Women

THE NO GYM WORKOUT: FIVE FUN ALTERNATIVES

“Are you looking for a no gym workout? We know hitting the gym can be a great thing. The benefits of a membership generally outweigh the negatives by a landslide. That being said, sometimes it can be difficult to get to the gym in the first place. Whether you’re traveling across the country or stuck inside during a snowstorm, there are some awesome exercise alternatives out there. Seriously, if you can work out with a towel, you can work out anywhere.”

Here are five fun workouts you can complete whenever, wherever:

HIIT Hotel Workout from Anne Smiles

You don’t have to skip your workout if the hotel lacks a gym. Did you know you could complete a high intensity interval workout using just the bed? Bonus: you can take a nap right after you finish. View it here.

Paper Plate Workout from Fitful Focus

Don’t worry about having enough equipment. This lower body workout serves up some serious moves on basic paper plates. Hand towels work well, too, on wood or tile floors. View it here.

At Home Workout from The Fit Cookie

Why hit the gym when you can complete a quality workout right in your very own home? A few weights are a great investment and will help guarantee that you won’t miss the gym a bit. View it here.

The Chair Workout via Run Pretty

Pull up a chair and don’t just have a seat. When you can work out with a chair, you can work out anywhere. A park bench will work just as well, which means you can squeeze in a workout while the kids play. View it here.

5-Minute Wakeup Workout from Food Faith Fitness

Start your day off on the right track with this quick bodyweight workout. It can also work well for a midday pick me up! We all know the afternoon slump is real, you guys. View it here.

What’s your go-to travel or at-home workout? Leave a comment and let us know!

**More of this article can be found at http://www.bumblebee.com/no-gym-workout-5-fun-exercise-alternatives/.

Arab Encore Athlete of the Month, Hannah Moore.

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Congratulations to the Arab Encore Athlete of the Month, Hannah Moore! Hannah is a junior athlete at Brindlee Mountain High School. She is a member of the Lady Lions Volleyball team wears jersey #20 and #1 (Libero). After high school, Hannah plans to attend Mississippi State and major in Early Childhood Education. She is the daughter of Phillip Moore and Edith Saint.

Tomorrow is World Stroke Day.

World Stroke Day is October 29th!

Nothing is more important than a life. If you spot the warning signs of stroke, call 911 right away. Responding quickly can be the difference between recovery and disability, or even death. Luckily stroke is largely treatable when you know the signs and act fast. Learn more here

Heart disease remains a leading cause of death among women. Prevention and cure of heart disease, stroke and its risk factors can be attained through regular physical activity and nutrition. Learn about the American Heart Association and Macy’s #GoRedGetFit Facebook challenge at GoRedForWomen.org/GoRedGetFit as a tool to support women’s heart and brain health.

Do You Know What F.A.S.T. Stands For?

Stroke can’t wait and neither should you. Stroke is largely treatable, but responding quickly when a stroke occurs can mean the difference between recovery and disability. Our Together to End Stroke initiative, nationally sponsored by Medtronic, teaches the acronym F.A.S.T. to help people remember common stroke warning signs and what to do if you spot a stroke. F.A.S.T. stands for: (F)ace drooping, (A)rm weakness, (S)peech difficulty, (T)ime to call 9-1-1.

Healthy For Good

Healthy For Good is a movement of everyday Americans everywhere who are making a commitment to their health. Here, we take our health seriously, one step at a time. Join the Healthy For Good revolution and we’ll keep you on track with encouragement, resources and humor along the way!

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Your donation helps us better serve diverse populations and disadvantaged communities with lifesaving health information. Click here to give today. Help us achieve health equity.

National Physical Therapy Month- #ChoosePT

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October is National Physical Therapy Month and we want to recognize, and thank, all the Physical Therapists that work for our company! We are proud to be the largest privately owned provider of physical therapy throughout Alabama and Mississippi and we love to see our patients succeed through their therapy treatments.

As we recognize all of our wonderful therapists during National Physical Therapy Month, we also want to promote the #ChoosePT campaign. APTA has launched this awareness campaign about the growing toll of the opioid epidemic and has also provided the safety and effectiveness of physical therapy for pain management.

“Physical therapy has been identified as a safe and effective alternative to opioids for long-term pain management and prevention by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Surgeon General. Physical therapists (PTs) and physical therapist assistants (PTAs) have a responsibility to understand the full scope of the epidemic and its potential impact on their patients and clients.”

No one wants to live in pain- and we don’t want you to. Choose Physical Therapy for Safe Pain Management. Don’t just mask the pain. Treat it!

Our therapists from the Ocean Springs Neurological Vestibular Rehabilitation Clinic in Mississippi are actively involved with the #ChoosePT movement and want to encourage you to be a part too. #SayNoToOpioids

How to Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy and 5 Ways to Return to your Pre-Baby Body.

5 Ways to Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy

Ensure that your body is ready to carry a baby by addressing before pregnancy any pain or problems associated with posture or weakness. Here are some physical therapist tips for helping to prepare your body for pregnancy and to guard against musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction during and after it.

1. Strengthen your pelvic muscles. To strengthen your muscles, use pelvic floor contractions (commonly referred to as Kegels), which involve gently squeezing the sphincter muscles (rather than the buttocks and thighs). These tightening exercises help prevent leakage when a woman sneezes, coughs, etc, and also can help reduce pelvic pain during pregnancy. However, many women do Kegels incorrectly (perhaps because muscles are too tight and need to be relaxed before strengthening). Doing Kegels incorrectly can worsen conditions such as incontinence, pelvic pain, and even low back pain. This is why it is important to consult a women’s health physical therapist before beginning an exercise program. Physical therapists who specialize in women’s health can instruct women in how to perform these exercises safely and correctly. (Encore Rehabilitation has a specialized clinic that treats incontinence and pelvic pain, located in D’Iberville, Mississippi).

2. Prepare for “baby belly” by focusing on your core. Core exercises can help prevent diastasis recti —abdominal muscle separation. As your belly grows, the abdominal muscles that run vertically along either side of the belly button can be forced apart, like a zipper opening. If these abdominal muscles separate from each other too much, the result can be low back pain, pelvic pain, or other injuries as your body tries to compensate for its weaker core. This also can result in the postpregnancy “pooch” many women find undesirable.

Some exercises, such as sit ups, increase the likelihood of developing diastasis recti, incontinence, and back pain during and after pregnancy. It is important, therefore, to work with your physical therapist on the right exercise strategy for establishing a strong core.

3. Take a breath! Learning proper breathing and relaxation techniques from your physical therapist will help prepare your body and mind for a healthy pregnancy. It is important to learn to properly exhale before performing any exercise. With proper technique, your core and pelvic floor muscles will contract automatically, and this will lead to optimal stability and injury protection.

4. Begin a regular fitness routine. Exercise will help reduce the amount of cortisol (stress hormone) in your body and will boost your muscle and cardiovascular strength—strength you’ll need to carry that extra baby weight. Once you become pregnant, consider engaging in relatively low-impact activities, such as swimming, walking on even surfaces, biking, or using an elliptical machine. Runners should be aware that loosening of their ligaments may make them more susceptible to knee and ankle injuries. Also, when the muscles and ligaments that support a woman’s pelvic organs weaken, the repetitive jarring of running can cause these organs to descend. This is known as pelvic organ prolapse. Physical therapists strongly recommend that, to prevent this condition, women wear undergarments that offer pelvic floor support, or compression shorts that support the pelvic floor, both during and after pregnancy.

5. Practice good posture. Poor posture can have a major effect on every part of your body, particularly with regard to pain during pregnancy. A physical therapist can evaluate your posture and suggest muscle-strengthening exercises and lifestyle education (such as not sitting at a desk for long periods, and carrying grocery bags properly). Establishing healthy posture habits—pre-baby—will better prepare your body for the extra weight of pregnancy and lessen your chances of low back and pelvic pain.

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5 Ways to Return to Your Pre-Baby Body

While moderate weight gain is a common concern for women during and after pregnancy, there are many other factors to consider in the 4 to 6 weeks after childbirth. You may want to get back into pre-pregnancy shape immediately, but it is important to make a slow return to full activity. Here are some tips on what you can do in the first 6 weeks after delivery to begin getting your body back into pre-pregnancy shape.

1. Get help with tasks. A new mom needs an ally in the weeks following childbirth. During this time, a woman should not lift anything heavier than her baby, in spite of the temptation. Make sure all the heavy nursery equipment is set up by someone else in advance of the baby’s arrival. It’s important now for you to rest and engage in light activities only.

2. Breathe. Believe it or not, something as natural and instinctive as breathing will require focus after childbirth. This is because the growing uterus pushes the diaphragm upward, causing it to lose its ability to descend during inhalation. Since the diaphragm forms the top of the core muscles, it is important to work with a physical therapist, who will prescribe exercises to help restore your diaphragm function to its full capacity.

3. Focus on your core. A woman’s abdominal muscles undergo a great deal of strain during pregnancy. In fact, separation of abdominal muscles, called diastasis recti, is a common occurrence. Also, engaging in inappropriate exercise, such as sit ups, can worsen the problem for some women. A physical therapist can prescribe exercises to help “close the gap” between muscles. Gentle core-strengthening exercises also can be done, paving the way for more-vigorous abdominal exercises 6 or more weeks after delivery.

4. Strengthen abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. Physical therapists recommend that immediately post-partum, women focus on exercising the abdominal muscles and the muscles of the pelvic floor. During pregnancy, these muscles often are stretched and weakened. Strengthening them gives women a strong, stable base from which to work and move. This can alleviate pain later on, and makes much simpler such tasks as carrying the baby, getting in and out of the car, and lifting and reaching.; Women who have had a caesarian section should be watchful of discomfort during abdominal exercise. Pain could indicate that the exercise is being done too soon, incorrectly, or too vigorously.

Fortunately, women can do gentle Kegel (pelvic floor) exercises immediately after childbirth, whether the birth was vaginal or by caesarian section. Kegels can be done during everyday activities such as nursing or feeding the baby. Strengthening the pelvic floor also can improve sexual satisfaction and help prevent incontinence. Physical therapists can recommend several types of Kegel exercises—for endurance, (in which the woman contracts or lifts the pelvic floor muscles and holds them for 5 to 10 seconds) and to produce quick, brisk muscle contractions.

5. Every minute counts. Over time, a woman may begin incorporating fitness into her everyday routines—such simple activities as taking a family walk around the neighborhood or participating in a fitness group with other new moms. Remember to go at your own pace. New moms should sleep whenever they have the opportunity.

Acknowledgement: Marianne Ryan, PT, OCS

These two articles were not written by Encore Employees but found on the APTA website. Read the complete articles here: Article 1 and Article 2

Great Article! “The One Exercise That Just Might Change Your Running Forever” via the Huffington Post.

“What if all it took to improve your running immeasurably was a few minutes marching in place?

In a 2011 New York Times Magazine feature, Christopher McDougall, author ofBorn to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen experimented with just that.

“I was leafing through the back of an out-of-print book, a collection of runners’ biographies called ‘The Five Kings of Distance,’ when I came across a three-page essay from 1908 titled ‘W. G. George’s Own Account From the 100-Up Exercise,’” he writes. “According to legend, this single drill turned a 16 year old with almost no running experience into the foremost racer of his day.”

Walter Goodall George’s earliest sporting interests were rugby and cycling, but he went on to win over 1,000 amateur prizes and races and set long-standing records as a professional runner. “He became unbeatable over the middle distances in an era before training became scientific,” the Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography writes, all while pioneering his own personal brand of “scientific” training, namely the 100-Up. In 1878, at age 19, he wrote a plan to break the then-world record for the mile — and proceeded to run nearly exactly his plan’s predicted time in 1886. In addition to his 100-Up essay cited by McDougall, he also published a short book on the exercise in 1913, according to the Oxford DNB.

George’s 100-Up routine is divided into two parts, the minor and the major. The minor involves standing with both feet about eight inches apart “and your arms cocked in running position,” McDougall writes. Then, raise one knee at a time to hip height, bringing it back down lightly to its original position. All that’s left after that is to repeat this movement 100 times. The major involves the same movement at a higher speed. McDougall quotes George: “The body must be balanced on the ball of the foot, the heels being clear of the ground and the head and body being tilted very slightly forward…. Now, spring from the toe, bringing the knee to the level of the hip…. Repeat with the other leg and continue raising and lowering the legs alternately. This action is exactly that of running.”

Sounds a little too simple, no?

Experienced runners will likely recognize these movements as the tried-and-true running drill commonly referred to as high knees, a simple way to up strength and endurance of the hip flexor and quad, according to New York Road Runners (NYRR). Straightforward as it looks, high knees –and other running drills — canhelp you become a better runner, says NYRR coach John Honerkamp. The 100-Up is essentially exaggerated running form, and performing 100 repetitions can help build muscle memory during a similar state of fatigue that a runner might experience at the end of a tough workout or a grueling race, he says.

But it’s the focus on form that’s most important. “You’re reinforcing poor form if you’re doing it improperly,” says Honerkamp. “Once you stop doing it correctly, you shouldn’t do it at all.” That means concentrating not just on returning each foot to its starting point, but paying attention to arm swing, keeping the core stable and landing close to your center of gravity on the balls of your feet every single time, he says. For most 100-Up beginners, 100 reps is a long-term goal. Aim to start with maybe 20 repetitions instead — or however many you can complete with perfect form.

Don’t expect to see immediate results, either, Honerkamp warns. Running on your toes, typically considered more efficient because you’re spending less time on the ground, may be the end goal, but heel strikers need to ease into adaptations. “I worry about people trying to drastically change,” says Honerkamp. “It’s something to work on and think about, but don’t over-think or overcorrect,” he says.

Whether or not you devote yourself to the 100-Up for life or simply dabble in running form drills periodically, incorporating focus on form into a warmup or regular training routine is a good idea, says Honerkamp. “People skip [warmups] because they’re busy getting out of the door,” he says, “but five minutes probably will go a long way.”

Source: Klein, S. (2014, June 4). The One Exercise That Just Might Change Your Running Forever. . Retrieved June 20, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/04/100-up-running_n_5406664.html

5 things to help you feel better and gain self-confidence

1) GET MOVING
Research has linked any type of exercise—cardio, strength training, stretching—to greater body confidence. And it works whether or not your fitness level or weight changes, or whether your sweat sessions are mild or intense. Plus, just talking about a workout can up your self-image, says psychologist Louise Wasylkiw, Ph.D., of Mount Allison University.

2) LISTEN UP The more in touch you are with the way your body works, the less you may dwell on its appearance, says cognitive psychology researcher Vivien Ainley. In one study, women who could more accurately count their heartbeats objectified themselves less. Practices like meditation and yoga can help you tune in to you.

3) NIX FAT CHAT
“You’re so tiny; my thighs are like tree trunks.” Most women think such self-deprecation is harmless or even helpful. In reality, it’s anything but. Even being involved in third-party snarking (say, dissing a coworker’s shape) can reinforce a negative view of your own body. “Challenge, then replace, fat talk,” says psychology doctoral candidate Rachel Salk of the University of Wisconsin. Praising someone else’s strength or their healthy habits can make everyone feel more confident.

4) SPEAK the (BODY) LANGUAGE
Whenever you hunch your shoulders, cross your arms over your chest, or stare at the floor, you announce your self-consciousness, says body-language pro Lillian Glass, Ph.D. Try a fake-it-till-you-make-it experiment: Walk upright, as if a string is pulling from the top of your head. When you talk to someone, squeeze your butt muscles to straighten your spine, and stand with your feet a foot apart, toes pointing at the person you’re facing. Smile, and don’t be afraid to use your hands when you talk–this kind of openness makes you seem more secure.

5) FEEL BETTER—BY TONIGHT!
First, do an environment scan for confidence-destroying stuff. As in: old jeans that don’t fit, a laptop perennially set to friends’ too-perfect Facebook posts. If you can’t cut this stuff out entirely, avoid it before a big moment.

*If your weight is bothering you, put away the scale for now. The number’s not going to change today, so reminding yourself of it is counterproductive.

+ Leave positive messages on sticky notes around your apartment or office. (“Yeah, you are amazing!” “You’re going to kick butt!”) Strategically place them so they’re the last things you see before stepping out the door.

**Article from Women’s Health Magazine: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/gain-confidence?cm_mmc=Twitter-_-womenshealth-_-content-life-_-boostselfesteem

Six Foods that Fight Depression

by Michelle Blessing “Special Needs Mommy” | January 7, 2014

Many women suffer from seasonal disorders, depression, or anxiety. Seasonal Affective Disorders (SAD) is a form of depression that occurs around the same time every year, and for most, it is around the fall and winter months. SAD saps your energy, causes mood swings and diminishes levels of excitement, happiness and overall motivation. If this sounds familiar, you may be wondering what you can do to help the problem without relying solely on medication. Truth be told, diet can be a powerful tool in changing your mood and overall mental health. Here are 6 feel better foods to help you fight that seasonal slump.

1. Vitamin B-12 and Folic Acid: Although not foods, per say, vitamin B-12 and folic acid are essential vitamins in fighting depression symptoms. Studies have shown that foods or meals high in these two compounds prevent central nervous system disorders and mood problems. Folic acid can be found in leafy greens and beans; vitamin B-12 in meats, fish and dairy products. Eggs, spinach, and salmon are all great sources of folic acid and vitamin B-12.

2. Selenium: Selenium is a mineral with antioxidant-type properties. Research has shown that 200 micrograms of selenium per day can decrease symptoms of depression. Selenium is found naturally in whole grains, such as oatmeal and brown rice. You can also find selenium in Brazil nuts and seafood, such as clams and oysters.

3. Fish: We’ve heard it for years, but recent studies have further shown the effect of omega-3 fatty acids and lower levels of depression. This is especially true of women suffering from postpartum depression. Some excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids include salmon,tuna, and herring.

4. Fruits and Vegetables: Depression can be linked to damage in the brain caused by free radicals. Beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E can all combat damage done by free radicals. Fruit such as strawberries and blueberries are excellent sources of vitamin C, and carrots are a great way to get beta-carotene. Nuts, seeds and wheat germ are sources of vitamin E. One way to pack a punch is to whip up a fruit and veggie smoothie with some added wheat germ for breakfast – a great start for a happy day.

5. Vitamin D: Vitamin D deficiency has been directly linked to depression, so getting adequate amounts of this nutrient is essential. The most obvious source of vitamin D is the sun, but many women worry about sun protection, and therefore cover up, leading to vitamin D deficiencies. Some other sources of vitamin D include cheese and egg yolks, so make yourself a yummy cheese omelet for breakfast and get your daily dose of this necessary nutrient.

6. Chocolate: Of course we saved the best for last – chocolate! Dark chocolate affects your body’s endorphins, releasing feel-good chemicals within your brain. A small piece of chocolate can be mood boosting and it has been shown to lower blood pressure. So, go ahead and splurge with a bit of dark chocolate for dessert!

Source: http://www.skinnymom.com/2014/01/07/6-feel-better-foods-to-help-combat-seasonal-disorders/