Here Are Some Ways To Get Motivated To Work Out

Unless you are part of a distinct minority of people who actually look forward to going to the gym and sweating for several hours a week, getting excited about exercising may be a daunting task. Absent motivation, odds are good that you won’t do it at all, and let’s face it, if the desire to get healthy and lose weight was enough, then motivation wouldn’t be an issue.

Fortunately, there are a few good ways to get fired up about the concept of exercising. Here are the best of the best:

• Gamify It! – Game Theory is useful in a lot more situations than you might first realize. All games operate on a system of action and reward, so one great way to get excited about working out is to make a deal with yourself, promising a reward for getting it done. It doesn’t have to be anything big or fancy; it just has to be something you like and/or look forward to.

• Make It Part Of Your “Do-List” – If lists work for you, and you find yourself making a list of the most important things you have to accomplish on any given day, then try simply adding your daily workout routine to your action list. That way, it’s just another task you’ve got to attend to before you can call the day done.

• And Finally, Flip The Script! – For most people, exercise isn’t fun because it’s divorced from activities you enjoy doing, but what if that wasn’t the case? The simplest solution, then, is to find some activity you enjoy doing that has a physical component (fencing, white water rafting, hiking, etc.), and do that in the place of your regular workout routine. Because it’s something you enjoy doing, you’re not going to balk when it comes time to do it. Instead, it’ll be something you genuinely look forward to!

Exercise doesn’t have to be a chore or a grind, and if you can find ways to make it something you look forward to, you’ll be healthier and happier, and that is an all-around win!

Improve Your Overall Health By Strengthening Your Core

Almost everyone is familiar with exercises designed to strengthen one’s core, but there’s a problem. Knowing about them, and even knowing how important they are, don’t automatically mean we spend much time doing them.

Sadly, beyond a few token sit ups and pushups, most people don’t spend much time focused on exercises that are designed to strengthen the muscles in their trunk and pelvis.

If you fall into that category, then no matter how much time you spend at the gym, your core muscles are going to be weaker and less developed than the rest. If you want to maximize your overall level of health, that’s something you should consider changing, starting today!

Fortunately, core exercises don’t require any fancy, specialized equipment. You can do them at the gym, or, even better, from the comfort of your home.

From a practical standpoint, the two biggest benefits you’ll see from a stronger core are improved balance and stability. This will translate into performance gains if you participate in any kind of sports-related activity, and make you much less likely to suffer back strains or sprains.

In terms of exercises you can do to strengthen core muscles, you’ve got a lot of options. Basically any exercise that engages your abdominal muscles in a systematic way would work, but the best and simplest to perform are these:

• Pushups
• Sit ups (especially if you cross your arms over your chest and keep your feet firmly planted on the floor so that you are relying exclusively on your abs to lift your torso)
• Bridges

If you’re not familiar with a bridge, simply start by lying on the floor with your knees bent and your back in a neutral position. Without tilting your hips, tighten your abs and raise your hips off the floor until your hips are aligned with your knees and shoulders. Hold this position for as long as you’re able, then release and return to your starting position. Repeat as many times as you’re able.

Making these simple exercises a part of your daily routine will do wonders for your overall level of health, and your back will thank you for it!

How To Feel Better When You’re Stuck Inside All Day

Modern life isn’t very good for us for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest, though, is that modern life, by design, is engineered to keep most of us indoors most of the day.

That’s bad for a variety of reasons, but the two biggest are lack of sunlight, and lack of access to one of the most powerful stress relievers in existence.

While it’s true that we don’t rely on the sun in the same way that plants do, it’s also true that sunlight provides a raft of benefits to our bodies. It helps our bodies naturally produce vitamin-D and helps regulate our circadian rhythm, which facilitates better and more restful sleep, making us more alert and aware during our waking hours.

Given how stressful modern life is, we’re really hitting ourselves with a one-two punch by not unplugging for a few minutes a day and going outdoors, because studies have shown that a simple twenty-minute walk in the woods every day can reduce cortisol levels by as much as 50 percent. Since cortisol is the “stress hormone,” by not taking advantage of this simple option, we’re absolutely making an already bad situation worse.

What, then, is the secret?

What’s the best way to feel better if you’re trapped indoors all day, every day?

It’s simple. Just say no.

Find a way to carve out at least twenty minutes a day and get outside. Go sit in the sun. Go walk down a wooded trail, maybe right after lunch, or maybe on a break.

Doing so will relax and refresh you. It will help you de-stress, and when you return from your short “unplugged” break, you’ll be ready to tackle whatever else you’ve got facing you for the rest of the day. Try it and see for yourself. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes!

What Should You Do For A Tailbone Injury?

What do your tailbone and your funny bone have in common? When injure them, the only one not laughing is you.

Tailbone injuries hurt. If you’ve ever suffered a fall and landed squarely on your butt, you’ve probably suffered one yourself, and while falling is the #1 way such injuries occur, it’s by no means the only way. Sitting for extended periods in an uncomfortable chair can also lead to tailbone injury.

Unfortunately, when you injure that part of your body, even simple things you take for granted like standing and sitting can become lessons in agony, and nobody around you seems to fully understand how bad it hurts.

The good news is that the injury is quite treatable, and your chiropractor can quickly and easily assess the damage and recommend a treatment plan that will put you back on the path to a pain-free life in short order.
Where tailbone injuries are concerned, there are basically three possibilities:

• You’ve knocked it out of alignment, in which case, realignment will give you almost instant relief.
• You’ve bruised the soft tissue around it, in which case, alternating between cold and hot compresses will help bring the swelling down and ease the pain
• Or, during the fall, you’ve managed to twist just the wrong way and stress the muscles and tendons in that area. If this is the case, then there are some good, effective low-impact exercises that will help. Coupled with massage therapy, you’ll be feeling better in no time.

Of course, falls can be chaotic things, and odds are that it will take a combination of all three to get you feeling your best once more. But again, after suffering an injury like that, you don’t want to leave anything to chance, so your best bet is to get checked out and get a professional recommendation for a course of treatment.

Is It Okay To Pop My Own Back?

It’s something that almost everyone has done at one point or another.

Picture the scene: You’ve been sitting at your computer for hours, long enough that your eyes feel like they might start bleeding at any moment. You’re stiff and you’re tired, so to try and shake a little more life into your body for the final sprint to the finish line, you lean back, stretch, and twist your neck around until you feel a series of satisfying pops and cracks.

There. That’s better, and you get back to work.

Sound familiar?

The question, though, is whether it’s a good idea, and the answer to that question is, sadly, no.

What you’re hearing when that pop occurs are gasses being released from in between joints. Those gasses build up over time, and when you crack your neck or back, it’s a bit like opening a can of soda.

Unfortunately, unless you’ve undertaken extensive training, you don’t have the necessary background to safely adjust yourself. Most times, all you’re doing is putting further stress on ligaments and tendons that are already stretched too thin from extended periods of poor posture or other stresses.

These are a lot like rubber bands, and like a rubber band, if you keep stretching and stressing it long enough, it begins to lose its elasticity and will no longer snap back into its proper shape and form.

In short, then, while cracking your own neck and back may provide you with a sense of short term relief, you’re not doing your body any favors. The fact that you keep having to do so is your body’s way of telling you that there’s a deeper and more pervasive problem.

The only way to keep from feeling like you need to pop your own neck or back is to address the root cause of that problem. That’s best done by a chiropractor who can properly assess your condition and recommend a course of treatment that will make that stiffness a thing of the past!