As a family-centered wellness practice, Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic provides the care and advice your child needs for a safe, fun and successful athletic experience.

Sports and Your Child’s Musculoskeletal System

As the saying goes, children aren’t simply smaller versions of adults.

Because their muscles and bones are still growing, kids are at a higher risk of injury from impacts or overuse than the typical adult. At the ends of young bones are areas known as growth plates. These have weaknesses that can intensify injuries, even interfering long-term with normal bone growth.

Common Injuries in Youth Sports

Children are typically injured in two major ways during sporting activities:

Acute injuries (such as broken bones, sprains and bruises) occur suddenly, from a fall, twist or impact.

Overuse injuries (such as tendinitis or shin splints) happen gradually from repetitive motions, especially when the child’s body doesn’t get enough rest time between activities.

Parents and coaches should be alert to signs that a child may have an overuse injury. These include swelling, pain, and reduced performance or interest in practicing.

Common sports injuries in children include:

• Fractures
• Dislocations
• Lower back or neck pain
• Knee injuries
• Shin splints
• Achilles tendon injuries
• Sprains or strains
• Swollen muscles

Tips to Help Your Child Prevent Sports Injuries

The good news is that lots of injuries are preventable with good safety practices, such as:

• Scheduling a sports physical exam for the child before starting a sport
• Using the correct protective gear, such as padding, helmets or shin guards
• Playing a variety of sports, with rest breaks, to avoid overuse injuries
• Doing proper warmups, stretches and cooldowns for physical activities
• Performing strength, aerobic and flexibility exercises that are appropriate for the child and the sport
• Not playing if in pain or fatigued

Also, be sure to encourage healthy habits:

• A balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and fewer processed foods
• Plenty of sleep—at least 8 hours nightly
• Good hydration—especially before, during and after sports

Helping Children Reach Their Best Fitness Potential with Chiropractic Care

Chiropractors work with athletes of all ages and even professional sports teams, providing treatments that align the spine and promote:

• Improved posture
• Reduced chance of injury
• Improved joint function, flexibility and range of motion
• Less pain and inflammation
• Faster recovery
• Better athletic performance

Your child’s chiropractor provides care that is noninvasive and safe. They diagnose and treat the source of pain and coordinate with other medical professionals for your child’s care.  Spinal adjustments are gently modified for children, using only light pressure.

As a bonus, you’ll find that many overall benefits of children’s chiropractic care–such as better immunity, stress relief, and optimized brain development–also carry over to your child’s success in whatever sports they choose.

Contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic to Schedule Your Free Consultation

To get your child started on achieving their best physical fitness potential, call our Broken Arrow office at 918-940-4630 today.

The post Chiropractic Care for Kids Who Play Sports: Why It’s Important first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

What is Active Release Technique?

Many people suffer from soft tissue damage due to overuse, trauma, or sports injuries.

When tissues in your body become injured, they may develop adhesions, which are areas that stick together abnormally. As part of your body’s healing process, scar tissue may form in muscles , tendons or ligaments. Over time, this can cause inflammation, restricted movement, impingement of nerves, pain and stiffness.

Active Release Technique is an intensive manual therapy that breaks up scar tissue to relieve pain and other symptoms. It was developed in the 1980’s by a chiropractor, Dr. Michael Leahy, and has become a valuable tool in wide use among chiropractors, physical therapists, and other health professionals.

ART releases the tissues that are stuck together, allowing joints and muscles to move freely. This reduces inflammation, relieves discomfort and restores mobility.

Symptoms and Conditions that ART May Help

You might have scar tissue that responds to ART if you have conditions such as:

• Pain during exercise
• Limited mobility and flexibility
• Pain or stiffness in your back, neck, hands, elbows, or knees
• Numbness, tingling or pain in your fingers or other areas
• Inflammation in joints
• Reduced strength
• Tension headaches
• Sharp pain in the foot, such as from plantar fasciitis
• Sciatica
• Fibromyalgia
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Tennis elbow
• Bursitis
• Shin splints
• Shoulder problems, such as frozen shoulder

How Your Chiropractor Performs ART

With Active Release Technique, your chiropractor feels the affected area and diagnoses any areas of painful scar tissue. He then manually applies deep pressure to release the adhesions. At the same time, under his instructions, you actively move your muscles to assist in breaking up the scar tissue most effectively.

Areas that can be treated to restore mobility and relieve pain include:

Ligaments and tendons. Your ligaments connect your bones to each other, while tendons attach muscles to bones.

Fascia. These connective tissues support your organs and muscles. When they’re inflamed, they can become very painful and stiff. Plantar fasciitis is an example of fascia inflammation causing pain in the foot.

Major muscles. Damage from trauma and repetitive motion can lead to pain and lost mobility in your major muscle groups.

Benefits of Active Release Technique

ART promotes healing by increasing blood flow to the treated area and breaks up scar tissue that restricts muscles and nerves.

The result: relief from stiffness and pain, plus a better range of motion and flexibility.

Active Release Technique can help athletes or anyone with pain and mobility problems return more quickly to a fully active life.

Set Up Your Free Consultation at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic

We’re here to answer any questions you may have about ART and other treatments. Call our Broken Arrow office at 918-940-4630.

The post Active Release Technique with Chiropractic Care for Pain Relief first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Cold Weather’s Effects on Your Joints

Even fairly mild winter weather causes physical changes that can lead to stiffness and pain.

Medical science isn’t clear on exactly why this happens. One possibility is that as barometric pressure changes with the weather, muscles and tissues around joints expand, causing pain and swelling.

Winter joint pain is especially common for people with arthritis or other chronic pain problems. It can also affect those with conditions like depression or seasonal affective disorder, which often make pain feel more intense.

Common Wintertime Injuries

Risks in winter include:

• Slipping and falling on slick surfaces
• Winter sports, such as skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating
• Snow shoveling and other outdoor chores
• Car accidents

Slippery, high-speed, and/or physically demanding winter activities may cause:

• Back injuries, such as muscle strain and spinal compression fractures
• Shoulder damage, including torn rotator cuffs caused by repetitive motions
• Sprains or strains of ligaments and muscles in areas such as the neck, knee, ankle, elbow, and wrist
• Broken bones, especially wrist and hip fractures
• Head injuries, such as concussions
• Whiplash injuries to the upper spine

Why a Strong Core is Essential

Your body’s core, including your spine, is the central command center that controls the quality and safety of all your movements.

A strong, flexible and well-aligned core gives you better stability and balance, helping to prevent falls and injuries. Exercises and treatments that strengthen and align your spine promote good posture, reduce strain on your spine and relieve pain.

Chiropractic Care to Prevent and Mitigate Injury

Without treatment, winter injuries often lead to chronic back and neck pain. Being proactive with chiropractic treatments can help you prevent injuries or recover from them more quickly, by:

• Aligning the spine to promote faster healing and recovery
• Improving stability, balance, range of motion and flexibility
• Relieving muscle tension

Your chiropractor will help you manage any pain effectively, by treating the underlying source rather than masking it with medication.

Tips to Help You Avoid Injuries

Whether you’re headed to the ski resort or just facing an especially cold, icy day, here are some ways to protect your joints and muscles:

• Warm up and stretch before winter chores or sports.
• Dress in layers to keep muscles warm.
• Wear proper safety equipment for winter sports.
• Quit when you get fatigued. Many skiing injuries happen at the end of the day when people go for one last run.
• Wear shoes or boots with non-slip soles in icy conditions.
• To avoid falls, don’t rush.
• When shoveling, push the shovel, rather than lifting. Take frequent breaks.
• Get regular exercise and stay at a healthy weight to reduce stress on joints.
• Eat a balanced diet and get plenty of sleep to boost your overall health.

Being proactive about your safety and health will help you stay strong and pain-free all year round.

Schedule a Complimentary Consultation at Our Broken Arrow Office

To begin your journey to better health, contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic at 918-940-4630 today.

The post Chiropractic Care and Protecting Yourself from Wintertime Injuries first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

So, it’s no surprise that we help a lot of patients with osteoarthritis at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic. Although OA can’t be cured, you can do a lot to minimize symptoms and enjoy a good quality of life.

What is Osteoarthritis?

Your joints have a layer of cartilage that provides a cushion for the ends of your bones. In osteoarthritis (“osteo” means “bone”), this protection is wearing down. The cartilage deterioration causes damage to the bones and inflammation in nearby tissues.

Most people with OA are over age 50, but the disease begins to develop silently years earlier.  OA may also show up in younger people, usually due to an injury to the joint.

The condition tends to get progressively worse, causing people to have pain and stiffness in their joints, most commonly the knees, spine, hands, and hips.

Factors that May Put You at Risk

Osteoarthritis develops for a variety of reasons, which include:

• Heredity—OA can run in families
• Age—your risk goes up the older you get
• Diseases, such as diabetes, that can damage joints
• Gender—females have a higher risk
• Injuries and repetitive stress on joints
• Birth defects of the joints or cartilage
• Being overweight

Symptoms of OA

People develop symptoms in their joints gradually, such as:

• Pain, aching or tenderness
• Limited range of motion
• Stiffness
• Swelling
• Clicking or crackling sounds when bending a joint
• Weakness or instability
• Bone spurs, especially on finger joints

Help for Osteoarthritis Symptoms

Consult your healthcare providers, including your chiropractor, about beneficial treatments and lifestyle changes.

Practicing healthy habits can help to relieve symptoms and reduce or eliminate your need for medication.

Keep moving. Stay physically active to preserve mobility and reduce inflammation.  Aim for 150 minutes of exercise per week. Include strengthening, stretching, aerobic and balance exercises. Make sure to warm up before and cool down after you exercise.

Achieve a healthy weight to reduce pain, inflammation, and damage to joints.

Eat a healthy diet. Avoid excess sugar and processed foods. These raise blood sugar, which stiffens cartilage and increases inflammation.

Reduce stress that causes muscle tension by getting enough sleep and finding ways to relax, such as meditation.

Chiropractic Treatments for Better Joint Health

Chiropractic care provides a variety of therapies and exercises that improve the overall function of your muscles and joints, enhancing the communication between your spine and nervous system.

If an arthritic joint is too inflamed for direct treatment, your chiropractor can treat the surrounding area, helping to reduce pain and improve mobility.

People with OA sometimes have weaker muscles and balance problems, increasing their risk of falling. Chiropractic care may help you avoid medications that can cause side effects, like dizziness, that lead to falls.

Making use of all the tools your chiropractor has to offer will help you to live your most pain-free and active life.

Schedule Your Free Consultation at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic

We’re here to support you in living a healthy life with OA.  Call our Broken Arrow office at 918-940-4630 today.

The post Osteoarthritis and Chiropractic Care: Protecting Your Joint Health first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Why an Aligned Spine is Essential

Misalignments happen when parts of the spine move out of their natural position.

Signals from brain to body sent through your nervous system require a correctly aligned spine. Because the nervous system enables your immune system to work properly, good spinal alignment helps you to stay healthy.

Good alignment also reduces strain on the ligaments that hold your spinal joints together, protecting your musculoskeletal system.

How Your Spine Can Lose Alignment

A sedentary lifestyle can create misalignments, weakening the muscles that support your spine and worsening posture. Sometimes, the cause is degenerative disease, such as arthritis. Additionally, common life mishaps—falls, repetitive and sports injuries, accidents, and emotional stress–contribute to misalignments.

Damage Caused by Misalignments

Spinal misalignments are common. The resulting wear and tear on the body and disruption of the central nervous system may lead to increased risks for a variety of problems, such as:

• Compressed and irritated nerves
• Back pain and sciatica
• Increased stress
• Poor sleep quality
• High blood pressure
• Reduced range of motion and mobility
• Poor circulation
• Joint, nerve and muscle damage
• Reduced immunity
• Breaks and deformities in joints and bones
• Chronic pain

Signs that May Indicate Spinal Misalignment

• Joint stiffness
• Pain in neck, hip, lower back or knee
• One leg longer, or one shoe more worn down, than the other
• Limited range of motion in the neck
• One shoulder, hip, knee, or ankle lower than the other
• Fatigue
• Frequent headaches
• Chronic illness
• Numbness in feet or hands
• Trigger points (painful muscle areas)

Chiropractic Care Aligns Your Spine

Your chiropractor is trained to diagnose misalignment in your spinal joints and provide treatments such as spinal adjustments to restore the correct position. This helps to resolve pain, inflammation, and muscle strain.

Other benefits include improved mobility and better sleep, which promotes healing and lowers stress. Your chiropractor can also offer wellness advice, such as counseling about exercises and nutrition.

And, importantly, the wellness benefits of your chiropractic sessions come noninvasively, without the risks of medications or surgery.

Keeping Your Spine in Line

All the daily stresses of life cause your muscles to tighten up, making you more prone to injury and spinal misalignments. Activities that promote good posture and mobility will improve your overall function and reduce pain.

Get regular exercise, stretch, take walks, don’t sleep on your stomach, avoid prolonged sitting, and add lumbar support to your chair when you must sit.

Activities such as yoga, tai chi, massage therapy, and Pilates are beneficial. These help to relax muscles, slow down your movements, and improve concentration, balance, and flexibility.

Keeping your body well-tuned between your chiropractic visits helps you maintain the alignment you’ve achieved, so you can enjoy a lifetime of good spinal health.

Contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic Today

Call us at 918-940-4630 to schedule a complimentary consultation with our supportive team in Broken Arrow.

The post Is Your Spine Misaligned? What to Know about Symptoms and Treatments first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

How You Benefit from Stretching

When you don’t stretch muscles, they become shorter, weaker, and tighter. That sets you up for injury and declining mobility. People working in jobs that involve lots of sitting are especially prone to joint and muscle damage as their leg muscles become tighter.

Regular stretching helps lengthen muscles, leading to improved flexibility and range of motion. And stretching delays potential mobility losses that come with aging.

Here are some other bonuses of stretching:

• Improved blood flow that relieves muscle tension and promotes healing
• Better performance in sports and physical tasks, with lower risk of injury
• Improved posture resulting from good spinal alignment
• Reduction in stress through practicing meditation and mindfulness while stretching
• Easing of tension headaches and other body aches
• Energy boost from improved circulation and pain relief

How to Stretch Safely and Effectively

Start slowly if you haven’t stretched recently. Check with your doctor, chiropractor or other health professional before you start if you have an injury or condition that stretching could affect.

Plan to stretch every day, or at least 4 days a week. If you’re not exercising first, warm up muscles with 5 or 10 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as jogging or walking.

Know the difference between two common types of stretching. Static stretches, best done after exercise, involve holding your stretch position for 10 to 30 seconds. In dynamic stretches, you perform active movements to prepare your muscles for exercise, without holding the stretch position.

Don’t bounce while stretching. You should feel tension, not pain.

Use moderation. Don’t stretch the same muscles too frequently each day or you risk overuse injury.

Best areas to stretch for improved mobility include:

• Hamstrings
• Calves
• Quadriceps (front of thigh)
• Hip flexors
• Lower back
• Shoulders
• Neck

Try this simple neck stretch: stand with shoulders relaxed. Gently tilt your head sideways toward your right shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat on the left side.

Stretching as Part of Your Chiropractic Wellness Program

Stretching works along with your chiropractor’s treatment toward common goals: good mobility and pain relief.

When you don’t exercise properly, your muscles may shorten unequally, leading to imbalances that throw your spine out of alignment. Stretching the muscles in your upper body and lower back helps you maintain good posture and keep your spine aligned between chiropractic visits.

A custom stretching plan tailored to your needs and abilities can help you avoid injuries from sports and other activities. Improved circulation, flexibility, posture, and pain relief will help you enjoy an active life for years to come.

Call our Broken Arrow Office to Book Your Free Consultation

For support with your plan for better mobility, contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic today at 918-940-4630.

The post For a Healthy Spine and Lifelong Mobility, Make Sure to Stretch! first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Benefits of a Nutritious Diet

A balanced diet helps prevent and heal pain by building up your immune system, strengthening bones, and reducing inflammation. Unlike using medications and invasive procedures to alleviate pain, a healthy diet has no risks or side effects.

Poor diet is rampant in our culture. It contributes to higher rates of conditions like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune disorders, arthritis, osteoporosis, and back pain.

Inflammation in moderation is a normal bodily function, activating white blood cells to help heal injuries or illnesses. When inflammation becomes chronic, it damages connective tissues and raises your risk of disease.

Nutritious foods help you achieve a healthy weight, reducing inflammation and stress on joints.

Food—the Good and the Bad

Cut out: processed foods, such as sugary cereals and fried foods. These contain refined carbohydrates, sugar, and saturated and trans fats that raise inflammation.

Cut back: red meat and starchy natural foods, like white rice and white potatoes, that also promote inflammation.

Eat more:  

• Colorful fruits and vegetables, including berries and leafy greens with antioxidants that help repair or prevent tissue damage
• High-quality protein that helps build and preserve bone density, including fish, legumes (such as lentils and kidney beans), chicken, seeds and nuts, dairy products, and eggs
• Vitamins and minerals, including calcium, vitamins D and K, magnesium, and zinc
• Healthy fats, such as olive oil and omega-3

How Your Healthy Diet Complements Your Chiropractic Care

Nutrition is a central element of the holistic (whole-body) care that chiropractors provide.

A strong musculoskeletal system depends on a well-aligned spine and good overall health. Chiropractic adjustments align your spine to promote good communication between your immune and nervous systems. Eating a balanced diet strengthens your immune system and bones, enhancing your chiropractic treatments and optimizing your body’s performance.

Tips for Building Healthy Eating Habits

Don’t “go on a diet.” Instead, making moderate lifestyle changes allows good long-term habits to take hold.

Phase out sugar and processed foods. Purging sugar from your body modulates blood sugar, reduces cravings for sweets, and makes you feel better.

Write down what you eat. You’ll be more conscious and in control of your food, leading to better decisions. If you’re pressed for time, grab your phone and snap a photo of your meal.

Avoid low-calorie diets. Eating fewer than 1200 calories a day is counter-productive, slowing metabolism, increasing hunger, and causing loss of muscle and bone mass.

After a junk food slip, get back to good food habits the same day. You’ll keep your blood sugar and cravings in check. Don’t wait till the next day (or week!) to keep living your best life.

Contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic to Schedule Your Complimentary Consultation

Our team in Broken Arrow is here to support you in your journey to better health. Call us at 918-940-4630.

The post Healthy Eating for Strong Muscles and Bones first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Back Pain Mistakes to Avoid

The joints, bones, muscles, and ligaments of your back are susceptible to many injuries and diseases, as well as damage from poor lifestyle habits. The good news: you can do a lot to mitigate your risks by staying away from these health mistakes:

#1: Not taking care of problems early

Sometimes people think the pain will go away on its own. Even if it does, it can return later if you haven’t gotten help for the root cause.  Or pain may get worse, becoming harder to treat.

Untreated pain also takes a toll on your mood and causes you to move differently, raising your risk of further injury.

#2: Overdoing it on rest

Being inactive can make the pain worse, weakening your muscles and making you more vulnerable to injury. Unless you’ve been diagnosed with a serious problem requiring bed rest, most back pain is helped by gentle, low-impact exercise, such as walking or swimming. Exercise also gives you an emotional boost and helps strengthen your immune system.

#3: Giving up too soon

People sometimes look at where they want to go, and it seems too big a mountain to climb. However, having a plan and taking it one day at a time will encourage you as you build toward success.

Or you may reach a goal and stop making the good choices that helped you. In reality, keeping your back in good shape is an ongoing process. This includes maintaining a routine of stretches, exercises, and good posture practices.

#4: Having poor lifestyle habits

Two of the biggest back pain culprits are being overweight and smoking.

Extra weight places strain on your spine. Regular exercise and a healthy diet of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean protein will move you toward a healthier weight.

Smoking impairs blood flow, depriving spinal discs of oxygen and nutrients needed for good spinal health and function. Smoking also slows down healing and can increase pain sensitivity.

#5: Thinking health is completely out of your control

One of the biggest mistakes people make is feeling powerless about the hand they’ve been dealt by genetics. While genetics does play a role in your predisposition to certain health conditions, your daily decisions have their own significant power.

You can take control of your pain potential with good spine care, exercise, diet, sleep, and stress reduction. The better your decisions each day, the better the outcome for your spine, pain level, and overall health.

Build and Maintain Your Spinal Health

Your spine is central to your body’s health and stability. Chiropractors provide a variety of healing treatments, including adjustments to correct spinal misalignments, allowing your musculoskeletal system to work properly and prevent injury.

Achieving a pain-free life is not a destination, but a daily journey of making positive choices for yourself and your family.

Call Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic for Your Free Consultation

Our Broken Arrow team is here to help at 918-940-4630.

The post Managing Back Pain: 5 Mistakes You Can Avoid first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Injuries may throw your life and health out of balance, but knowing how to prevent and heal them can make all the difference. We diagnose and treat a variety of sports injuries at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic to help you get back in the game as soon as possible.

Common Types of Sports Injuries

Sports injuries happen frequently in the United States. Among children and teenagers, according to Stanford Children’s Health, more than 3.5 million are hurt playing sports every year.  Young people are more prone to be injured because they’re still growing, are less coordinated, and are more likely to overestimate their abilities.

No matter your age, many injuries happen due to preventable factors, such as overuse/repetitive strain, starting a new sport after being inactive, not warming up, poor technique, or even wearing the wrong shoes.

Typical injuries include:

• Fractures and dislocations
• Swelling of muscles
• Strains (affecting ligaments) and sprains (affecting muscles or tendons)
• Damage to joint areas such as the knee or rotator cuff

What to do if You Suffer a Sports Injury

Many injuries can be prevented by warming up, cooling down, and stretching. When muscles are cold, they lack flexibility and can’t respond as well to sudden movements.

Chiropractors understand the value of noninvasive treatments. If you suffer a minor injury, you can start treatment using the RICE method:

• Rest
• Ice
• Compression
• Elevation

Be alert to signs that you need immediate medical attention:

• Inability to put weight or pressure on the injured area
• Major pain and swelling
• Lumps or protrusions through the skin
• Feeling weak, dizzy or unstable
• Trouble breathing

The Role of a Strong Spine in Protecting Your Joints and Muscles

Whether your injury is mild or serious, or even before you’re injured, you can benefit from ensuring that you have a healthy, strong core and spine.

A well-aligned spine is at the core of all the movements your joints and muscles make. It helps to keep your entire body moving properly and your nervous system and reflexes functioning at their best. Achieving good core strength and alignment is essential to avoiding injury, as well as having a successful recovery if you do get hurt.

How Regular Chiropractic Care Helps Prevent Sports Injuries and Relieve Pain

Pro sports teams know the value of chiropractic care and commonly have chiropractors as part of their training programs.

With their expertise in the musculoskeletal system, chiropractors are valuable contributors to standard medical care. They provide a variety of safe, non-invasive, drug-free therapies that minimize pain and swelling, improve joint function and promote healing.

Whether you’re an elite athlete or an everyday sports enthusiast, chiropractic care improves your mobility, strength and balance. Your customized treatment plan will help to prevent and minimize injury, boost performance, and keep you out there engaging in the sport you enjoy.

Contact Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic for Your Complimentary Consultation

Give our Broken Arrow office a call at 918-940-4630.

The post Chiropractic Care: A Winning Treatment for Sports Injuries first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

When I was in grad school, it was nothing for me to go on a long run in the morning and then hit the weights pretty heavily in the afternoon. Exercise is my Prozac and increasing the stress levels, just means I need more exercise to combat it.  Some years later, I have been forced to dial it back a bit and have also changed the type of workouts I perform.  When I was younger, it was all about aesthetics for me.  My main motivation for working out was to look good and feel good.  I exercised for image, but now I perform exercises for functional strength and stamina.

It was just over a year ago that I decided to listen to the advice of friends and join a CrossFit box.  I’ll be the first to say that early on (especially before I joined), I wasn’t a big fan of CrossFit because I had a tainted view of what it was.  I would even talk about it negatively with patients until I experienced it firsthand for myself.

As far as running is concerned, I love running. Not because it feels good on my body, but because its very nature calms my mind. When I developed an awful case of plantar fasciitis a few years ago, it was time to change that up. Obviously, I couldn’t run for awhile however, I fell in love with biking. I still run on occasion with my big dog trotting not too far behind but mainly I bike. My feet, knees and back feel better now and I find it a great stress reliever.  As you age, runners need to focus on strength building and rest days from running.

As for feeling better in the morning post exercise, we really need to stretch after our workouts. When you are younger, you can get away without stretching for a short time but take advantage of that too much when you are young and you develop really shortened muscles and a lot of stiffness that doesn’t have to be there. Does stretching always feel good? Absolutely not but you still need to do it. As far as how far to push yourself; if you can’t breathe there, you shouldn’t be there.

One last thing, don’t underestimate recovery days. I fully subscribe to the theory of “everyone needs to break a sweat every single day”. However, some of those days I do it by hitting up a big Three Rivers Park and going on a seven-mile walk. Though I would feel as if I cheated the workout gods when I was 23 by walking, now, that definitely counts as exercise.

The biggest thing you can do to keep your body limber, fit and injury-free is to change what you do every day. Using different muscles and joints in different directions is the key to spreading out the force and keeping your body healthy as you (we) age.

The post How Should My Exercise Routines Change as I Age? first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.