to ask most of his patients to practice "oil swishing" to support healthy teeth and gums.
Oil swishing - sometimes called oil pulling - is a simple Ayurvedic practice that involves swishing about one tablespoon of oil in your mouth for 15 to 20 minutes once daily, typically in the morning. Read more about Oil Swishing To Support Healthy Teeth and Gums
To have healthy shoulders that allow you to comfortably use your arms overhead, it's essential that your shoulder blades are optimally mobile and that you have good motor control over their movement along the posterior wall of your rib cage - the scapular mobility exercises shown in the video above will allow you to fulfill both of these requirements for healthy shoulder function. Read more about How to Improve Scapular Mobility to Support Healthy Shoulder Function
Like your hip joint, your shoulder joint has a ball-in-socket design, but the socket isn't very deep. In fact, it's quite shallow, which is what allows your shoulder the broad range of motion required to efficiently perform overhead activities. Read more about How to Improve Shoulder Stability and Function
When hamstrings and calves are short and hypertonic from lack of mindful use and stretching, their tendons can generate a low-grade backward pulling force on the tibia or femur, which predisposes the quadriceps and patellar tendon that runs along the anterior portion of the knee to injury. This is why regular stretching of your hamstrings, gastrocnemius, and soleus is essential to supporting healthy knee function. Read more about Exercises for Knee Pain
Over the past two decades, I have utilized spinal adjustments, stretching, acupuncture, soft tissue work, and every major modality used in physiotherapy to address a wide range of back and hip issues. While all of these therapies can be helpful, in my experience, the most effective way to support a healthier lower back and pelvic region is to improve the functional strength of the muscles that control your core region. These muscles include your lower paraspinals, abdominals, hip flexors, and hip extensors.
For a look at two of my favourite exercises for strengthening the core region, please have a look at the following video:
Being a chiropractor, acupuncturist, and a certified tennis nut, over the years, I've found that a few specific stretches, massaging techniques, and strengthening exercises can reduce risk of elbow and wrist injuries. Most of the top pros bring their own physios with them on the road to do some of this work for them, but it's easily done on your own with some know-how. Read more about Natural Ways to Treat and Prevent Tennis Elbow, Golfer's Elbow, and Chronic Wrist Pain
Perhaps only people who are capable of real togetherness have that look of being alone in the universe. The others have a certain stickiness, they stick to the mass.