Jones Family Chiropractic

Unlocking Movement: Celebrate Your Journey to Better Flexibility and Mobility

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 08:00:10 +0000

Most of us have the desire to stay active daily and in the long term. An active lifestyle is a daily pursuit for many of us, and an essential part of this journey is practicing flexibility and mobility. Flexibility refers to the ability of muscles to lengthen passively through motion, while mobility is the ability of joints to move actively through motion. Flexibility and mobility impact our daily activities like sitting, bending over, climbing stairs, and carrying groceries. Flexibility and mobility have been proven to impact overall physical fitness and health significantly.

As we celebrate the gains in flexibility and mobility, we should ensure regular practice to achieve a healthy, happy body in the long term. To help you, we have explored some steps to uphold while celebrating improved flexibility and mobility. Have a glance!

Ensure that you practice flexibility and mobility consistently. This can be achieved by setting and sticking with a relevant SMART goal. A SMART goal should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. For instance, you can spend 30 minutes active four days a week. Our strongest belief is that “no program works if we don’t do it.” Therefore, we encourage consistency, which matters more in achieving and maintaining long-term flexibility and mobility.
Engage in active stretching before exercise and static stretching after exercise. Active stretching, which is performed before exercise, involves gently moving through a range of motion to increase blood flow and warm up muscles. On the other hand, static stretching, which is normally performed after exercise, involves stretching a muscle to its furthest point and holding that position for a period of time.
Always move when you get an opportunity. Whenever you get a chance to move, please do it! Whether it’s walking outside, working out at home, or playing basketball, every chance of being active matters. Ensure you look out for a fun activity so it will be interesting to do it consistently.
Consider engaging in diverse exercises. Incorporating a wide range of exercises in your routine will significantly help you achieve overall flexibility and mobility. For example, strength training can help increase the flexibility and balance required for functional movements, while activities like yoga, Pilates, and barre are best for improving both flexibility and strength.
Focus on improving your posture. Ensure you check in about your body alignment throughout the day. Consider changing positions from sitting to standing as often as possible. You can also engage in stretches that support better posture.

Flexibility and mobility are foundational attributes of being healthy, and we recommend celebrating their gains with regular practice. It is also essential to seek professional support from a chiropractor to diagnose and treat injuries. This is because it is not advised to do exercise or activities that aggravate muscle or joint pain related to an injury.

If you need more guidance on celebrating improved flexibility and mobility, talk to Dr. Jason Jones at our Chiropractic office in Elizabeth City, NC, for assistance!

Unlock Your Potential: The Essential Benefits of Regular Stretching

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 13:46:49 +0000

When we talk about fitness, cardiovascular and strength exercises often come to mind. Keeping up with this level of exercise can sometimes be challenging, but we need to remember another vital fitness component- stretching. Including stretching in your daily regimen is a great strategy to develop and maintain optimal fitness and improve your athletic performance and overall health. Stretching involves elongating a muscle or muscle group to its entire length. Most times, we stretch without realizing it because stretching is a natural, instinctive behavior that our bodies naturally crave, especially after long periods of sitting or inactivity.

The Importance of Regular Stretching

Regular stretching offers numerous health and fitness benefits that include:

Increases your flexibility

Flexibility helps us perform everyday activities with relative ease and helps delay the reduced mobility that can come with aging. Therefore, regular stretching increases your flexibility, which is crucial for overall health. Maintaining a regular stretching routine will keep you flexible and injury-free.

Improves performance in physical activity

Do you ever wonder why athletes or gym instructors encourage you to perform dynamic stretches before physical activity? This is because stretches have been shown to help prepare your muscles for the activity.

Helps to heal and prevent back pain

Tight muscles result in decreased range of motion, which increases the likelihood of straining the muscles in your back. Stretching can heal an existing back injury. Adopting a regular stretching routine can also help prevent future back pain by strengthening your back muscles and reducing your risk of muscle strain.

Stress relief

Did you know that when you are experiencing stress, your muscles are likely tense? This happens because your muscles tend to tighten in response to physical and emotional stress. You can ease this by stretching and focusing on areas of your body where you tend to hold your stress, like the neck, shoulders, and upper back.

Improves circulation

Regular stretching helps increase blood flow to the muscles, which helps nourish the muscles, eliminate waste byproducts from muscle tissue, shorten recovery time, and reduce muscle soreness.

Promotes relaxation

Stretching feels good. It is an excellent way to cool down and relax after an engaging workout. Research further shows that stretching can lower blood pressure and improve artery function. This helps decrease tension, headaches and can also calm your mind. While you stretch, focus on mindfulness and meditation exercises, which give your mind a mental break.

Stretching techniques:

The two common types of stretching techniques include:

Static stretches involve holding a stretch in a comfortable position for some time, usually 10 to 30 seconds. It is a form of stretching that is most beneficial after your exercise.
Dynamic stretches include active movements that cause your muscles to stretch, but the stretch is not held in the end position. It is usually done before exercise to prepare the muscles for movement.

How to start a stretching routine

The good thing about adopting a stretching routine is that you can stretch at any time during the day.

On the days you exercise, you can add the following stretches:

Aim for five to ten minutes of dynamic stretching before your activity
Do another five to ten minutes of static stretching after your workout

On the days when you are not exercising, plan to schedule at least 5 to 10 minutes of time for stretching. When stretching, focus on the major areas of your body that help with mobility, like the quadriceps, calves, hip flexors, and hamstrings. For upper-body relief, try moves that stretch the neck, shoulders, and lower back.

Whether new to exercise or a seasoned athlete, you can benefit from a regular stretching routine. If you need further guidance on developing a stretching routine, consult Dr. Jason Jones at our Chiropractic office in Elizabeth City, NC.

Boost Your Confidence and Health: How Good Posture Transforms Your Mind and Body

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 08:00:04 +0000

If we are sincere with ourselves, we would agree that we tend to sit hunched over, staring down at our computer or phone most of the time. This is truly harmful to our posture and impacts our physical and mental health. We should all make an effort to sit up straighter, especially when tackling a difficult task because our posture does not just affect our bodies but also touches our brains. Posture has a wide-ranging effect on our well-being, both physical and mental.

Have you heard of the famous saying, “Stand strong, look like a winner?” I am sure most of us have heard similar encouraging statements but could not understand what they mean. Research shows that posture plays a critical role in how we present ourselves to the world.

How Maintaining Good Posture Can Boost Your Confidence.

Good posture helps boost your confidence: Any time you stand up straight, you automatically feel more confident and assertive. This happens because good posture engages your core muscles, which helps to stabilize your spine and improve your balance. This, in turn, makes you feel more secure and confident in your body.
It helps command attention: If you are a leader or working in a professional setting, standing up straight helps project confidence through your posture, making people more likely to pay attention to and take you seriously.
Good posture makes you look more attractive and approachable: People with good posture are more confident and approchable than those with poor posture. This is because good posture makes you look more open and approachable, which can appeal to other people. Studies show that sitting up straight can invite conversation and even compliments, while someone hunching over a screen sends the message that they don’t want to be approached.
Improved clarity: Did you know that good posture can significantly improve your clarity? Good posture increases the flow of oxygen to the brain, generating clarity. With good clarity, we are able to focus better and apply ourselves. Therefore, whenever you feel low, it would help to sit or stand upright to improve your mind.

How to Create a More Confident Posture

From nailing your leadership to interview, check out some of the postures to help improve your confidence!

Keep Your Chin Up: During conversations, always keep your head up, whether you are waiting or while you present. This helps create a positive, confident image. Also, ensure you straighten your whole body by standing up tall with a straight spine and rolled-back shoulders to show poise.
Make Eye Contact: Making and maintaining direct eye contact with the people you speak to shows you are sure of yourself and ready to tackle any conversation.
Avoid Fidgeting: Keep fidgeting to a minimum. If you are used to playing with your hands, fiddling with your glass or key, or pulling at your clothes, try to stop. Fidgeting can be distracting to those around you and show signs of anxiety.

Good posture is significant in projecting confidence and authority, improving physical health, and making a positive impression on others. For more guidance on how good posture impacts your confidence, contact Dr. Jason Jones at our Chiropractic office in Elizabeth City, NC, for assistance!