What is your body maintenance routine? Do you have a body maintenance routine? If you do not, or you don’t even know what I am talking about, read on!

Most people take better care of their “stuff” than they do their own bodies. You take your car in for oil changes, you water your lawn and pull weeds, you floss your teeth daily, you change the filters on your HVAC unit, the list goes on and on. How much maintenance do you perform on your body?

Most people wait until they are in crisis mode. When pain hits and starts to interfere with your daily activities is when most people think about taking better care of themselves. This is a huge mistake! The best time to develop a routine of taking care of your body is before you have pain.

Here are some of my favorite ways to take care of your body pro-actively:

Chiropractic Adjustments

Life is stressful. Emotional stress, physical stress, mental stress… it all takes a toll on the body. Postural stress takes a huge toll on our spine. Spinal joints get compressed, tight and injured. If you don’t correct these areas of the spine it can lead to pain, injury and degeneration. The only way to correct injured spinal joints is to restore their motion with chiropractic adjustments. Don;t wait until you are in pain to see your chiropractor. Get adjusted regularly to stay healthy.

Foam Rolling

Foam rolling is what I call “Self massage therapy”. Find whatever muscles feel tight, and roll them! There are many instructional videos on YouTube on how to foam roll. Find your favorite and follow along. This is an easy, affordable tool to have at home to keep yourself feeling great.

Stretching

Can you touch your toes? Can you put your hand behind your back and touch your shoulder blade? If you are like most people, the answer to these two questions is “No”. Staying limber and flexible helps you to stay young, vibrant and mobile. Find a way to incorporate more stretching into your routine. Yoga is great, but if you are not in to yoga, all  you need is a focused 5-10 minute routine of daily stretching. With the amount of sitting and inactivity most Americans have these days, it is imperative to stretch and stay as limber as you can to ward off injury and pain.

Here are 3 of my favorite posture stretches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLNT2lyEGvU

Core Strengthening

Having a strong core is so much more than just doing sit-ups. As a matter of fact, I highly dislike situps as they put a lot of stress on the lower back. Getting your core strong goes a long way in preventing injury. A strong core stabilizes your body and makes you more resilient to the physical stresses of everyday life.

Try these instead:

Flutter kicks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PZ40AoU7V4

Suitcase Carry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYRUp0Rx53U

In conclusion, Incorporate these tips to start building your very own Body Maintenance program. Be proactive in your thinking and activities to build yourself the strongest, most resilient body possible!

Yours in Health,

Dr. Steven Bourdage