Bad for Your Back Workout Mistakes

Exercising is important for your health, and at Carolina Chiropractic Center we encourage all our patients to be active.  There are simple mistakes we can make exercising that cause more pain, so keep these in mind while exercising so your workout truly benefits you!  Not warming up, or replacing a warm up with a lot of stretching, is not the right way to start exercising. Light warm-up exercises will raise your heart rate and increase circulation, providing better blood flow to muscles.  Even five minutes of light cardio exercise and some easy stretching can have this effect.  It is most important to stretch after a workout.  When muscles have been warmed up and worked out, stretching will feel easier and can prevent soreness by releasing lactic acid built up in the muscles.

Even people who exercise regularly can experience strain if they don’t train their core.  Core and abdominal strength is essential for supporting the spine, and abdominal muscles should be trained with every workout.  No matter which muscle group is being exercised, proper form and good posture are important to avoid injury.  The most common mistake people make working out sounds very simple but is critical: going too far.  This includes pushing the limits in term of any weights you lift, too much twisting of the spine, and exercising excessively.  Listen to your body’s response and build up strength rather than pushing yourself over the limit. Come see us for help correcting your workout routine to make sure you are helping, not hurting yourself with exercise.

To learn more about all the services provided at the practice, visit www.carolinachirocenter.com. To schedule an appointment with Dr. James Huggins, Jr. at Carolina Chiropractic Center in Florence, SC, call 843-665-9192. 

Importance of Stretching

Do you consider yourself flexible? If not, you may be able to increase your flexibility by stretching on a daily basis. Stretching is an excellent way to improve your range of motion and keep your muscles in a healthy state. Whether you decide to stretch before exercise, or afterward, Dr. James Huggins Jr. of Carolina Chiropractic Center wants to explain the importance of stretching every day.

Regular stretching is just as important as daily exercise. This is because without flexibility and a solid range of motion in our joints our muscles will shorten and become tight. Even stretching for a short amount of time can calm the mind, and give your body a chance to recharge. Adding stretching to your daily routine also provides a flexibility that decreases the risk of day-to-day injury. An added benefit of stretching on a daily basis is that it assists in correct posture by lengthening tight muscles that pull areas of the body away from their intended position.

If you have questions or concerns about chiropractic care, please give us a call. To learn more about the services we provide at our office, visit www.carolinachirocenter.com. To schedule an appointment with Dr. James Huggins, Jr. at Carolina Chiropractic Center in Florence, SC, call 843-665-9192. 

Consequences of Prolonged Stress

Prolonged stress has damaging effects on all the body’s systems. We say this not to add to our patients’ stress, but so that they’ll understand the importance to their health of relaxation and the stress-reducing therapies we offer at the Carolina Chiropractic Center.

Stress is what we feel when our brains signal our endocrine system to produce a flood of hormones and our hearts to pump faster. The hormone in question, cortisol, instructs the liver to raise its production of the simple sugar glucose. This is good for an energy boost but bad for people who do not produce enough insulin to process glucose quickly.

Likewise, an increased heart rate will cause blood to deliver oxygen more rapidly. However, arteries will thicken in response to increased strain, which can cause muscles to tighten up. Strain on arteries in the brain can contribute to a stroke and numerous cognitive failures, such as memory loss and mood changes. This does not mean that increasing your heart rate is inherently bad—a heart rate can also be too low— but the best ways to raise it are through aerobic and resistance exercises which will strengthen other body systems.

Dr. James Huggins operates the Carolina Chiropractic Center at 1627 Suite C, South Irby, Florence, South Carolina, 29505. To set up an appointment, call 843-665-9192 or visit CarolinaChiroCenter.com and fill out a contact form.