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5 Reasons Why You Need to Start Stretching

If there’s one thing that you can count on a Babin PT physical therapist introducing into every session, it’s stretching. Yes, building strength and endurance is important. But whether you’re an athlete, or someone coping with the aches and pains of aging, increasing your flexibility through stretching is crucial. Read on to learn more about some of the top benefits of stretching.

Range of Motion Improvement

How far your joints can move in all directions influences virtually every moment of the day. Arthritis or injury can hamper how far, and where, you can flex and extend your limbs and torso. From twisting your neck to see behind you when driving, to being able to move your knee freely, range of motion is crucial for both daily life and for fitness pursuits. Even if you’re fairly stiff now, doing more stretches each day will gradually reduce stiffness and increase flexibility.

Relief in Unexpected Places

When your calves start feeling a bit tight after a run, it’s obvious that more stretching is needed. But we sometimes forget the sheer interconnectedness of our bodies. If you’re experiencing lower back pain, for example, stretching your legs during physical therapy can be as important as stretching your back. In fact, your hips, upper thighs and your hamstrings can all play a big part in creating lower back pain relief. Likewise, improving your posture through stretching your torso can provide the kind of support you need to keep your spine from compressing, which helps you avoid shoulder pain and neck pain.

Enhanced Performance

If you’re an athlete, you know that the more conditioning your joints, ligaments and muscles get, the greater your advantage in your sport. Bodybuilders can recover from their reps more quickly by stretching tightened muscles as a cool-down. Golfers can get a longer reach by increasing range of motion through the hips and shoulders. Swimmers can keep their strokes even by perfecting their balance through physical therapy stretching moves. In fact, there are few competitive sports for which stretching doesn’t offer an advantage.

Injury Prevention

There’s a certain amount of debate in the sports world about the degree to which pre- or post-workout stretching protects you from injury. But few people deny those stretches can contribute to injury prevention. A tense, shortened muscle is often an injury waiting to happen because it doesn’t work at peak performance. When you stretch, you’re also increasing your range of motion, while improving your balance. All of these factors can prevent you from making the types of moves that lead to injury, whether it’s coming down too hard on one foot, or twisting your back further than you should to compensate for lack of shoulder range.

Improved Circulation

Stretching can reduce stress, but that isn’t the only reason it’s good for your heart and your musculoskeletal system. Tight muscles constrict available oxygen supply, essentially robbing themselves of the nutrients they need. Stretches help reverse the process. You’ll also get the benefit of increased blood flow to your joints and throughout the body. Your physical therapist knows that good circulation is key to every aspect of health, from sharp thinking to clear skin.

Of course, there are plenty of other ways that stretching can improve your life. Many people enter a Zen-like state as they stretch. Others get a sense of pride from being more limber. When you’re ready to add stretches to your daily routine, consider getting started through physical therapy. Our team can walk you through the best ways to tackle your situation. Static or dynamic stretching? Pre- or post-activity stretching? A Babin PT physical therapist can help you learn the basics. Contact BabinPT Physical Therapy today to learn more.

7 Simple Ways To Stay Active

Too many of us have an all-or-nothing attitude when it comes to staying fit. We’re too “slammed” at work for the gym, or our kids’ activities are keeping us in the car — and off the track — for long hours. Yet, here at Babin Physical Therapy, we recommend a few basic elements you can add to your daily life that truly add up to a more active lifestyle.

1. Take the Longest — or Hardest — Distance Between Two Points

Speed is usually the name of the game in your busy life. But does the time saved parking close to the store really add value? Make a game of parking at the far end of the lot, so that you have to push a cart or carry a bag a greater distance. When you’re at work, take the stairs — unless you really are running late for that meeting!

2. Pay for Your Lunch — in Footsteps

Skip the cafeteria in favor of a healthy eatery down the street if you’re working. Or walk outside for 20 minutes before you return to your brown-bag lunch. If you’re retired or working from home, walk to the corner grocer’s to gather the goods for lunch. Living out in the country or the suburbs? Pretend that your daily walk is the “fee” you have to pay in order to get into your kitchen and make that sandwich.

3. Consider a Standing Desk

How do standing desks help? It’s amazing how much healthier simply standing in place is, compared to sitting. For one thing, you burn more calories. You’ll also hunch less, meaning that neck and shoulder pain is eliminated. Standing also boosts fitness in significant ways by keeping blood sugar more steady after a meal, and by encouraging more movement overall.

4. Fool Yourself Into Running Errands

Using a smaller glass for water — or mug for green tea — means that you have to return to the water cooler or kitchen more often to fulfill your daily hydration goals. Likewise, you can make going down the hall to borrow a stapler a separate trip from hiking upstairs to ask someone in HR about your vacation schedule. If our Fitbits have taught us anything, it’s that a hundred extra steps here and there really do add up over the course of the day!

5. Use Fitness Benefits as an Incentive to Do Chores

Organizational experts know that 20 or 30 minutes of chores a day adds up to a cleaner, more organized space. You can certainly get a lot of toys into baskets during that time — not to mention mopping a floor or weeding the herb garden. So if you remember that these dreaded tasks also burn calories and build up your core, it may help you feel more like tackling them.

6. Keep Equipment Handy

Stash a yoga mat or 5-pound weights under your bed. Hang resistance bands on a hook in the kitchen. That way, you’ll be far more likely to do a few reps while watching TV or waiting for the pasta to boil!

7. Don’t Put Off Physical Therapy

The most obvious way physical therapy helps is by addressing the aches and pains that keep you from pursuing your active lifestyle. In addition, many physical therapy sessions are a workout in themselves, which helps you meet your weekly cardio and/or endurance goals. A physical therapist is also a great resource for giving you tips on tweaking your daily habits. He or She can go over what a normal day looks like for you and offer advice on how to make it a more active one. If chronic pain is an issue, your PT can show you specific moves that streamline the physical challenges.

Contact BabinPT Physical Therapy today to see how physical therapy can help you live a pain-free and more active life.

How Staying Active at Work Can Increase Productivity

Picture yourself at work. Hunched over a keyboard, clicking away on a mouse, answering the phone, or having meetings, the most moving around you are likely to do is to and from the copy machine. It is no surprise that our sedentary jobs are causing fatigue and stiffness, both mentally and physically. Fortunately, having a desk job doesn’t exclude you from experiencing more physical activity at work. Give these activities a try and you are sure to find out you feel better physically and experience higher productivity.

Time for a Mental Shift

Somehow, somewhere along the way, Americans got it into their heads that working without breaks is the sign of productivity. Not true! Working without breaks not only causes physical and mental fatigue, studies have shown that people who allow themselves to take a break are more productive than their power-through counterparts.

Use the 1 in 20 Rule

Studies have shown that the mind can only work continuously on a singular task for 20 minutes at a time before productivity begins to slow. Fortunately, it does not take a lot to reset the brain’s ability to refocus. Standing up and moving around every twenty minutes, changing positions, or walking to another office is enough to give your brain the blood flow it needs to be ready for the tasks at hand.

Stay Hydrated

On average, water represents up to 60 percent of our body weight yet many of us walk around chronically dehydrated. In addition to digestive problems, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain, chronic dehydration can slow productivity. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Make sure you are consuming water throughout the day in order to keep your brain firing the way it should.

Stretch

Stretching your muscles is a great way to keep the blood flowing to your brain. You may find that your body has a natural need to stretch when it has been stagnant too long. This does not mean you need to roll out the yoga mat by your desk and do a pigeon pose. You can stretch your arms, legs, back and neck in just a few minutes without special equipment and enjoy greater productivity for hours afterward.

Don’t Forget to Breathe

We breathe thousands of times a day without even thinking about it, yet becoming aware of your breath is a great way to reduce stress, think more clearly and work better. Take deep breaths that fill your lungs and expel all of the air out. Then, enjoy a more productive work day.

Contact Babin Physical Therapy today and speak to our experts physical therapist.

How to Put the Spring Back in Your Step

There’s no avoiding it; with age can come a whole host of new challenges, and with them seemingly random aches and pains. Fingers and joints may become sore after mundane chores, and physical undertakings that once brought joy now result in discomfort. It can be easy to become discouraged away from participating in activities that bring on these symptoms, but fortunately, there are methods readily available to help put the spring back in your step.

 

Reevaluate Your Posture

 

Since professions that require long hours spent at a desk in front of the computer are becoming more and more commonplace, it is not unusual to see an increase in injuries resulting from poor posture. One of the most common side effects of sitting incorrectly is having sore muscles. While it may seem unusual that not keeping one’s backbone straight would cause muscles to feel pain, using incorrect posture results in additional muscles being called upon to help stabilize the spine. As a result, muscles are forced to have an increased workload, leading to pain and even injury.

 

If you sit at a desk all day, or lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle, always be conscientious of your posture. Focus on sitting straight for longer and longer periods of time if at first you find that doing so is too difficult. As the muscles around your spinal column become stronger, you’ll find that it’s easier to maintain correct posture, and also prevent permanent incorrect curvature of the spine.

 

Drink Plenty of Fluids

 

Throughout the course of a day, it can be relatively easy to become dehydrated. For many, coffee is a necessary addition to any workday. But, what they don’t realize, is that coffee serves as a diuretic. As you drink the beverage throughout the day, your body is stimulated to begin expending fluids through the process of urination. This, in turn, can lead to dehydration if enough water isn’t consumed. Should the body lose enough fluids, painful cramps can set within the muscles and can make you feel sluggish and weak.

 

If you must drink coffee, be sure to alternate cups with water. Make a point of trying to drink several large cups a day. Should you find yourself cramping up, drinking a beverage filled with electrolytes can quickly combat the effects of dehydration. When it comes to having enough fluids, an ounce of prevention will always be worth a pound of cure.

 

Get Some Sleep

 

For those who try and maximize every minute of their day, going to sleep can seem like a productivity killer. After all, time spent awake can be time spent doing life’s many important tasks. Sleep, however, plays an important role in helping your body recover from exercises and the rigors of the day. A lack of sleep can lead to feelings of lethargy, problems concentrating, and an overall feeling of malaise. Try to get as much sleep as possible by avoiding caffeinated beverages in the evening, or watching TV before going to bed. Your body will thank you.

 

Should, after following these tips, you still feel like you’ve lost that spring in your step, contact Babin Physical Therapy for a consultation. You’ll be feeling like your old self in no time!

 

https://www.livestrong.com/article/31223-negative-effects-poor-posture/

 

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/dehydration-adults?page=3#1

 

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/9-reasons-to-sleep-more

 

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/discomfort-15/better-sleep/healing-power-sleep

 

The Amazing Benefits of Stretching

Everyone knows that exercise is a part of healthy living, but do you consider a stretching routine part of your exercise program, or as an afterthought that gets done if time permits? Since no one ever has enough time, you may want to reconsider how you view exercise, as there are so many benefits to a stretching program. Everyone can learn to stretch, regardless of age or flexibility. Stretching should be a part of your daily routine, whether you exercise or not. It does not have to involve a huge amount of time, but stretching can end up giving you huge results!

 

Five Important Benefits of Stretching:

 

  • Reduced muscle tension
  • Increased range of movement in the joints
  • Enhanced muscular coordination
  • Increased circulation of the blood to various parts of the body
  • Increased energy levels (resulting from increased circulation)

How Do These Benefits Help You?

 

An abundance of research explains that there can be many benefits of stretching on a routine basis, even if you are not an avid runner or athlete. Stretching can benefit you in the following ways:

 

Infuses You with Optimism

 

People who are stressed often have contracted muscles. In turn, these muscle contractions give a physiological and an emotional feeling of tenseness and overall unease. When you feel these sensations, try stretching to loosen tight and simultaneously increases blood flow. Stretching has also been shown to aid in the release of endorphins, a natural body substance that helps you attain a feeling of joy and serenity. Stretching when you wake up is a great way to start your day and stretching before bed can optimize your sleep.

 

Stretching is a Great Midday Pick-Me-Up

 

Most people feel a little lethargic around mid-afternoon. If this describes you, try some stretching at your desk. Often, people who suffer from mid-afternoon fatigue find that stretching gives them a boost of energy. When we feel lethargic, our muscles tighten; stretching loosens up these muscles. Stand up and stretch to combat your midday fatigue!

 



Lower Your Cholesterol

 

Stretching on a routine basis and eating a healthy diet can help reduce cholesterol. In turn, reductions in cholesterol can prevent, and may even reverse, hardening of the arteries. Stretching also serves to aid in avoiding heart disease.

 

Better Blood Circulation

 

A stretching routine increases blood flow to your muscles which can help with the following:

 

  1. Reductions in post-exercise soreness and recovery time
  2. Improvement of overall health

 

Makes You More Flexible

 

Did you know that improved flexibility results in an improved range of motion, making your body work less while moving? Also, stretching lessens the likelihood of injuries during exercise or other sports activities.

 

Stretching Improves Your Posture

 

When you stretch, you lengthen tight muscles that tend to pull parts of your body away from their intended positions. It is important to keep your muscles loose, especially in the back and torso. This helps to keep your spine in alignment and to relieve backaches and back pain. When back pain is alleviated, you tend to have better posture. Contact Babin Physical Therapy today!

 

Sources

https://www.healthfitnessrevolution.com/top-10-ways-avoid-high-cholesterol/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/stretching/art-20047931

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/21489011/ns/health-fitness/t/stretching-may-offer-extended-benefits/

https://www.livestrong.com/article/358507-what-are-the-benefits-of-stretching-yoga/