Well, we’re back from our yearly trip to Rickett’s Glen.  If you’re not familiar with Rickett’s Glen, it is a wonderful PA park in the endless mountain region, near Benton, which is around 45 minutes due west of Wilkes-Barre. The park is known for its old, pristine forest and incredible hiking trails.  The most difficult trail is called the “Falls Trail”, and is home to 21 breath-taking waterfalls.

We had a great time despite three thunderstorms, four scraped knees, two concussions, hundreds of fly and mosquito bites, and one canoe tipping.  We managed to fit in two hikes, six campfires, one game of capture the flag, two games of football on the beach, several trips to the lake, one trip to Knoebels Amusement park, two games of manhunt, one try at fishing, and one late night trip to the lake to star gaze.

We’ve made it sort of a tradition to meet three other families there, each with their own cabin.  This was the first year that my whole family hiked the falls trail and made it to all 21 waterfalls.  And I was very proud of all my kids (especially Joshua, age 6 and pictured above with his dad) who didn’t complain one bit during the 3.5 hour adventure. We planned it so that near the end of the hike (around 2.5 hours in), we made it to the Ganoga Falls, a 94′ tall and powerful waterfall.  We were all starting to tire some, but after being blasted with cold air and mist at the bottom of the falls for a minute or two, we were totally refreshed.  What a blessing!

Rickett’s Glen is a beautiful place, and filled with so much to see and do. Everyone had a great time.  But it’s good to be back.

Do you want to get the benefits of 45-60 minutes of exercise in just 10 minutes? Sounds impossible, but it’s true.  And it’s backed by sound research.  Our new whole body vibration (WBV) exerciser is named the Power Vibe and is made by  a company called Zen Pro.

The concept dates back to the 1960′s and 70′s to the Russian space program.  The Russian cosmonauts were sent into space for prolonged periods of time and when they returned they discovered some shocking things.  The cosmonauts had significant muscle weakness (atrophy) and bone loss or demineralization (osteoporosis).  The Russian space program began to use whole body vibration as a way to simulate weight bearing loads.  The cosmonauts performed the rehabilitation exercises before, during, and after trips into space.

Afterward, German Universities continued their own research on the effects of WBV.  Many studies were done on a variety of effects on the body, such as WBV and Osteoporosis, developing muscle mass, improving balance and circulation, rehabilitation for injuries, weight loss, and the like.

In the 1980′s, whole body vibration exercise has been used by Olympic athletes as a way to enhance training and rehab.  And now, whole body vibration has become affordable and accessible for most people.  It is effective, fast, and safe for people of all ages.

What is Whole Body Vibration Exercise Like?

You begin by standing on a rapidly vibrating plate.  The body undergoes the stimulating changes of rapid acceleration/deceleration, similar to running or being on a trampoline.  You can then move into different simple positions and hold them for some time while the plate continues to vibrate.  Examples of some positions are the squat, the one-legged stork stand, or the plank.

Standing for just 5-10 minutes a day, while doing a few movements to transfer the vibration of the machine into various body regions, increases the flow of freshly oxygenated blood into the tissues, enhances lymphatic drainage, and generally loosens things up.  You will feel great!

What are the Benefits of Whole Body Vibration Exercise?

On a WBV machine, the platform you stand on moves very rapidly. This controlled motion is transferred up through your body.  What happens in your body is that all of your tissues are forced to react to the stimulus of the vibrating platform.

• WBV works and tones your muscles. Here WBV works very similar to the knee jerk reflex. When muscles are activated via a “stretch reflex” your body has no choice but to react.  WBV technology exploits this fact by using an external stimulus – the vibrating platform. When you load a muscle or muscle group in line with the direction of the vibration by assuming various positions, the muscles respond to the vibration as compensation with a brief reflex contraction of virtually all muscle fibers of that particular muscle. Now remember, the platform moves anywhere from about 1000 to 3000 times a minute depending on the setting! You can imagine the type of stimulus this creates, thus causing your muscles to tone and strengthen faster than any other form of workout.
• WBV increases your blood flow. In order for a muscle to do any contraction, it needs to burn glucose and oxygen. Where does the muscle get these 2 essential components from? Your blood flow! As your muscle contractions increase, so does the need for oxygen and glucose for the muscle. Your body supplies it by increasing your heart rate to get the necessary nutrients to the muscle.  Thus, WBV naturally increases your circulation.
• WBV increases your lymphatic drainage. When standing straight up on the WBV platform, you can feel your sinuses draining, and the stiffness and tightness from standing all day going away. These are typical signs of lymphatic drainage which also helps to fight infection and bacteria. It’s almost like WBV supercharges every cell in your body with energy! Spending just 5 minutes on a PowerVibe (especially the vertical vibration units) and swelling is down, you are feeling lighter, looser, and best of all more relaxed!
• WBV increases the release of Endorphins. Researchers in Germany have also shown that the stimulation of subcutaneous tissues and ligaments around the spine in particular release significant amounts of endorphins, the same “Feel Good” hormones that are showing up in the bloodstream after a lengthy run!
• WBV lowers your Stress Hormone Cortisol. Also of particular interest to me was the fact that exercising with WBV helps your body to reduce the levels of Cortisol. This hormone starts to show up when you’re stressed out and your system is running on overload. Cortisol is terrible for the body – it causes your body’s inflammation levels to go up, it robs you of sleep, wipes out your adrenal glands and after a while leaves you constantly exhausted. WBV on a PowerVibe unit helps to break down this damaging hormone and replace it with better hormones. We all know how well exercise works in combating stress.
• WBV trains your equilibrium sense. The human brain is built to keep our bodies in a state of equilibrium, balance, and stability in the 3-dimensional world.  If someone pushes your shoulder, your brain responds by telling you to lean back against the push so you don’t fall over.  If you’re standing on a platform that is moving 20 – 50 times per second, your brain must respond quickly by triggering certain muscles to contract and others to relax so that you maintain your balance. The brain is forced to respond to the rapidly moving surface under you or you would fall over! This is great exercise for the balance sense.
• WBV can combat osteoporosis. Weight bearing load is placed on the patient’s entire skeletal structure, which maximizes lymph drainage, promotes the release of osteoblasts, and  fights osteoporosis.

The benefits of WBV training are considerable, as evidenced by its acceptance in major medical, rehabilitation and therapeutic centers across the country. The health benefits are multifold and results can be achieved easily. It can enhance your general well being and quality of life regardless of age, medical, neurological or physical condition.  WBV training is not difficult, but it can be challenging – the degree of difficulty is entirely up to you.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions regarding whole body vibration and if you want to find out if this natural therapeutic exercise would be right for you.  You can also check out some Power Vibe videos at: http://www.powervibeusa.com/community/video.

Our wellness team specializes in balancing the spine and body.  That’s our job.  That’s what we love to do.  Drop by our office… you relax, and we’ll do the work.

But what about your life?  Is it balanced?  Are you putting forth the effort to have a balanced life?  What are you doing to help establish or maintain a healthy and balanced life?

A healthy life involves a balance of many different areas in life:

• Physical health (are you giving your body what it needs to be vibrant?)
• Mental health (what is the quality of the things you focus your mind on?)
• Spiritual health (Are you connected with God?  Do you have inner peace?)
• Social health (How are your relationships?  Your friendships?  Your family?)
• Career health (Is your career meaningful?  Are you productive?)
• Financial health (Are you living within your means?  Are you content?)

It’s a good exercise to go through these areas and rank yourself on a scale of 1 to 10.  If you realize that you are out of balance in any of these areas, you may need to make some changes.  You may need to set new goals.

You may need to sacrifice some TV time to spend more time nourishing a relationship with a family member or friend.  You may need to cut back on late night activities so you can give your body some extra rejuvenating sleep.  You may need to prioritize your spending, and channel more of your resources into health-related activities.

Evaluate your own life and see if your activities are congruent with your life goals.  Remember your primary goal to have a healthy and balanced life.

The bottom line is that your health affects everything you do and everyone you know.  Achieving a more balanced life will not only benefit you, but also your family, friends and even co-workers.

If you suffer from chronic low back pain and want to experience freedom from your pain, you will want to pay particular attention to your core.  To finally gain control of your back pain and reduce the chance of a relapse, you have to improve the condition of your core.  The term “core” may have you thinking of Pilate’s, Yoga, or doing sit-ups until your six pack burns.  Unfortunately the term “core” is frequently misused and the true nature of the core is greatly misunderstood.

To understand the true nature of your core, you need to understand your body design.  Your bones, ligaments, and joint capsules (passive restraints) provide stability toward the end of joint motion (ROM).  They don’t provide much stability in the neutral position.  That’s where the muscles come in to play, and provide support and stiffness.  Your body muscles are set up in three basic layers.

The outer layer of muscles are your large muscles.  These are big, strong muscles that are designed to move your skeleton.  They also are the muscles that give your body its shape.  The rectus abdominus muscles (the “six-pack”) is an outer layer muscle, and technically not part of your core.

You have a middle layer of muscles that lie beneath the outer layer of muscles.  These muscles connect to your spine and are designed for stability and control.  These are muscles of endurance that allow you to maintain good posture while you go about your day.  These middle layer muscles work continually to protect your spine as you put your body through its many different positions – sitting, bending, twisting, running, jumping, etc. If your core is weak, you will be susceptible to injury as you try to sustain static postures (i.e. sitting), or try to perform dynamic activities (i.e. playing soccer).

You also have a deep layer of muscles that act as “sensors” for your nervous system.  These small muscles attach to your spine and give continual feedback to your brain with each joint movement. These deep muscles are muscles of endurance and enable you to maintain good posture, balance, and position sense.

The muscles of your middle layer and deep layer make up your true core.  And because your core is composed of muscles of endurance, you must work it differently.  You can’t just do the normal exercises promoted in most health clubs or gyms.  Focusing on strength doesn’t help the true core.  Muscular endurance, posture, and balance must be your focus if you want to improve the condition of your core.

Your body stability is a dynamic function and includes:

• Static positioning
• Controlled movement
• Alignment in sustained postures
• Movement patterns that reduce body strain, avoid injury, and allow efficient muscle action

Your body stability and movement patterns may be altered by any combination of the following:

• Injuries
• Insufficient muscular strength or endurance
• Poor neuromuscular control
• Fatigue

To improve the condition of your core, research has shown that very moderate levels of muscle activity can be enough to create stable joints.  To work the endurance muscles of your core, only about 10% of your maximum contraction is needed to provide joint stability.  In contrast, when doing strength training you have to work at 70-80% of your maximum contraction in 1-2 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

This is great news!  Even if you are suffering from chronic back pain today, you can take active steps towards recovery.  I have been working with patients with chronic back pain since 1992, and have seen many amazing recoveries from patients following our easy program.  If you are committed to our program of core stabilization exercises, you will in most cases be able to gain control of your back pain within 4 to 6 weeks.

No drugs.  No surgery.  No expensive traction devices.  No high-tech computerized exercise devices.

Just a series of core stabilization exercises that are so simple, I’ve pictured the basic part of the program on this site.  Sounds simple?  That’s because it is.

Just click here to see the core stabilization program.

I am pleased to announce the addition of the Foot Levelers Associate™ Platinum to our wellness practice.  A tool that will allow me to make a digital scan of the feet.  The Associate™ Platinum will help me efficiently and accurately screen for imbalances that contribute to problems in any number of places, like your knees, hips, and low back — even if your feet don’t hurt. It’s amazing what your feet can tell you about your spinal health!

Your feet are the foundation for your entire body. Like any structure, your body’s foundation must be balanced to properly support the weight above it. If your arches in one or both of your feet collapse, your body doesn’t get the correct postural support, causing an imbalance in your skeletal frame.

The Associate™ Platinum digital scanner will help me develop more precise care plans and use postural support, like custom-made orthotics from Foot Levelers, to obtain positive results in nearly everyone — from children to seniors.

I would like to welcome new patients to visit our wellness center in Huntingdon Valley for postural exams to determine their chiropractic needs. Our wellness center offers a variety of natural therapies for total body health and would be willing to provide on-site screenings with the Associate™ Platinum at health fairs and other community events.

If you’ve never had your feet scanned, you probably don’t know what they are supposed to look like. Don’t wait for aches and pains to tell you there’s a problem.

Call us now to schedule an appointment, and learn how your feet can affect your health!  Your entire body will thank you!