Holistic Hip Pain

Nagging hip pain, low back pain, shooting sciatic pain in hip and side of leg; if you have or had it; you have, or had, a nerve problem.

In essence, because of the way we are built, we are really just one big nerve with lots of branches. When one of the 'branches' of nerve get compressed in high nerve density cramped spaces, communication within that nerve is cut off and pain results.  

Sometimes space is an issue but we can relieve pain by creating more space for nerves to move.  If you move poorly, that can cause pain at the joint.   Poor spinal movements can place unnecessary pressure on the dorsal or ventral nerve root. That’s the bulk of chiropractic adjustments.

Poor tissue health can cause nerve pain which is why you want to take Great Lakes Hydrolysed collagen protein for improved nerve health and function.   

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Our nerves transmit urgent data to the brain. The brain interprets the information and sends an response to nerves that run to the body.  

Keep your nerve highway clean and functioning with holistic drills that give the brain what it needs for healthy function.

Why You Need Brain Training as You Age

The thing about getting older is we tend to do the same things over and over again.  We rarely do different actions, especially with our sensory systems.

The neat thing about the nervous system is the entire thing runs on the "use it or lose it" principle.  If you don't do certain actions, after years of disuse, nerves that innervate those muscles die.

The big deal about this is that those nerves run to the brain.  Not doing specific drills means areas of the brain aren't getting activated.  The brain is also a "use it or lose it" organ so after years of little-to-no use, areas of the brain begin to die, too.

That's why you need to do brain-training; 

use your brain or lose your brain and the everyday skills it does!!!!

KEY POINT:  When doing brain-based training, prepare to do some different things; things that may seem silly but you do drills that activate specific muscles, which activate specific nerves which stimulate specific areas of the brain.

Here are three reasons why your 

DOCTOR OR PHYSICAL THERAPIST isn't prescribing  these drills: 

1.  Brain training is NEUROLOGY and not every doctor or physical therapist specializes in neurology or is current on neuroscience research.
2.  Brain training that I specialize in is based on applied neuro-anatomy and neuro-physiology.  These techniques are TEN YEARS ahead of general practitioner knowledge and they require STUDY.  Ask your doctor, physical therapist or nutritionist if they've read a neurology-based research article recently.  
3.  Brain training drills work.  No prescription.  No fancy machine.  No magic pill.  These are holistic, brain-based drills that activate nerves to stimulate areas of the brain.    Unfortunately, in our society, doctors and physical therapists get paid by drug companies.  After all, a patient cured is a patient lost.  

OUR AMAZING BRAIN

During brain-based balance training, your brain has to receive the input, interprete the input and decide what to do and create an appropriate output.  This process has to happen faster than one-quarter of a second or you will fall. .

If you haven't done these drills in awhile (or ever), brain training can be fatiguing. Your brain uses up to 70% of daily calories to function, more when it's being used.  This is why it's so important for people to fuel their brain.

Fuel for the brain does not align with societal messages.  Your brain needs glucose and oxygen.  Glucose is sugar.  Sugar is not bad for you; your brain needs it.

Unfortunately, fake news has people avoiding sugar like the plague.  If you avoid sugar, your brain will get the needed glucose from your body's tissues; breaking down muscle for energy to support basic metabolic functions.

Final message:  
Wake up and smell the roses!  Your brain needs activation more than your muscles.  Why?  Your brain tells the muscles and nerves what to do.  Brain training is not only doing crossword puzzles and brain twisters; it's activating different cranial nerves and sensory systems.

Be ready to put in the work.  To do the drills.  To be responsible for your own health.

I'm on your side.  I want you to age to the best of your ability.  I want you to succeed.  I've invested in a neuroscience-based education to help you remain independent and free of falls.  If you want to learn more, contact me.

Finally, give your brain the protein it needs for healthy function!  Collagen protein is the most abundant protein in the body.  Great Lakes is clean, grass-fed source.  Zero taste, easy dissolved.  Get $5 off Great Lakes Collagen protein:  Click here

Feel Weak? Do the Chair Stand with The Fall Prevention Lady™

Lower body weakness is the #1 cause of falls among the older adult population.  Because of that, I call your legs your "fall prevention muscles".  If you want to react quicker to imbalance, if you want to walk straight and feel stable when standing, if you want to prevent a fall, you need to strengthen your leg muscles; both upper and lower leg.



The easiest way that has been proven to make your legs stronger is to do a 'chair stand'.  Simply stand up then sit back down.  No fancy equipment, no grueling routine, simply stand up and sit back down. It's suggested you cross your arms on your chest but if you need your hands to stand up, try pushing off with one hand.  If you can't do that, use both hands.



The next thing is to find out how many you should do.  I use the Senior Fitness Test and have people stand up and sit down as many times as they can in 30 seconds.  That might not seem like a long time until you're doing it!  Do as many stand up/sit downs as you can.  Write that number down and that's how many you do each day.  It doesn't have to take you 30 seconds but when the last one is as easy as the first, do another.



I just finished my first four-week brain-based balance training session at The Heritage in El Dorado Hills and this group got stronger!  Six out of nine people (two were not in class) did three more chair stands in their 30-second post-test.  Three more chair stands in 30 seconds.  These are healthy older adults living in the community, living in their homes, wanting to stay in their homes.



Three more chair stands might not sound like a big deal but until it's you doing it!  These people worked hard and increased lower body strength while improving center of gravity awareness in four short weeks.   Huge improvements for the prevention of falls.



Stronger legs translate to quicker reaction times, more muscle mass, stable walking gaits, and the ability to get up from the floor or get up from a chair easier.  You've got to practice the skills to get up from the floor and follow the tips to get up from the chair but strong legs make independence possible.

Get Stronger, More Flexible Legs in Four Weeks!

I just finished my first four-week brain-based balance training session of 2020 at the Andy Morin Sports Complex in Folsom, CA.   A class of eight older adults were eager to train the two things they don't want to lose; their brains and their balance and the most consistent improvements were stronger, more flexible legs.

The pre/post senior fitness tests showed remarkable improvements; life changing results.  Recall that I use the only standardized senior fitness tests to measure lower body strength, lower body flexibility and dynamic balance and agility on the first and last day of class.  

Legs are your fall prevention muscles; strong legs keep you upright and independent.  Having flexibility in lower body helps you walk safer by picking up your feet without tripping and increased lower body flexibility is directly related to reduced low back pain.

The most improved student was a 70- year old woman.  She increased lower body strength by (9) NINE chair stands, in 30 seconds!  She reached 3.5 inches further when reaching toward her toes and walked one and half seconds faster in the 8' Up and Go test.

Amazing.  These are life changing improvements.  She has stronger, more flexible legs and moves quicker on her feet.  This woman had vision problems that were trained over the four weeks and she now has skills to continue training her vision at home.

Perhaps the greatest improvement was an 82-year old woman who could not stand up without using
her hands on the first day.  On the last day, she did NINE (9) chair stands without using her hands.  This is a huge improvement when it comes to safety, and dignity!  She also improved lower body flexibility by (3) three full inches.  This is huge when it comes to low back pain and fall risk.

One participant who has more physical aliments than others improved her dynamic balance and agility (how quickly she got up and walked around a cone) by (4) FOUR full seconds.  Walking quicker with a steadier gait is a huge improvement that can save a person's life.  This woman has vestibular issues that require one-on-one training but we were able to find several high payoff drills that significantly improved her balance.  Instantly.

I have to note that this is small group training and individual needs cannot be addressed in a class setting.  Due to the nature of brain-training, individualized assessment and testing is required and strongly recommended.   I offer private sessions at a substantially reduced rate to all class participants.

The final significant improvement I'd like to mention is a 77-year old woman who increased lower body strength by (3) three chair stands and lower body flexibility by (3) three inches.  Again, stronger more flexible legs significantly reduce fall risk.

Enroll in Brains and Balance Fall Prevention Training to improve leg strength, reduce lower body stiffness and improve walking gait thereby increase personal safety.

Movement is life.  It's time to start living!

Eleven Seniors Get Up from the Floor in Workshop

47% of people over the age of 60 who fall cannot get from the floor.  As a health and fitness professional, that statistic alarms me.  I am well aware that one of the biggest fears facing older adults is falling and being stuck on the floor with no one finding them.  Are we so focused on preventing the fall that we forget to teach what to do after a fall???

Today I taught eleven older adults at the Woodland Community Center the skills they need to get up from the floor in my "3-Step Get Up" workshop.   I firmly believe that it's best to have a plan, one that you have practiced so if a traumatic event happens, you have a plan and feel confident doing it.

This group of older adults was excited about learning and did not hesitate to practice strength and flexibility exercises and get down on the floor so they could practice getting up again. 

The first step after a fall is to breathe.  Your brain needs oxygen now more than ever.  Focus on your body, breathe, relax.  A fall is a traumatic event.   We practiced breathing patterns and giving the brain what it needs for healthy function. 

I demonstrated several ways to get up.  It's important to see how to get up, to visualize yourself getting up, without injury, before doing it.  What's more important is to practice while you're able; before a traumatic event.   

Even though I specialize in teaching people how to NOT fall down, accidents happen.  I developed this workshop to teach older adults the skills they need to get up after a fall.   This is a lifesaving skill that everyone over the age of 60 needs to learn and practice now, before a fall.

Respiration Training Drill: How to Belly Breathe

The diaphragm is your 'breathing' muscle.  It's a large, dome-shaped muscle that attaches to all the hot spots of the "core".

Just like any other muscle in the body, the diaphragm needs to be stretched.  It needs to be exercised.  Learning how to breathe to work the diaphragm is a challenge.  I"m not going to lie, it's the exact opposite of how you've been doing it.

Breathe in, expand your belly.  Exhale, tighten the belly.  Breathe into Buddha belly.  Exhale into slim, tight contraction.

Being able to control your breathing pattern is life saving.  Breathing competence is essential so you're not constantly gasping for breath or mouth breathing.

Unfortunately we are shallow breathers.  We are mouth breathers.  As a result, we over-oxygenate our brain and body.  That can't be possible you think, oxygen is good so more is better. WRONG.

Your brain needs oxygen for fuel but it also needs glucose.  We all know that too much glucose is bad; your cells are not able to respond to excessive amounts of sugar and therefore the sugar can not get into the cell.

It's the same with oxygen; too much in the blood reduces the cells ability to take oxygen into the cell for use.  100% blood oxygen is NOT GOOD because there is a natural blood gas balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide.

The brainstem, specifically the medulla, is the respiration center because it is responsible for blood gas balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide.  Too much oxygen and we don't breathe correctly.

I offer respiration training in private sessions.  If you have asthma, COPD, or don't feel like you ever get enough oxygen, book a session with me.

Follow along with me in this simple belly breathing exercise: