When it gets cold outside, we tend to spend more time indoors doing sedentary activities and it can be difficult to stay active. It’s helpful to plan ahead and set some time aside in your schedule a few days a week to make sure you’re getting the activity you need.

To have health benefits from exercise, adults need a total of 2.5 hours of activity spread across the week. These activities need to be moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic activities. Moderate-intensity physical activities include brisk walking or bike riding. Generally, you know your activity is moderate-intensity if you sweat a little and breathe harder than when you’re moving about day-to-day. Vigorous-intensity activities include jogging or cross-country skiing, and you’re likely to find yourself sweating and feeling out of breath.

Here are a few tips to help keep you motivated to stay active during the winter months:

• Plan activities ahead. When activities are in your calendar, you are less likely to forget them. Preparedness also helps set good habits.
• Find a fun local outdoor activity, like snow shoeing, skiing, or skating.
• Dress in layers. Insulate your body. When you can keep your body warm, it’s easier to continue being active outside.
• Use your daylight hours. It’s easier to stay outside while it’s still light out. It’s easy to miss out on activities when you start them too late in the day.
• Find indoor activities at your local community center or gyms. This could be aerobics classes, badminton, basketball, or yoga classes.
• Climb stairs. Deliberately add more steps to your day. Consider going up and down a flight in your home, the mall, or an office building more than once over the course of your regular daily activities. As little as five minutes can make a huge difference for your health.
• Visit a library to find more motivation. There are plenty of free exercise DVDs you can borrow, including dance, step, aerobics, or Pilates. You can use the return date as a deadline to pick up another one!
• Sign up for a fun run. You can often find non-competitive “fun runs” in your community that are usually between 5 and 10 kilometers. You can invite friends and family to join in!
• Find an activity buddy. Find someone willing to commit to being active as often as you are, and set a plan. That could be planning to meet for morning walks or afternoon workouts. Having a friend keeps you accountable.
• Download a fitness app. There are many fitness apps that you can download right to your phone. Those apps can include 30-day challenges, yoga classes, step distance calculators, or even just your regular day-to-day fitness activities ideas. Download an app (or even multiples ones) that works for you and give that a try!

For help on setting activity goals based on your specific musculoskeletal needs, you can always ask your chiropractor about what activities are right for you.

Whatever your activity level is, remember to stay hydrated. It is easy to forget to drink water when it’s cold out, but your body needs just as much hydration in a snowstorm as it does in a heatwave.²

Most importantly, stay motivated. Revisit your goals to make sure you’re still on track. Plan ahead and make sure you can envision your goal as you look ahead towards the finish line.

Here’s to staying active in the new year!

Call our office today at (519) 250-6288 to set up your appointment! Don’t forget to like and share this post with your family and friends.

Just about everyone has suffered from neck pain at one point or another in their lives. Luckily for most people, the pain is intermittent and isn’t chronic or constant. But for some people, neck pain can be a part of everyday life. It’s important to realize that the muscles of the neck are connected to many other muscles within the body, all lending support to the joints. If one of these muscles if even a little bit off, the results could be, well, painful!

TREATING NECK PAIN

There are many ways to treat neck pain. Everything from pain killers to chiropractic treatments can work, but there are also things you can do yourself to help improve your neck pain, with just a few simple changes.

Below are the top ten causes or habits that can lead to neck pain, and some tips on how you can reduce your risk of developing this pain.

TOP 10 Neck Pain Causes

POSTURE POSTURE POSTURE!

Poor posture is one of the leading causes of neck pain. In today’s world, technology is how we go about many things in life. The fact is, while technology is an important part of our lives, it can also cause lots of problems and neck pain being a big one. Try to be aware of your posture when using your technology, and be sure that you are sitting up straight, shoulders back, and your device at eye level. Ensure that you are not using posture that we refer to as “text neck” which is basically a forward head posture that is used when texting for example. Keeping the head in this forward or downward angle is the leading cause of neck pain and will have a negative impact on your entire body. If you need some tips on maintaining good posture, be sure to ask Dr. Bekic and he’ll be happy to answer any question!

POOR ERGONOMICS

As noted above, technology is pretty much unavoidable these days. How we use our technology makes the difference in our health issues including neck pain. While posture is key, it’s pretty difficult to have good posture if the area where our devices are located have poor ergonomics. Having a proper chair with adequate back support and having a desk with an appropriate height will all contribute to good posture, and as a result, reduced pain.

LUGGING HEAVY BAGS

Carrying around heavy items, such as brief cases or purses on a regular basis can really put a strain on the muscles of the neck. In part, this is due to strain being placed on one side of the body only. Most women will tell you that they carry their purse on a particular side and don’t usually switch it up. If you are someone who likes to have all your stuff with you at all times, investing in a good backpack, or at the very least, a cross-body type bag, will help to even out the strain on your neck muscles.

POOR SUPPORT DURING SLEEP

Everyone has an opinion about which is the healthiest sleep position; some people feel sleeping on your back is bad, others will say the same about sleeping on your stomach. The key to proper support during sleep is having the right type of mattress and pillow so that your body is properly aligned, and your neck is supported, no matter which side you choose to sleep on. While the softness of your mattress is a personal preference, it’s wise to invest in good quality pillows that keep cervical position and alignment in focus, so that your head is properly supported while you sleep.

PROPER CHEST SUPPORT

For women, having a good quality bra that is supportive, can be especially helpful to those who are large-breasted. If proper support is not in place, the weight of the chest can pull the head and shoulders forward, leading to neck pain. Additionally, the straps, if not of adequate width, can create ruts in the shoulders that will also lead to pain. Invest in good quality bras to help keep you pain free.

ARM AND WRIST SUPPORT

Any time you are performing an activity that requires the constant motion of your arms and hands, it’s wise to have support in place. Typing is an excellent example; while it’s important to keep your shoulders back, sometimes this can be difficult if you don’t have supports under the elbows or wrists. Simply allowing the elbows to swing freely while performing such tasks can put an undue amount of strain on your neck and shoulders.

NECK PAIN AND THE PHONE

With the invention of speaker phones, it is easier to have long conversations without using your shoulder as a holder for your phone. But there are still some folks who prefer a good old fashioned phone, and continue to use the shoulder to hold the phone between the shoulder and neck while multi-tasking. This is a guaranteed way to end up with a sore neck, so if you’re guilty of this practice, it’s time to upgrade your phone and your bad habits!

LONG DRIVES

Are you a commuter? If so you are probably spending a lot of time with both hands on the steering wheel of your car. And while you were probably taught that having your hands in the 9 – 3 position, this can actually lead to significant neck pain. It’s wiser to position your hands lower down on the steering wheel to prevent strain on your neck and shoulders.

STRESS

And finally, stress, the silent cause of so many aches and pains! When we’re stressed, we tend to tense up and hunch forward as a means of trying to protect ourselves. It’s vitally important, not just to your neck, but to your entire well-being, to address and reduce the cause of your stress, so that your body can function in an optimal way.

SUMMARY

As you can see, there are some common habits that most of us have that can cause neck pain. Making even little changes to these habits can mean the difference between a sore neck and a happy neck! If you have any questions about neck pain or if you’re experiencing neck pain, Dr. Bekic can help put you on the path to relief!

Call our office today at (519) 250-6288 to set up your appointment! Don’t forget to like and share this post with your family and friends.