The Keys to Successful Squat Exercises

If you’ve ever tried to tone and tighten your lower half or to do more in your workout, you were probably told to do squats. Building strength and staying fit is a great way to improve your health and reduce your aches and pains. Squats can be a strong move that strengthens your legs and buttocks while increasing endurance. However, there is a right and wrong way to perform the move, and if done incorrectly it could cause more harm than good.



When doing squats, or any toning exercise, it’s important to stay focused on your form the entire time. To start, stand with your legs slightly wider than shoulder width with your toes pointing away from center at a 45 degree angle. Keep your weight on the heels of your feet, and you know you’re doing this correctly if you are able to wiggle your toes easily. This stance will keep your knees safe from injury during the squat, so make sure to keep this position throughout the movement.



During the exercise itself, keep the muscles in your buttocks flexed throughout the move. Lower slowly into the squat keeping your shins straight and your knees above your ankles. Never squat down with your knees extending past your toes, instead lean back bringing your buttocks out behind you.



Be especially careful doing squats to prevent lower back strain. You will find that you really don’t need much weight at all. Try doing them in your living room for a few reps and you will feel the burn rather quickly. At the gym you can use light dumbbells in your hands or a smith machine to keep you in stable form.



As with any exercise, the proper form for squats is best learned through repetition. Once you’ve got the right form down, keep at it consistently and you’ll be seeing results in no time.




The Glastonbury Chiropractor is located in central Connecticut- CT Spine and Disc Center specializes in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call our chiropractic office at 860-633-8756 to schedule an appointment and to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompressionAdditional Reading Resources:

• health articles
  
• powerful exercises
  
• back pain and sciatica exercise video
  
• What is Non Surgical Spinal Decompression: FAQ's
• Research about Non Surgical Spinal Decompression

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How can more Omega-3 Fatty Acids in my Diet Help my Bones?

The benefits of increasing the amount of Omega-3-rich foods can have numerous positive effects on your overall health. It supports brain development and growth, helps fight obesity, and can help prevent cardiovascular disease. However, new studies are showing Omega-3’s are also beneficial to bone health.

Omega-3’s are polyunsaturated fatty acids that are commonly found in fish. Aside from the other health benefits, having more Omega-3’s in your diet will help with bone loss prevention and bone fracture prevention, including reducing your risk for osteoporosis. This is important for anyone’s health, but especially for people who are at a higher risk for bone loss, such as post-menopausal women.

So where can you find Omega-3’s in your diet? Fish such as tuna, salmon, halibut, snapper, cod, and scallops are all high in Omega-3’s. If fish is not your favorite food though, it can be found in plant sources as well, such as flaxseeds, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and walnuts. Another way to get more Omega-3’s is to take a dietary supplement.


Additional Reading Resources

• How Can Chiropractic Help My Disc Degernation
  
• Natural Treatment Options for Women with Osteoporosis
  
• I Have Osteoporosis Or Osteopenia Bone Deterioration...Can The DRX Or Chiropractic Treatment Still Help Me??
  
• Glastonbury Chiropractic Office
  
• Weird Tips and tricks for a Leaner Body and Flatter Belly
  
• 5 Foods that FIGHT Abdominal Fat
  

The Glastonbury Chiropractor is located in central Connecticut- CT Spine and Disc Center specializes in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call our chiropractic office at 860-633-8756 to schedule an appointment and to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

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Pelvic Misalignment: A Very Common Cause of Low Back Pain

The most common pelvic shifts are translators to the side (shifts right or left), tilting forward or back, and rotation of one of the ilia.

The ilium is one side of the pelvis. It can rock forward or back. When it rocks forward it can make that leg seem longer, when it tilts or rocks back that side leg is shortened. You can see how this can lead to lumbar misalignment. It’s similar to driving with one tire at 35 lbs and the other at 20 lbs. If there is imbalance, it works its way to the axel and steering. Just like the leg leads to the pelvis, which works its way into the back. Correcting foot alignment with orthotics may also help tremendously.




One thing we do at CT Spine & Disc Center is look at posture because it tells us so much. Catching a pelvic shift, whether one side or both, will help us to correct the lumbopelvic structure which will in turn correct our low back spine. Doing this takes pressure off of the nerves and restores body function.

If it’s been a long time and degeneration and disc bulging has arisen, we also have spinal decompression for severe back pain or sciatica.


The Glastonbury Chiropractor is located in central Connecticut- CT Spine and Disc Center specializes in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call our chiropractic office at 860-633-8756 to schedule an appointment and to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompressionAdditional Reading Resources:

• Another traction device I've recommended
  
• Electric muscle stim
  
• Chiropractic alignment
  
• What is Non Surgical Spinal Decompression: FAQ's
• Research about Non Surgical Spinal Decompression

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Chiropractic Helps Muscle Tightness and Muscle Spasm

Everything in the spine connects- muscles have tendons that connect to bone, bones are connected by joints or ligaments, one part of the body connects to the next… It makes complete sense that if you align the spine and or mobilize an area that was supposed to move that wasn’t, that the body will start working better.

If everything is in its proper alignment or position it allows all the surrounding structures to do the same. Let’s take an example: Let’s say on side of the pelvis is shifted, you may even notice it in the mirror in your posture. Then, chances are that your sacrum or lumbosacral junction on that side becomes irritated or restricted. This also means that the ligaments and tendons in the area are compromised leading to problems in your gluteus muscles, low back muscles and even hip musculature.

Let’s take a step back- what was the lumbosacral junction? This is where your lumbar spine meets the sacrum. Just off to the sides of this joint are your sacroiliac joints (where the sacrum joins one side of the pelvis or ilium). You already see all the connections being made just in the lower low back. This area is also one that is rich in nerve supply.

You can obviously come to the conclusion that freeing up a nerve will get things feeling better. Muscle tightness and spasm is the same. Essentially the muscles are controlled by the nerves. If there is nerve pressure then those muscles innervated by that nerve or nerves will get some problems. It’s like kinking a garden hose, if that flow to that muscle is inhibited it won’t work at 100%.

So you then can understand how relieving nerve pressure will help. This is exactly what your chiropractor does. Now bone on nerve makes sense but typically it’s inflammation that irritates the nerve; whether it’s inflammation on the nerve or the nerve itself gets inflamed. So, really what happens is that when we mobilize a restricted area or align the back, inflammation is then able to dissipate and communication is restored allowing all parts of the body to function normally again – all the way down to the cellular level. Doing this gets rid of muscle spasm and tightness.




The Glastonbury Chiropractor is located in central Connecticut- CT Spine and Disc Center specializes in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call our chiropractic office at 860-633-8756 to schedule an appointment and to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompressionAdditional Reading Resources:

• ciropractors glastonbury
  
• causes of back pain
  
• 7 seconds to pain relief
  
• What is Non Surgical Spinal Decompression: FAQ's
• Research about Non Surgical Spinal Decompression

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What Specific Muscle Tightness do 90% of my Back Pain Patients Have?

Most have some tightness or spasm or maybe trigger points in the lower back musculature, but everyone is a little different. It might be tightness in the quadratrus lumborum, spasm of the paraspinals or knots in the gluteus medius.

As far as tightness goes for one specific muscle, the answer is hamstrings. Always keep in mind that the whole body works together and everything attaches. The calves attach to the hamstrings, the hamstring muscles to the gluteus muscles, and the gluts to the lower back.


Keeping the leg muscles loose is extremely helpful in restoring the low back’s function. The hamstrings are one of the biggest and most powerful muscles in the body. Stretching them on a regular basis will help your back. And now you know; if you are suffering from back pain, chances are you have some tightness in your hamstrings.


Picture Source: Meet the quadratus lumborum

Additional Reading Resources

• What Are The Best Exercises if You Have a Herniated Disc?
  
• Why is back Pain So Common?
  
• Back Pain When Standing
  
• Alternative to Back Surgery
  
• The Muscle Experiment- Bodyweight Training Program That Shows How To Build Pounds Of Massive Muscle without weights
  
  
  
  The Glastonbury Chiropractor is located in central Connecticut- CT Spine and Disc Center specializes in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call our chiropractic office at 860-633-8756 to schedule an appointment and to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

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The Benefit of Electrotherapy used in Conjunction with the Chiropractic Adjustment

At CT Spine and Disc Center, we use other therapies in addition to the chiropractic adjustment. Such therapies include vibration, moist heat, cold therapy and electrotherapy. Electrotherapy is often used to relieve pain and relax muscle spasms. Often times, the electrotherapy is used in conjunction with a hot or a cold pack.

Electrotherapy can be used in the “interferential” or “premodulated” form- both of which treat pain.

For muscle spasm reduction, a medium frequency wave length called “Russian stim” is often used.

Using electrotherapy involves applying pulsating electric currents to certain areas of the body, such as the low back, mid back, or neck via electrodes. This process elicits responses from nerves which are involved in pain sensation and muscle contraction information. The stimulation of sensory fibers will help block pain while stimulation of motor fibers will produce pulsatile contractions of the muscle groups innervated by the nerves being stimulated.

Electrotherapy is often used for:

1. Chronic pain that does not go away
   
2. acute pain
   
3. relaxation of muscles
   
4. increase of blood flow to the treatment area
   
5. muscle re-education
   
6. increasing range of motion
   
7. prevention of atrophy of muscles
   

Electrotherapy can be used to relieve pain and muscle spasm without increasing inflammation or swelling. Also, no heat is produced when using electrotherapy.


The Glastonbury Chiropractor is located in central Connecticut- CT Spine and Disc Center specializes in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call our chiropractic office at 860-633-8756 to schedule an appointment and to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompressionAdditional Reading Resources:

• Home Electrotherapy
  
• Jeanie Rub Massager
  
• Glastonbury chiropractic
  
• What is Non Surgical Spinal Decompression: FAQ's
• Research about Non Surgical Spinal Decompression

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One of the Best Defenses Against Back Pain: PREVENTION

Healthy Teeth, Just as Important - HEALTHY SPINE

It’s well known that if you have back pain, a great treatment to get rid of it is chiropractic care. So, it may not come as a surprise to say to you that one of the best ways to prevent ever having back pain is to see your chiropractor.

I can tell you that the majority of my colleagues, their patients and my own patients that have had regular chiropractic treatments are a much healthier group than those who haven’t.

Think about this- you see your dentist once every six months for a teeth cleaning and to get your teeth examined. This is to prevent cavities, plaque build-up, etc … What do you think is more important, your teeth or your spine? Your spine, of course! It holds your nervous system. After the age of 65 the majority of individuals have less than half a mouth of real teeth.

If you have built up a lot of arthritis or degeneration, preventative or supportive care is extremely important. Especially if you’ve had past disc injury or disc pain your chiropractor may be your sole option for drug-free relief.

And now with the DRX 9000 spinal decompression you can keep your discs healthy and pain-free.


The Glastonbury Chiropractor is located in central Connecticut- CT Spine and Disc Center specializes in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call our chiropractic office at 860-633-8756 to schedule an appointment and to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompressionAdditional Reading Resources:

• glatonbury chiropractors
  
• Find A Chiropractor Glastonbury
  
• moist heat for back or neck pain
  
• What is Non Surgical Spinal Decompression: FAQ's
• Research about Non Surgical Spinal Decompression

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What are the Best Exercises if you have a herniated disc?

I have a herniated disc in my lower back at the L5-S1 level. I want to start doing some exercises but I don't want to aggravate the herniated discs. I have been walking and it really hurts after walking for 10 or so minutes. I was thinking about doing sit ups but I don't know if that will cause more pain. Any Advice on what I should Do?

Start with simple stretches first. While lying on your back, knee to chest and then double knee to stretches work well. Next, some simple core exercises will help. Start with gentle crunches, do not do full sit ups. The core area is the region in your mid section so anything in the abdominals, low back or attached muscles are good regions to work.

Another great thing is gentle traction of the back. Try hanging from a chin up bar or something similar to stretch out the back. Something else that works very well are what I call chair exercises.

Sit in a sturdy chair with armrests, place both hands on the arm rest and slowly elevate your body or rear end of of the seat. You don’thave to push your whole body up in the air. Just unloading of the pressure will help.

All that being said, what I find is truly the best way to heal disc pain or herniated disc is non surgical spinal decompression. I have placed a link below to learn more. If you use therapy like this to help heal the back , stretches and exercises will work that much better to help prevent future back injury and pain.


The Glastonbury Chiropractor is located in central Connecticut- CT Spine and Disc Center specializes in patients who suffer from sciatica, disc degeneration, bulging disc or herniated disc in the lumbar spine. Call our chiropractic office at 860-633-8756 to schedule an appointment and to see if you are a candidate for non surgical spinal decompression

Additional Reading Resources:

• Low back pain video
  
• Low back pain chiropractor
  
• Lumbar inversion traction
  
• What is Non Surgical Spinal Decompression: FAQ's
• Research about Non Surgical Spinal Decompression

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