Winter has finally graced us with her presence!   As we get ourselves active and prepared to tackle shovelling that first snowfall, it is important to think about using safe techniques to prevent hurting ourselves.  It is common for us to see as chiropractors or massage therapists, patients coming to our Live Well Centre with new or re-aggravated back injuries.  This can include pulled and spastic muscles, lumbar spine strains and sprains, or sacro-iliac joint (pelvis) injuries.  Unfortunately, it also can mean a serious heart strain, creating a few emergency trips at this time of year.

Consider that a shovelful of snow weighs 5 to 7 pounds, and you have to lift that to clear your driveway or sidewalk, it can easily add up to lifting several hundred pounds!  That is a serious workout!  These tips will help keep your back in shape as you attack that snow:

• Don’t let the snow pile up:  If the weather report calls for several days of snow, frequent shovelling will allow you to move smaller amounts of snow at once.  It’s far less strenuous in the long run.
• Pick the right shovel: Use a lightweight pusher-type shovel.  If your are using a metal shovel, you can spray it first with tTeflon, so snow won’t stick to it.
• Push, don’t throw: Always push the snow to the side rather than throw it.  That way you avoid lifting heavy shovelfuls of snow, and sudden twisting or turning movements.
• Bend your knees: As with any heavy object, uou need to use your knees, and leg and arm muscles to do the lifting and pushing, while keeping your back straight.
• Take a break: If you feel tired or short of breath, stop and take a rest.  Shake out your arms and legs.  Stop shovelling immediately if you feel chest or back pain.  A nice tip is to try not to leave the shovelling to the last minute on a busy morning, so that you feel rushed and push yourself to fast to get to work on time.

If you have back pain that is severe or that persists for more than a day after shovelling, see your chiropractor.  You may need an adjustment or massage to restore the injured area.  If you have chest pain that is severe, see a doctor immediately.

Not a lot of people enjoy shovelling, but if you look at it as a way to get yourself outside as you accomplish your exercise for the day, breathing fresh air and working your body in a positive way, I promise you will feel better after then you did before the chore!

This is a new picture to use

The weather.

We can’t do anything about it, but as Canadians, we sure do like to talk and complain about it.  Unfortunately, I see in my practice that the weather, especially in winter, becomes an excuse to not exercise.  It is so easy to slip down that steep slope of putting off physical activity in January and February because of inclement weather.  By the time May and June roll around, we are worse off then the previous year in terms of fitness and healthy weight. Couple this to the holiday feasting season of over-indulgences and self-gratification, and I believe that is the reason that North Americans on average add a few pounds every year.  We are informed every week with new studies that tell us how fat and unhealthy we have become, and now our kids are at risk of heart disease due to  obesity!

The answer to avoiding this roller coaster and slippery slope is to maintain an active lifestyle year round that is flexible with the weather.  We have to be creative as well as welcoming to weather changes.  Weather adaptability is what makes us Canadian.   If you don’t like the weather, then move somewhere where it doesn’t change.  But if we live here, and want to truly live, we must embrace winter.  It just becomes a long miserable four months inside if we don’t.  One of the greatest feelings in the world is felt coming in from a vigorous  outdoor activity, where you felt the cool crisp air and winter sun on your face.  Even just getting outside for a brisk 20 minute walk in the winter sun can change your emotional state and perspective on the day.

There are lots of ways  to exercise outdoors in the winter, such as;

• Walking at a fair rate.  For cardiovascular effect, the key is to be able to walk while being able to carry on a conversation with someone (that is not just 1-word sentences!) but also able to just hear yourself breathe.
• Tobogganing! Don’t limit this fun pursuit to kids only, just be careful!
• Snowshoeing.  There isn’t a better way to access some of Canada’s most beautiful winter scenes, and now the snowshoes are so light and easy to to use.
• Cross-country skiing.  Again, another great way to exercise that involves the whole body and is easy on the joints.  Usually you get so mesmerized with the beautiful surroundings that you don’t even realize that you are exercising!
• Down-hill skiing.  A great way to get outside and socialize at the same time!
• Ice-skating/hockey.  Our national pastime is so easy in the winter when we have so many outdoor rinks and ponds available.

The key with all of these activities is to relax and enjoy, as they are fun if you allow them.  Dress appropriately, which means dress in layers with a poly-pro first layer of underwear, a mid- layer, and an outer breathable shell that you can peel off as you warm up.

As Nike says, just do it, you will be so happy you did and your body will thank you!

As the end of the year draws near, we naturally begin to look forward to the new year, and reflect on some of the changes and goals we wish to accomplish. Our health is the most important component of this reflection, and in a later blog, I’ll discuss some of the things we should and could do to improve our health for 2010. But for us to do that properly, we need to take the time to look at this year, as we can only improve what is before us in the present based on what has worked, or not, in the past.

Was this year a healthy year for you? Did you do the things you set out to do for your health? Did you have goals or an action plan, or did you just live your life and do whatever came naturally?
The point here is not whether or not you made goals and achieved them, because we all respond differently to the various methods of goal-setting. The key here is to reflect on what you did this past year. Either you became healthier in 2009, or you became sicker and closer to dying. We are constantly in a state of flux, moving towards health or towards sickness. So, which was it for you?

Did you do the right things to improve your personal health?
Did you exercise properly and frequently?
Did you get enough sleep, rest and relaxation time?
Did you eat well on a consistent basis? (Eating well isn’t just avoiding the bad food, what’s more important is being sure to get lots of the healthy foods.)
Did you take the right supplements? (Key ones being Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Vitamin D, and Pro-biotics when necessary)
Did you surround yourself with family and friends in a supportive and caring environment?
Did you play enough?
What were your stress levels like? (Key ones for health being relationships, both personal and professional, and financial stress.)

It is easy to look at what we did, recognize the areas of improvement and plan ways to accomplish that. But the key is the consistency. Consistent small changes and habits will always win over drastic changes that don’t last.

Be honest with yourself. What did you do? What did you start with? What were the stumbling blocks, or where did you get de-railed? Was it the factors of time, cost, not enough support, or was it just too plain difficult?

Whether or not we make goals, what is necessary is that we analyze what we did do, so that we can begin to determine things to work on in 2010. Because as I said, we are either getting healthier, or we are getting sicker. What will 2010 be for you?

To me, living well is simply incorporating a healthy lifestyle to maximize your life’s fulfillment. Not only doing the right thing, but being the right thing in mind, body and spirit.

It is so important to be active and engaged in making the right conscious health choices, to make the right decisions to live well, and not play passive victim to circumstance. It takes in some cases a lot of effort, and sometimes more money to live a healthy life, but we know the results are worth it. We too often know of people who try desperately to make a critical shift in their life once a terminal diagnosis is made. Why wait?

Why not choose to be healthy now, or at least take one step towards better health, to not only experience less disease and ill-health, but to fully experience and live life to its fullest potential?

I am by no means perfect, but I am certainly constantly striving to improve my health, and find that my habits and choices evolve as I discover and learn. Sometimes they are difficult changes, requiring a great effort to follow through consistently, and sometimes they are as simple as changing a brand of food we use. I believe the key is consistency, as well as an open mind to accept change. Some habits and beliefs are hardwired into our DNA and difficult to change. But not impossible.

I hope to make this blog an open communication about current and important life habits that profoundly affect our health. This includes our fitness, nutrition, stress management, our environment, our spiritual and emotional health. Anything and everything that has the potential to optimize our living.

Live well….Be Well