Exercise Anaerobic- yourmuscles!

challenging yourself by lifting weights that will start the growth process. You always begin with lighter weights and through a gradual process work up to higher weights and concentrated repetitions.

To witness your own muscle development is a huge benefit for your overall fitness level and quality of life. Many of our day to day activities are easier when we feel stronger. The body has many muscles, but they can be broken down into large groups. Perhaps the largest muscles are in our legs. I guess it makes sense as we use them to walk. Next, the back has muscles that help maintain our posture. The chest allows us to lift, along with our shoulders. Lastly, our arms and biceps, and triceps which are smaller, but frequently used muscles.

Each muscle group can be exercised and developed. Today there are many pieces of equipment that can be used to isolate and work these muscles with the resistance of weight. In addition, the use of free weights allow an excellent working of these muscles. I think the development of muscles is an area of some complexity, but generally breaks down to working isolated muscles with a gradual increase of resistance. You must also provide muscles time to regenerate, which means not training everyday. It is best to train every second day, or work on different muscle groups each day. Generally, in weight training you work in sets of repetitions. For example, you could do 3 sets of 12 repetitions on eight different machines on your back and shoulder muscles for example. You should be challenging yourself to gain results by lifting weights that are making you work.

If you can hire a personal trainer, a complete program is a good idea which will cover all muscle groups. Usually it will cost you money per session, but I believe it would be some of the best money you could ever spend. My philosophy is spending money on your health is an investment in YOU! You will gain great dividends. www.scottsumner.com

Spinal Stenosis- What is it? What are my options?

Arthritis and degeneration of the low back is a common condition in humans.Over time repetitive stresses of daily life can cause wear and tear on the joints, discs, and bones of the spine.This type of arthritis is called osteoarthritis.In anatomical terms we would say that: extensive arthritic changes lead to thinning discs, thickening of the spinal joints and ligaments, and boney buildup of the vertebral bodies which can all cause narrowing of the spinal canals.This can compromise the spinal nerves and spinal cord.If the spinal nerves are affected, we call it lateral spinal stenosis.If the spinal cord is affected, we call it central spinal stenosis.Often both can be compromised. Within 15 years 25% of the Canadian population will be suffering with some form of spinal stenosis.It will be a leading cause of pain, disability, and loss of dependence in the elderly.Those with spinal stenosis become more sedentary which further causes a decline in their overall health.

Spinal stenosis is dynamic meaning that the symptoms change with posture. The most common signs and symptoms include older age, buttock or leg pain and weakness with walking which improves with forward bending or flexion, and relief with sitting.So, what is happening?The decreased space surrounding the nerves creates a backup of venous flow.This in turn blocks spinal fluid which then blocks the capillaries (mini blood vessels) which does not allow for oxygen and nutrients to get to the nerves and tissues which then causes numbness and pain in the buttocks and legs.So, it is not an inflammatory condition.That is why antiinflammatory drugs often are not effective for those with spinal stenosis.

To complicate things even further, having spinal stenosis in one or more levels of your spinal column does not exclude having other conditions like disc herniations at other levels or hip disease or vascular claudication. This is why it is not a good idea to listen to your friend or neighbor’s advice on what to do.Often certain exercises or movements that work great for one type of back condition are completely ineffective or even harmful for other conditions. No matter what health issues you have a logical and thoughtful approach would be to start with the most conservative therapies first, as they are generally the safest and have the least potential for side effects.Conservative therapies start with home care, lifestyle modifications, certain exercises, and postural improvements. Next would be therapies such as chiropractic care or physiotherapy or acupuncture. Attempting more aggressive therapies should be assessed for risk benefit ratios before proceeding.However, too often people and health practitioners jump to more aggressive therapies first.

Before starting any therapy, you should reflect on your goals.Is it solely to get out of pain?Is it to have better function?If so, what function are you trying to achieve: daily house chores, walking, sporting activities, social activities.When discussing spinal stenosis, one needs to understand that although pain reduction is a desirable goal, most people with this condition will always have a certain amount of pain.Amore realistic goal would be to improve and maintain a higher level of function.Functional goals will go a lot further in also reducing other health risks like cardiovascular disease and diabetes than will pain goals.

Multiple scientific literature reviews described the effectiveness of various thera- pies:

• NSAIDS (anti-inflammatories), Gabapentin and prostaglandins – not effective because spinal stenosis is not an inflammatory condition.

• Pain killers like acetaminophen and opioids showed poor results.

• Epidural injection – no evidence of positive outcomes.Despite this, 25% of all epidurals done are for spinal stenosis.

• Chiropractic care or physical therapy – some positive effectiveness, especially to reduce leg pain but results diminish over time.

•Surgery – moderate effectiveness to reduce leg pain but no effect on low back pain.Results last 2-5 years and then secondary surgery is often done.No difference in walking, pain or disability scores when compared to conservative therapies.

One therapy which has impressive results in terms of significant improvement in function, is the Boot Camp Program for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis developed by Dr Carlo Ammendolia DC.This program includes a combination of chiropractic techniques to increase spinal joint function along with specific low-tech exercises that the patient learns to do in office and then continues to do at home indefinitely.It has received several accolades amongst the spinal research community for its effective functional results, its patient centered approach and its low-tech, low-cost application.There are several local chiropractors who use the Boot Camp Program for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis. If you suffer from low back pain and/or leg pain, your best option would be to first visit a health professional that has the expertise to diagnose spine related problems and then can provide conservative treatment options.

James DiGiuseppe is a local chiropractor with a busy family and wellness practice.For more health information or to contact Dr. DiGiuseppe visit: www.portarthurchiropractic.com

© 2023 Brian Babcock

“…out like a lion,”

This is a famous truism about March. But it is not necessarily any more true than “Beware the Ides of March”, coined for dramatic purposes in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar”, or we would all stay hiding under our beds March 15th.

Truisms serve their purposes, whether as cautionary tales or everyday advice.

But what about truisms in law, such as “possession is nine-tenths of the law”?

Again, they may serve a purpose, simplifying complex legal concepts into easily remembered nuggets, but they are also often misleading and therefore must be