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What does it take to be healthier?
Tips To a Healthier, Stronger, More Active You
4. Drink more water. Muscles are 79% water and protein breakdown can accelerate if your cells don’t have enough water to fill them up. 5. Breathe! Work on your diaphragmatic breathing techniques to increase oxygen intake and get your lymphatic system moving. 6. Sleep at least 7 hours a night. Growth hormone is released at night which helps to build muscle massand repairdamaged tissues. Not to mention, a lack of sleep makesyou moresensitive topain. 7. Take care of aches and pains. If it’s been lingering on for a month, you’re well overdue to get professional help at Body Gears Physical Therapy.
1. Limit your sitting to 30 min. It’s been well-established in researchthattimespentexercising does not offset time spent sitting. Sitting for long periods shortens muscles in the front of the body and negatively affects your movement mechanics. 2. Get your 10,000 steps in. It’s better to regularly move more on a daily basis than only get your movement in when you workout a couple times a week. 3. Nutrition + portion control. Try counting your calories for just one week to get a sense of how much you should be eating and which foods are costing you calories without giving you that satisfied full feeling. You don’t need to get obsessive about keeping track but you may find that your mental gauge needs recalibrating.
Health is a relative term. Good physical health is generally perceived as the ability to participate in all daily activities without worry or restriction. Any ways that your body might be limiting you on a daily basis is something that should be directly addressed as it’s impacting your health. At the Body Gears Physical Therapy, our holistic approach will get you back on track to living a happy and healthy lifestyle. Our physical therapistswillfirst restoreyourcapacity formovement then create and prescribe the best exercises for a speedy recovery and ongoingstrengthening.Yourexerciseswillbedependentuponwhich part(s) of your body are in need of strengthening and may include body weight exercises (such as squats, push-ups, or planks) and exercises using additional equipment (such as resistance bands, exercise balls, or hand weights).
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Exercise of theMonth Test out your squat form
Staff Spotlight
Dr. Julia Melanson, PT, DPT, Physical Therapist Julia earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Melbourne in Australia. She also has a Bachelor of Kinesiology degree from the University of British Columbia in Canada. Julia worked as a student athletic trainer during her undergraduate studies with both the men’s rugby
and women’s hockey teams and continues to enjoy treating all types of athletes. She has experience in manual therapy and a passion for educating people on how the body works as our in-house blog and newsletter writer.
Certifications and Training: • Doctor of Physical Therapy • Licensed Physical Therapist by the State of Illinois • APTA/IPTA Member Education: University of Melbourne • Doctorate in Physical Therapy, 2016
Functional Squat
Find something you can use as a dowel and maintain contact points at your sacrum, between the shoulder blades, and back of the head. Hinge forward at your hips first before bending at the knees to lower into your squat. Ensure you maintain the three contact points as you rise from your squat too.
University of British Columbia • Bachelor of Kinesiology, 2013
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