A recent discovery the other day led me to conclude winter has arrived. Perhaps I have been living in a state of denial up until now. But with the sun setting around 4:30PM, temperatures in the 30's for weeks now, and snow flakes frequenting the forecast, outdoor activity feels extremely limited. In an attempt to conquer the winter rut and thrive in this season of crispness, here are a few tips for succeeding.
1. Layers! Learning to layer your workout attire is crucial on cold or windy days (don't be "that guy" running in shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of winter.) I start with a tight fitting base layer, usually a dry fit shirt to wick away the sweat and keep my skin dry. Layer two is always my thermal layer. Whether that be a flannel or fleece, I choose something that will trap in my body heat. Layer three is either an ultra light down jacket(for dry days) or a rain shell(for the wet ones).
2. Visibility! High visibility is your responsibility. If you plan to exercise in the morning or evening you should plan on taking necessary precautions to make yourself seen. Avoid dark colored clothing and instead opt for light colors or reflective materials. If you plan to exercise in an area with frequent car or bicycle traffic using a rear and front light will ensure all other pedestrians and commuters can see you before it is too late.
3. Sunlight! We have a rule in my house, if it's sunny we do not use the car. This initially started as a means by which to take advantage of the gorgeous but all too short summers we have here in Seattle. As the seasons have changed it has become a mandatory means by which to acquire Vitamin D when it is naturally available to us. Seattle has a very dark winter season with Vitamin D extremely limited at times. This means Seasonal Affective Disorder runs rampant in our city and we must take extra precautionary measures not to fall victim to the winter blues. Bike, run, walk, hop, skip. Do whatever you have to do to get outside when it's sunny, your brain will thank you later.
4. Hot Hands! This is my favorite trick and cold weather treat for those days when I know I need to get outside for a bit but cannot seem to brave the cold. Hot Hands warmers chemically react when shaken. You can sneak them into your gloves, shoes, or pockets to keep your extremities toasty when the outside world is not!
5. Ear warmth! Protect those ears from wind chill with a headband or hat. There are few things worse than the feeling of cool wind rushing past your ears and neck. An easy way to fight that is to wear a thick headband or hat which covers your ears.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
Olympic competitors Rebecca Soni and Ariana Kukors are hosting the "Dream Clinic" next Monday, December 15th. Be sure to attend for an amazing opportunity to engage in conversation and activities geared toward helping you achieve your dreams.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
Life and death are big. They are concepts we often attempt to define or put into a box in order to comprehend. But despite our greatest efforts, life and death are beyond us. We rely on forces bigger than ourselves to bring us to life, keep us alive, and carry us into our end.
What if we could control those forces? What if we could take steps that may guarantee we would live an additional 5 years? What would you do to gain 5 extra years? What would you do with those 5 years?
As it turns out, Nike recently published an article stating the generation of children growing up today has a life expectancy which is 5 years shorter than their parents. Shocking, appalling, disheartening. Despite the many technological, medical, and research advancements today, children face a shorter life expectancy because of the inactivty epidemic sweeping the globe. Nike's "Designed to Move" program exposes this pandemic worldwide in suggesting that:
- Without immediate action, half of the Chinese and American populations will be physically inactive by 2030 alongside one third of British and Brazilian populations- a total of 1 billion inactive people.
- In the 50 highest-income countries, the top 10 killers are related to physical inactivity.
- More deaths are attributed to physical inactivity than smoking.
- The cost of the five leading non-communicable and physical inactivity related diseases totaled $6.2 trillion in 2010.
The study suggests that children are most plastic within the first 10 years of their lives, creating a crucial window for establishing a commitment to physical activity. Findings suggest that children in the U.S., are 75% less active at age 15 than at age 9.
So what does this all mean?
Children raised with sedentary lifestyles are at a significantly higher risk of poor health and lethal consquences later in life. Teaching up-and-coming generations about the joys of physical activity can profoundly impact their lives. Physical inactivity one factor we can control. It is the one factor that when managed appropriately can add years to our lives, rather than take them away.
Let's take back those 5 years.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
Wondering where Dr. Kevin is this week? Read on my friends:
I have had the incredible opportunity this week of working in the Sports Medicine Clinic at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs. It is easy to be inspired by the athleticism and determination of the athletes who train here.
A typical day consists of performing evaluation and treatment of athletes who have experienced an injury in training, competition (or surfing while on vacation!), or are seeking maintenance treatment to improve mobility and avoid small problems from turning into big injuries.
It is amazing the variety of sizes, physical build, and athletic skills possessed by each athlete training here. For instance, over the last 5 days, I have worked with athletes from the following sports: Paralympic Alpine Skiing, Paralympic Basketball, Men's Gymnastics, Men's and Women's Wrestling, Men's Figure Skating, Women's Modern Pentathalon, Men's and Women's Triathlon, Women's Weight Lifting, Men's Bobsled, Men's and Women's Shooting, Men's Sailing, and Paralympic Judo.
I am incredibly inspired by the Olympic movement and the dedication each of these athletes has to their sport, and their pride in self, country, and the people who support them. Two nights ago there was a big party to celebrate 100 days until the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia. I am already looking forward to watching these athletes perform and live the dream of being an Olympian that they have worked so hard to achieve.
See you back at InHealth next week!
Dr. Kevin
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
TRX Fusion is off to a great start this month! One participant noted, "You'll be sore in muscles you didn't even know you had!" We hope you'll come check out the new studio space, try out a free class, and savor the burn that Coach Ryan and Emily are bringing. This past week the Brooks Beasts joined us for a tough TRX workout, we hope you will too!
Your first class is always free! Sign up online before courses fill up, you won't regret it!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
I have come to truly appreciate the patients at InHealth PLLC. We see an exceptional range of people come through our doors each day. From the devoted parents who bring in their athletic children, to the Iron Man competitors gearing up for their next race, to the world record holders and olympic athletes. I am impressed by every individual that seeks treatment within our office.
As I have grown more familiar with these faces and their stories, I have also learned a bit about competitive athletes and those they surround themselves. These individual are different. Not in a quirky, "that's strange", kind of way. But in such a manner that you feel a different kind of exuberance when surrounded by them. Competitive athletes exude life, drive, passion, and awareness. In no way does this mean non-competetive athletes lack liveliness, drive, passion, or awareness. Rather, I find that it does not ooze from their pores and sparkle in their eyes as it often does in competitors.
Simply put, competitive athletes seem to be in pursuit of something that keeps them constantly chasing. They are always on the go, reaching, striving, or leaping for that next personal record.
Although I hesitate to say it, I know there is a difference between the active individual and someone who competes on a national or international level. It may be the result of genes or it may be the byproduct of their situation. But there is something that sets competitors apart. It could be the reliance upon their bodies, the mental toughness, the drive to win, or something innate.
Whatever it may be, there is something to be appreciated about those who continue to pursue competition. And there is also something to be learned. How often do you find yourself passionately in pursuit of something? How many times a week or month do you seek to do your very best at a task? Are you allowing yourself to constantly seek out that which you love? Are you making time for your passions outside the walls of your office or your home life?
I hope you learn to unleash your inner athlete.
Find your inner drive, passion, liveliness, and awareness.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
We have good news! InHealth is starting a weekly running group that will be held on Wednesday evenings! Led by our Acupuncturist Gabrielle Anderson, the group will meet at InHealth a little before 6pm, and we will leave promptly at 6pm. With the Burke Gilman trail, UW campus, and Ravenna trails all in our neighborhood, InHealth is a perfect launching point for all kinds of fun running routes that will vary in length from week to week.
We welcome runners of all levels and encourage everyone to go at their own pace. We will hopefully have enough people that those with a common pace can enjoy running together! Gabrielle will do her best to explain the route and distance before departing, and if you aren't up for doing the full mileage, she will point out turnaround points for shorter mileage options during the run so everyone can find a length that works for them.
Feel free to contact Gabrielle at gabrielle@inhealthseattle.com with questions and suggestions! We look forward to seeing you there!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
Scott sits down with personal trainer and national level distance runner Rose Wetzel Sinnett to talk competitive running, high performance and her approach to health and fitness. If you'd like to find out more about Rose's personal training and career, head over to www.roserunnersports.com or find her on Facebook at facebook.com/roserunnersports.
Listen and Download:
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If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
Hey gang! The always fantastic and extremely talented Scott Roth, a professional pole vaulter from Seattle, WA, sat down with Scott to talk about his experiences working his way up the ranks to become one of the best vaulters in the nation. They'll chat about how Roth made his start, how he battled back and hamstring injuries and how sports physical therapy helped in his recovery.
As always, thanks for listening, and feel free to send in your questions and comments to podcast@inhealthseattle.com
Happy Listening!
Download the Episode
Photo Credit: polevaultplus.com
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.
By: Ryan Brown
Whether you are throwing a shot as far as possible, soaring over bars, hitting an opponent, or sprinting at the end of the race, every athlete needs to bring power into their performance. When talking about power, strength needs to be discussed because they are very much related to each other. Power is only as good as your base strength level. In order to work on getting gains in your power, a good strength and conditioning program needs to be implemented before your power building period of your training. A reason for strength to be correlated to power is that with superior strength come superior neuromuscular characteristics that allow for greater power performance. With a strong base built an athlete/coach can now focus on the power aspect of the training. It is important to note that the power section of your training is just that, a section. Periodization and special planning for when to implement the power training is important to consider before training. For power three important categories are important to consider; movement pattern specificity, load specificity, and velocity specificity.
Movement Pattern Specificity-
There are four main movement patterns for power development; traditional resistance exercises, ballistic exercises, plyometrics, and weightlifting. Traditional resistance training is the least effective, because there is a deceleration phase throughout most if not all the exercises. The deceleration causes the antagonist muscles to fire while shutting off the target muscles for the movement which affects the transfer of the exercise to the desired motion. However if the resistance is lowered and the movement is performed at a faster rate, power gains can be achieved more efficiently. This type of movement pattern shows power gains in low-moderate athletes and endurance athletes more often than elite athletes, although gains can still be made with elite athletes.
Ballistic exercises consist of exercises that allow you to go through the full range of motion without having any deceleration to the movement (ex. Squat jump, medicine ball throws, etc.). These exercises are great because the athlete is encouraged to use weights and can go through the full range of motion with little to no deceleration. This exercise is very effective because it allows for closer sport-specific movements which allows for great transfer from the exercise to desired movement.
Plyometrics are very similar to ballistic exercises however the athlete should have minimal to little weight throughout the movement. The focus on plyometric is having a fast stretch-shortening cycle allowing for greater neural adaption. Plyometric allow the athlete to do exercises much closer to the desired movement which allows for increased transfer from exercise to movement.
Weightlifting exercises such as power cleans, snatch, and variations allow for muscle patterns critical for sport tasks (jumping, hitting, etc.) to be written and made strong for the athlete to perform. Since this exercise requires great velocity and heavy weights it is ideal for sports involving contact hitting (football, hockey, etc.).
Load Specificity-
There are three types of loads for an athlete working on power to lift; heavy, light, and optimal. The heavy load (80% of 1RM or higher) allows for strength to be built (correlated to power) and for activity of high threshold motor neurons to fire allowing the type two muscles (muscles used to produce power movements) to be utilized. Lighter loads (0-60% of 1RM) allow an athlete to move faster through the movement and perform a more sport-specific movement. This type of loading is recommended more for athletes who need to produce movements that are fast and have low external forces acting on them (ex. sprinting, jumping, etc.). The optimal load is defined in primary literature as the load that the maximal power production can be achieved while performing a specific movement. For most athletes this number is around 30% of 1RM in a single joint movement while a multi-joint movement has more variation between athletes.
Velocity Specificity-
Although there still needs to be more studies conducted on this portion of power training, studies have shown that it can be beneficial to perform exercises at close to the same speed you would your movement (ex. Sprinter: runs at maximal speed should do workouts with higher velocity vs. football center who doesn’t move a great distance each play can do lower velocity leg workouts).
If you have any questions, please feel free to email Kevin Rindal, Seattle Chiropractor at DrRindal@InHealthSeattle.com.