DR Fitness

Headaches.  They can hurt all over.  Your temples, your forehead, heck, even your eyeballs can all feel like there’s a vice squeezing your head.  And for the unfortunate, other symptoms like nausea, dizziness and sound/light sensitivity can really make a bad day worse.  Most of you just suffer, pop some pills, and hope it goes away.

But there is a lot you can do to prevent and treat those headaches besides just taking “Tension Headache” medication.  Here are 3 easy to follow tips that will help cure your headaches once they have already started.

1. The essential oil Peppermint or Menthol – This little known oil, and it’s active ingredient menthol, has been known for years to help treat headaches, and now there’s clinical evidence to back it up.  Just published this year in the Journal of Clinical Practice, Peppermint was found to help relieve headaches in a study that had 118 participants.  When given menthol during the headache attack,  participants reported less pain after two hours, as well as a decrease in other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and light/sound sensitivity.

Treatment is really easy.  Simply apply the peppermint or menthol to the temples and the back of the neck after cleaning the area with tap water.

How much do you use?  With oils, a little goes a long way, so just a drop at each site.  

This is a simple and very cheap alternative to aspirin and it smells good too!

2. Massage those tight muscles – Most people assume that if your head hurts, rub your head.  But I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  Here it is…when muscles experience pain, they do something with it that is quite odd.  They “refer” the pain to somewhere else.  Let me explain.

Most of you are probably familiar with the stories of people having a heart attack complaining of pain running down their arms and into their backs.  Even though it’s the heart that’s having the problem, the pain is “referred” to  and experienced in these areas.  While the heart is made up of a different kind of muscle than the ones that you try and show off, it’s still a muscle.

Well, your muscles do the same thing.  So when you’re experiencing a “tension headache,” what you’re really feeling is the “referred” pain from muscles that are actually far from the place you’re feeling the pain.

A classic example of this is when you’re feeling your headache in your “temples,” the area on the side of your head, just behind the eyes.  You can rub your temples all day long and it still won’t take care of that headache.  Why?  Because the source of that headache is usually coming from the trapezius muscle, which is located between your neck and your shoulders.  Massage this muscle and give it some TLC for a few minutes.  Massage the area as best you can by pinching, squeezing and pressing, trying to find the spot that gives you the most relief.

Each different area of your head that hurts is probably pain being referred by a different muscle.  If you’d like to know more about this topic, or would like professional help to treat your tension headaches, contact me.

3. Now let’s stretch those tight muscles – After a good massage, you’ve got to stretch those muscles out.  In fact, stretching is almost as good as massage in the treatment of headaches.

Stretch your neck and shoulder muscles on all four sides (front, back, and both sides) to get the most relief.

To stretch the muscles on the front of your neck, slowly and gently tilt your head back and look up at the sky.  To create a little more stretch, gently push on the bottom of your chin as if to help you look even higher.

Next, to stretch the muscle on the back of your neck, drop your chin to your chest and lightly pull your head down further by resting your hands on the back of your head.  Don’t pull too hard as this can make things worse.  Simply let the weight of your hands do the work.

Now, to stretch the side of your neck, tilt your head sideways, ear to shoulder, without lifting the shoulder on the opposite side.  Also try to avoid lifting the shoulder to the ear.  Don’t forget to stretch both sides.

Hold these stretches for about 30-60 seconds and do each stretch 3-4 times.  Try not to strain to stretch because that, well, kind of defeats the goal of relaxation.

So there you go.  While there are many things that can help treat an active headache, these 3 tips are the most effective, cheap, and easy for you to implement.

Let me know how you feel after you use these techniques.  Hope you feel better!

Next time, I’ll let you know about the top 3 tips on how to prevent those nasty headaches from showing up in the first place.

DR Fitness – “Get Your Fitness On!”

Disclaimer—> First, see your doctor if you’re not sure of the origin of your headaches.  These techniques are intended to be used if you’ve been diagnosed with tension/muscular headaches.

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How much thought do you put into what you eat?

If you want to get into great shape then you’ll be interested to know that 80% of your fitness results are attributed to your diet.

In our fast-paced society, eating is often done with little or no thought as to what exactly it is being ingested. Excess body fat is a direct outcome of this hurried, poor nutrition. Even if you have the best intentions with your diet, you are likely frustrated and fed up with extra pounds.

I don’t blame you for being confused about what you should eat. The media surely doesn’t help. One day the talking heads want you to give up all fats. The next day carbs are the culprit, and then acai berries become the holy grail of weight loss.

The food manufacturers increase confusion by printing misleading labels and bogus health claims.

Sometimes it seems like the whole system is set up to confuse and frustrate us into buying the latest and greatest packaged food.

The bottom line is that your physique is largely a result of what you eat, so the foods that you put into your body should be carefully selected.

It’s time to re-examine what you eat.

It all starts with reading nutritional labels. The nutritional content and ingredient list will give you everything you need to know about the quality of the food item.

I’ve outlined 5 ingredients that should raise a red flag when you turn over that package and find them listed:

Red Flagged Ingredient #1: High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

HFCS is a manmade sugar, derived predominantly from genetically modified corn. The sweet concoction has been shown to promote binges and hysterical hunger, and wrecks havoc on your blood sugar levels, promoting fat storage.

The introduction of HFCS into our food supply directly paralleled a 47% spike in Type 2 Diabetes cases as well as an 80% increase in obesity. Food manufacturers use HFCS in many mainstream products, including the following:

• Sauces (including ketchup)
• Yogurt
• Energy Bars
• Soft Drinks / Fruit Juices
• Processed baked goods
• Cereals
• Crackers
• Ice Cream
• Salad Dressing
• Most packaged snack foods

Red Flagged Ingredient #2: Hydrogenated Fat / Partially Hydrogenated Fat (Trans Fat)

Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats have undergone such extensive processing that the chemical structure has changed from a “cis” shape, which the human body recognizes and utilizes, to a “trans” shape, which is foreign and destructive to human physiology.

Check each food label for the word ‘hydrogenated’ and avoid it diligently. Cutting out hydrogenated fats is a simple set towards looking and feeling your best.

Red Flagged Ingredient #3: Aspartame

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that was denied 8 times by the FDA before being approved in 1973. Many scientists objected the approval, claiming that aspartame hadn’t been proven safe for use as a food additive.

MIT neuroscientist, Richard Wurtman, researched the effects of aspartame and concluded that it promotes cravings for foods high in calories and carbohydrates. Though aspartame is calorie-free it still causes insulin to be released, which job is to stow away sugar – when this sugar is not available, the result is often hypoglycemia and severe hunger. Not exactly a recipe for weight loss.

Red Flagged Ingredient #4: White Sugar

White sugar comes from the juice of a sugar cane plant that has undergone an intensive refining process. In this process all of the enzymes, fiber, vitamins and minerals are destroyed, rendering it nutritionally void. White sugar is also extremely high in calories, which your body loves to store away in fat cells.

Refined sugar has been linked to a weakened immune system, hyperactivity, ADD, mental and emotional disorders, dental cavities, hypoglycemia, enlargement of the liver and kidneys, and an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain. All that and it leads to weight gain.

Red Flagged Ingredient #5: White Flour

White flour comes from natural whole wheat that has been stripped of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. This results in a nutritionally void product that is packed with calories that release quickly into your system, creating a spike in blood sugar. As you know, this promotes fat storage and leads to hysterical hunger and cravings. You don’t need that.

Once you cut these 5 items out of your diet, you’ll be pleased with the results. Expect to lose weight, to have more energy and to feel better than you have in a long time.

If you’re serious about looking and feeling your best through purifying your diet, then focus on eating real food items. Real foods include lean meats, vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts and seeds.

Would you like to expedite your fitness and weight loss results? Email me today to get started on a fitness program that will quickly transform your body.

Remember, while nutrition is vitally important for weight loss, true results are achieved through a combination of both nutrition and challenging, progressive exercise.

DR Fitness “Get your fitness on!”

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When you have to fit an exercise routine into your already busy schedule, you might be tempted to simply skip the warm up, even though you’ve heard horror stories about people getting injured while working out. I got three words for ya: don’t do that! When you skip your warm up, you’re not only putting your body at risk for injury, but you’re also making the workout more difficult and less effective. For the best results, it’s important to warm up before every workout.

Warming up doesn’t have to take a long time either. In fact, a decent workout only has to be about 5 minutes long to be effective. And it doesn’t have to be boring—you can mix up a number of great moves to make your warm up as fun as the rest of your work out. Remember that a good warm up gets all of your muscles moving, even if you don’t think that you’ll be intensely working out a set of muscles on any particular day. Warming up is also important regardless of if you’re doing cardiovascular exercises or lifting weights.

The moves you do for a warm up shouldn’t make you feel tired or drained. The main goal of the warm up isn’t to become the focus of your workout, but to simply prepare your body for the workout to come. Good moves, therefore, include things like jogging in place,carioca, jumping jacks, lunges, push ups and jumping rope.

A good warm-up should also including dynamically stretching your muscles in a variety of ways, saving the static stretches for your cool-down. Also consider exercises that work on balance and form in order to prepare you for the exercises you will be doing in the workout.

If you’re really short on time, why not try warming up before you even get to the gym. Slowly jog or power walk to the gym, park as far away as possible and lunge to the door, or take the stairs instead of the elevator. That way, when you get to the gym to workout, your warm up is already half way done.

Here’s a quick video to show you how simple it can be.

You’ll be surprised at how much better your workouts will be when you invest just a couple of minutes before to warm up.  Better workouts and less chance of injury – Guaranteed!

DR Fitness – “Get your fitness on!”

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