As some of you know, we began teaching free community health classes last year for those in the Utah County area. Due to busy schedules, and a lack of sufficient community support we stopped for a bit. However, I have had quite a few people ask about when those classes will start up again. We had fun teaching them, and heard from quite a few people that they found them useful. This is why we are going to start teaching them again!

In order to make these free community health classes successful we need your support! It would be great to teach two classes a month, but that is a little bit overwhelming for the 3 of us at Edgemont Physical Therapy who have been teaching them. This is where the help of the community comes in. If you know of any health professionals in the area (nutritionists, yoga instructors, podiatrists, exercise physiologists, etc) who may be willing to teach a class please let us know! We are not experts on every subject, and  we need the support from others in the Utah Valley community.

Another factor that is going to make these a success is feedback from you! What classes do you want us to teach? What health related subjects do you find important? We want to hear from you!

Keep posted for more information on dates, times, and locations of these classes. We also want to put together a Utah Valley Health Fair soon, and are looking for people interested in joining us. As far as community classes, we have usually taught classes on Thursdays evenings and Saturday mornings. Let us know if there is a time that works best!

Exercise is beneficial in many ways. By now most people have heard that exercise is great to help lower blood pressure, decrease weight, decrease the risk of diabetes, and provide many other benefits. However, there is a debate going on among health professionals concerning the intensity of exercise in relation to the benefits. Some studies say that moderate exercise provides just as good of benefits obtained from vigorous exercise. Other studies say that the best benefits can only come from vigorous exercise.

To understand why this debate even matters let’s take a look at the government’s exercise guidelines.

Aerobic

• Low-activity level: Adults should get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes each week of aerobic physical activity that requires moderate effort.
• Moderate to high activity level: 150 minutes to 300 (5 hours) minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week (or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity a week).
• You need to do this type of activity for at least 10 minutes at a time.

Strengthening

• Adults should also do strengthening activities at least 2 days a week.
• Strengthening activities include push-ups, sit-ups and lifting weights.
• Choose activities that work all the different parts of the body—your legs, hips, back, chest, stomach, shoulders, and arms. Exercises for each muscle group should be repeated 8 to 12 times per session.

The guidelines mention that you can either do moderate or vigorous exercise. One thing we do know for sure is that more intense exercise is better for losing weight. However, is it really better for decreasing other health risks? Most health professionals like to encourage more intense, or more vigorous, workouts to err on the safe side.

How do you even know if the exercise you are doing is considered moderate or vigorous? Moderate exercise is usually thought of as leisure walking, or walking slower than 5 mph. Vigorous exercise is running, jogging, or walking faster than 5 mph. For a complete list of  exercises and their intensities go here.

Starting an exercise routine can be a daunting goal. Many do not know where to start even with the guidelines. When starting out it is always safe to start out slow, and then work your way up. If you are looking to lose weight than you may need to exercise a little more each week than the guidelines say.

Even though the studies have been split as to whether or not moderate is just as effective as vigorous exercise, it can be agreed on that a little exercise if better than none. Find a motivation, set some goals, and get started! There is no reason not to live a more active life.

Let us know how being more active has helped improve your life!

First I want to give a big thanks to everyone who came to the class last Thursday, and congratulate Tom on winning our drawing! We felt it was a successful class, and we hope we were able to answer all of your questions. If you have topics you’d like to see addressed in our future classes please let us know!

For those of you who missed it, Paul W. Sagers, PT gave a very good seminar on back care.  Due to the fact that about 80% of all people suffer from some sort of back pain we thought it might be useful to provide a recap of the class.

One important thing Paul hit on was the cause of back pain. Many people think that they have hurt their back lifting something one time. What they don’t know is that back problems are seldom caused by one incidence. Back injuries usually occur gradually due to a few different causes. People just don’t notice the injury until it finally gets bad enough to cause them pain.

In truth, there are many causes of back pain and imbalances. These are the main culprits:

• Poor posture while sitting or standing.
• Moving and positioning your body incorrectly in ways that could increase stress on muscles, tendons, and bones. This is also known as poor body mechanics.
• Increased stressful living and working environments.
• Decreases in strength and flexibility.
• Overall decline in physical activity.

One of the most important things you can do to prevent back injuries is to maintain good balance in your spine. One of the best ways to do this is to assume the “Power Position” or “Neutral Position”.  This basically means that you are standing up straight, and holding in your stomach. By pulling your stomach in and up you’ll be able to better support your spine.

Now this can be tiring after a while, and it takes some practice to coordinate this with proper breathing. Just try it for a few minutes at a time throughout the day. Gradually increase to doing this as often as you can. Soon you’ll notice that by doing this you’ll be standing up straighter, and you’re core will be much stronger.

Here are 7 other great ways to prevent back problems:

1. Physical exercise – Incorporating strength training, aerobic exercises, and flexibility will do a world of wonders for your back. There some great back specific exercises that help many see a huge decrease in pain. The main thing with these is to make sure that you’re doing the exercises right. If you don’t have correct posture, or if you’re doing too much then you might cause more problems. Meeting with a physical therapist or personal trainer is important if you’re just starting out.
2. Back support - Make sure your chairs are ergonomically supportive. If you are doing a lot of lifting a back support device may provide some good protection, but should not be worn all the time.
3. Nutrition – By supplying needed nutrients you can increase the health of your bones and muscles. If you’re overweight eating healthy for weight loss is another great way to prevent back problems.
4. Stress Management – Many problems are caused by constant stress. Focus on relaxing.
5. Get a Massage – This is a great way to help tense muscles relax, and to help reeducate muscles.
6. Rest - Don’t overdo it on the exercises, and make sure you are getting enough sleep.
7. Quit Smoking – Nicotine has actually been shown to slow circulation and healing in the spine and muscles.

If you are feeling constant back pain, especially if it is sharp or shooting, it is very important to be working with a doctor or physical therapist to make sure that you’re not doing more damage with exercise.