With all the heart shaped goodies and signs around on Valentine’s Day, we are served an important reminder to take an active role in keeping our hearts healthy.  There is little argument on the importance of a healthy heart, however developing strategies to meet this goal can be more difficult.  Proper nutrition and activity levels are both key components in keeping your heart working its best.  Nutritional recommendations are very individualized and vary based on age, weight, current eating habits, and other medical conditions.  If you have specific questions regarding nutritional recommendations do not hesitate to contact our dietician to discuss an individualized plan of action.  When planning to achieve proper activity levels, it is important to remember that keeping your heart healthy does not require hours at a gym and can be achieved through simple lifestyle changes.  Although Midwest weather makes it more difficult to be active outside during these winter months, there are plenty of ways to stay active without having to battle the outdoor elements.  The majority of us have the destructive habit of sitting way too much.  One of the best ways to avoid this and maintain a healthy heart, without even having to touch a machine, is by walking more.  There are plenty of devices out there for counting steps taken throughout the day to monitor how many you are taking which can be a great way to track progress.  If you choose this option, there is no magic number of steps to aim for.  Pick a goal number, and once you are able to achieve that every day for a week or two try increasing the goal.  Although it’s easy to take a walk outside or at the park in the summer months, going to a local mall or store and taking laps around are other options to increase steps while staying warm if you do not belong to a gym.  Other ways to increase activity can be performed in the comfort of your own home.  Make it a habit whenever you’re watching TV to stand-up at each commercial and take a lap around the house, go up and down the stairs once or twice, or perform 5-10 squats.  This option is only limited by your own creativity so find something that fits you!

There are also plenty of other alternatives to conventional exercise that do not involve staring at the calorie counter on cardio machines and wondering why the time seems to be standing still.  People that prefer exercise classes and a group atmosphere would benefit from a course such as Yoga or Pilates.  The benefits of these can address heart health, but also go above and beyond by addressing strength, mobility, balance, and body awareness as well.  If aches and pains are preventing you from exercising, please stop in for a complimentary injury screening to address any physical limitations that are preventing you from reaching your target activity levels.  Whatever way you decide to be more active, make sure you have a plan to achieve your goals and get started right now! 

Happy hearts day to all,

Dave Paczkowski, PT, DPT


                                                               TheraCORE Clinic Locations


                   350 E. Ogden Ave., Ste. 200                                         16622 W. 159th St., Ste. 503
                         Westmont, IL 60559                                                         Lockport, IL 60441
                              (630)908-7430                                                                (815)838-5070


                                                                    www.theracorept.com


                                                 

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Happy Pilates month!!

Let’s face it, there are some days after work when I feel like I can’t do any more. I want to go home, lay on the couch and veg out. And some days, this happens on a Tuesday, my Pilates nights.  So I reluctantly change into my workout clothes, grab my mat, set the mood with some music and begin teaching.

It takes me less than the first minute in to remember why I love Pilates so much and before I know it, I’m revitalized and feeling so much better! This is how I should end every evening!

I have a lot of patients and friends that aren’t even really sure of what Pilates is. You hear of PiYo, Piloxing, hybrid forms of the original version, but the true method of Pilates was developed by Joseph Pilates during the first half of the 20^th century in Germany. Pilates is a conditioning routine that focuses on building flexibility, muscle strength, and endurance in the legs, abs, arm, hips and back.  It puts emphasis on spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing, and developing a strong core, and improving coordination and balance. Pilates was developed with the intention of strengthening the human body and the mind through five basic principles:

Concentration: Pilates demands concentration. You must concentrate on what your body is doing in order to produce smooth movements.

Control: You must control every aspect of your movement during Pilates practice. All exercises are done with control of the muscles working to lift against gravity, controlling the movement of the body.

Centering: For participants to control their bodies, they must have a starting place: the center. The center is the focal point of the Pilates Method and is referring to the powerhouse: abs, lower and upper back, hips, butt and inner thighs. All movement in Pilates should begin from the powerhouse and flow outward to the extremities.

Flow of movement: Pilates aims for fluidity of movement, transitioning between skills in the Pilates routine. The exercises are intended to flow within and into each other in order to build strength and stamina.  The Pilates technique emphasizes that physical energy exerted from the center should coordinate movements of the arms and legs, moving outwards from a strong core.

Precision: Precision of movement is essential to Pilates practice. Joseph Pilates believed, “"concentrate on the correct movements each time you exercise, lest you do them improperly and thus lose all the vital benefits of their value.” The more precise you are with your movement, the more benefit you feel from each time you practice.

Breathing:  Joseph Pilates also concentrates on the importance of breathing and saw value in bringing oxygenated blood to every part of the body. Concentrating on full inhalation and complete exhalation allows the participant to fully cleanse and invigorate the body and help fully engage their lower abdominals and pelvic floor muscles. 

I truly feel refreshed, leaner and longer after my Pilates practice. I encourage all of you to step out of your comfort zone and give it a try. You won’t be disappointed! 

- Jen Bazan, PT, DPT