WHAT'S UP DOC?

Happy New Year everybody!  If you're like me, and most other people, you'll be making a New Year resolution to be more healthy.  This may include being more active, losing weight, gaining some muscle, or eating better food.  Whatever your resolution, you should start with a visit to the doctor to determine what your starting point is.  Hopefully, you are able to get yearly physicals. A lot can happen in a year, and what you don't know CAN hurt you.  Different risk factors require different compensations, and ways of managing them.  I have yet to find a risk factor that would prevent all forms of exercise, but when starting a new workout program there may be things you should avoid doing (doesn't mean you can't do it later, as your body gets used to working out).  Keep in mind that any recommendations from your personal doctor always come first. For this post I will be talking about typical scenarios - your situation may be different.

Blood Pressure: Having high blood pressure is a really common risk factor.  There are a couple of things to keep in mind when you have high blood pressure:  Your heart is working harder than normal, so this means that when you are exercising you are going to want to keep your heart rate lower than the normal guidelines for the specific exercise you are performing.  You will also want to avoid overhead exercises - at least in the beginning.  Overhead exercises have been known to make people with high blood pressure dizzy because of the stress placed on the vascular (blood vessels) system.  If you have high blood pressure, make sure to talk to your doctor about diets and medication (if needed) so that you can stabilize your blood pressure before you start a workout program.  Long term effects of working out usually include lower blood pressure, but that can take awhile to achieve, so sometimes you doctor will recommend medication as a stop gap.  Diet can help speed up the process of lowering blood pressure as well.

Heart Complications: Hopefully, your doctor does routine examinations of your heart when you go in for a physical (I mean, it's sort of an important organ).  This is a huge category and each different complication has to be handled in a different way (super specific advice, I know). Your doctor may also recommend you see a specialist.  If you haven't had a physical in a while and you have unexplained dizziness or feel your heart racing, skipping a beat, etc. make an appointment to get your heart looked at. You're not catching feelings - you need to see a doctor.

Diabetes: For clients who have diabetes, I always suggest two things.  The first is you talk to a doctor to make sure you are ready for exercise (most of them will recommend exercise as a way to help with the disease).  And second I recommend seeing a nutritionist who specializes in diabetes.  Exercise affects your blood sugar, so this is a case where a specialist can help you to prepare for what you need before a workout, how you will feel during a workout, and what your condition requires after a workout for recovery.  If you are trying to lose weight and you also have diabetes, a nutritionist with experience in that can also help you to learn what snacks are best to help with blood sugar while not interfering with weight loss.

Arthritis: In most of the cases of arthritis I have seen, the individual is fine to work out. But there are certain exercises that cause pain.  If you have arthritis, get cleared from your doctor before you start your workout, and also talk to him or her about getting involved in some rehabilitation exercises.  A lot of arthritis pain can be managed by doing a regular rehabilitation program aimed at strengthening the muscles around the affect joint(s).  There are some clients with arthritis that I recommend only doing weight training (starting with very light weight and building very slowly).  As you make yourself stronger the muscles are able to handle more of the force placed on your body during daily life and it helps to decrease pain.  And as the pain goes down you will be able to do more exercises and get even stronger, and then the pain goes down even more.  I also like to caution: if you have arthritis and something causes pain, don't do it. Also, pay attention to the amount of fatigue you are feeling. You may fatigue very quickly in the beginning, so if you start an exercise with no pain and then after 15 min you have pain, it's time to stop and rest.  As you get stronger, your endurance will also go up.  Listen to your body and stop when you need to.  If you have arthritis (especially in weight bearing joints) do not push your body to the point of pain. The recovery can actually set you back further than the progress you make working out.

slightly inaccurate, but I laughed

Effects of Medication: Medication is obviously very helpful.  But it can also have weird effects on you when you exercise.  Medicine can make you gain weight, lose weight, feel light headed, affect your endurance levels, make you lethargic, make you not sweat, make you sweat too much, and a crap ton of other things.  Just talk to your doctor and see if you need to be careful while exercising.

Pregnancy: This topic is a bit of an odd ball one.  If you are pregnant, just talk to your doctor about your workout.  Depending on any risk factors you have for complications, your age, how far along you are, and what shape you were in before you got pregnant, your doctor may change your limitations.  Plus, being pregnant changes your nutritional needs.  I can't really give any feedback in this because every pregnancy is different.  If you are looking to start a workout program and are trying to get pregnant, make sure you find a trainer that has certifications involving pregnancy.  I also recommend getting a heart rate monitor, I refuse to work with any pregnant women until they have a heart rate monitor because when you are pregnant your heart rate should not reach the same levels as when you were not pregnant (the heart rate you should aim for depends on what shape you were in before you were pregnant).

Injuries: If you have an injury, don't be stupid about it, see your doctor and try to get an appointment with a specialist or get a rehab program.  Pushing injured tissue in a workout doesn't help it heal faster, it just sets you back. You run the risk of complications and secondary injuries as well.  It is also a good idea if you have an injury to focus some attention on stability exercises related to your injury.  The scar tissue that heals in the place of injured tissue is very brittle, and its never gonna be quite the same, so some stability exercises can help to prevent re-injuring the area.

Skeletal Abnormalities: Again, this category is very broad. There are a ton of skeletal abnormalities and within each one there are varying degrees of severity.  Your doctor may limit you from types of training, he or she may limit specific exercises, or he or she may limit the intensity of exercise.  All three of these categories are things you are going to want to specifically address with your physician.

Hormone Levels: This is another tricky category.  From my experience MOST (not all, so do what the doc says) hormonal imbalances don't actually affect the work out part, they affect the results.  If you are trying to lose or gain weight, and you are doing everything perfectly (including food and proper rest) and I do mean perfect, it may be hormones that are holding you back.  So talk to your doctor about getting that tested.  This is especially true in women who have recently started or stopped taking birth control, or recently given birth.

Autoimmune Disorders: Huge category (I've been saying that a lot this post, but it's true).  I don't have much to say about this except that the more information you can have the better off you will be.  I know its not super helpful, but these diseases are all very weird.  Usually there will be good and bad days, and as long as you have clearance from your doctor, it's just gonna take time for you to figure out what programs work for you.  In many cases, exercise can help autoimmune disorders but usually only in moderation, and again, that's for your physician to decide.

Hopefully this post will help you get started with your New Year's resolutions and isn't too vague.  If you need elaboration or have questions for me, leave a comment below the post.  I always like hearing what topics you guys would like me to cover, so let me know.  Happy New Year and good luck everybody.  Time to make some changes.

Super Simple Shoulder Stability

Try saying that title 5 times fast.  So, a little while ago I did a post on improving the stability of your knees, and I thought it was time for some more stability exercises - this time, we'll focus specifically on the shoulder joint.  There are multiple ways of stabilizing the shoulder, but in this post I will be focusing on the rotator cuff and the scapula (shoulder blade).  These exercises are meant to strengthen the shoulder joint and help to prevent injuries.  By increasing the stability of the shoulder, you can also help to improve posture, and your general strength.  

The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis.  They play a major role in stabilizing the shoulder joint during everyday life and exercise.  Strengthening the rotator cuff helps your body rely on the muscles instead of cartilage and ligaments.

Like the rotator cuff, your shoulder blade plays a large role in shoulder mobility.  In fact, if you didn't have a shoulder blade you would find it very hard to raise your arm above 45 degrees.  By working on the stability of the scapula, it is possible to improve the strength and range of motion of the shoulder.  

Keep in mind this post is meant to increase the stability of the shoulder, and while many of these exercises are implemented in a shoulder rehabilitation, this post is not meant to help with any specific injuries.  If you have a specific injury please see your doctor or a therapist.  In a healthy shoulder none of these exercises should cause pain, so if you feel pain doing any of these exercises stop immediately and see your doctor.

Internal Rotation: Internal rotation of the shoulder activates your subscapularis (one of the muscles of the rotator cuff).  You can perform internal rotation using a band or a cable machine at a gym. Hold the handle or the band in your hand with your thumb up and your elbow at your side.  If you are using your left hand, the band should be outward from your body on the left side.  If you feel pressure on your elbow, use a towel rolled up between your elbow and your body.  Keep your elbow close to your side and bent to 90 degrees, and pull the cable or band across your body so that your hand touches the opposite side of your waist, like in the picture below.

External Rotation: This is the opposite of internal rotation (Duh).  The starting position is the same as it was for internal rotation, with the exception that the band/cable should be crossing in front of your body.  Keeping your thumb up, you move your arm away from your body like the picture below shows.  This exercise helps to activate your infraspinatus (another muscle in the rotator cuff group)

Scapular Pushups/ Scapular Punches: This exercise works primarily the serratus anterior (yet another stabilizer) which helps out with your shoulder blades.  You can do this exercise with your body weight in push up position, or against a wall, or with a cable machine or band, or laying on your back with a weight in your hand (there are a crap ton of options - in my opinion laying on your back is the easiest to start with).  To perform this exercise you should be holding the weight in your hand with your arm at 90 degrees to your body, straight out in front of you, with your elbow straight.  Then you want to push your shoulder forward without twisting your torso or bending your elbow.  It's a subtle movement, and it's not going to move very far, so don't expect a lot here.  After you push the shoulder forward, you can either return to the starting position or continue the motion so that your shoulder also goes back, still keeping your arm straight.

in this one notice the shoulders are coming back all the way like I mentioned

Scapular Pull Downs: This is another subtle movement, so it may take a bit of practice. The easiest way is to stand with your arms at your side.  Don't move your arm or your torso, but pull your shoulder blades down towards your butt.  Again, subtle, it's not gonna be a ton of movement.  When you get really good at the movement, you can add resistance by doing this on a lat pull down machine, or as pull ups when you become very advanced.  Remember, you're not actually doing a pull up or a lat pull down, you're just trying to move your shoulder blades.  The picture below shows the starting and finishing position for the movement (the picture shows the pull-up version, but the movement itself is the same no matter how you do it).

Cat and Camel/Cow Stretches: This stretch is meant to help increase the range of motion in your upper back while also improving the quality of movement between your shoulder blades, the shoulder joint, and ribs.  It can also help relax your back muscles.  Start on your hands and knees with your back straight.  You want to then push your back up to the ceiling, separating your shoulder blades apart.  Push as high up as you can without lifting your hands off the floor.  Next, sink your chest down to the ground so that your shoulder blades move as close together as you can.  Remember that this is a stretch and should not feel painful.  Repeat this for a few minutes, and you should feel your upper back loosen up.

Various Rows: Rows can work your rhomboids, which are muscles in your back between your shoulder blades that can help to improve posture and stabilize your scapula.  Two of the more common rows are a seated cable row or a dumbell row. 

Regardless of what type of row you are doing, you want to make sure your back is straight. 
Start with your arms straight, then pull the weight towards your chest and squeeze your shoulder blades together.

"T's" Y's" and "I's": These are actually three separate exercises.  They help to activate the rotator cuff, and also the deltoid muscles.  They can be deceptively difficult, so start with about 2.5 pounds.  You lay with your stomach on a bench (depending on the height of the bench - you may have to place it on a slant to give your arms room to move) and the weight in your hands with your arms straight.  To perform a "T", start with your arms out straight in front of you at a 90 degree angle, then move them outward so you make a plus sign (+). Make sure you are laying on your stomach so that you are resisting gravity.  To make a "Y", start in the same position as the "T", then move your arms up and out to 45 degree angle - just like the "Y" in the YMCA dance (and you thought that 5th grade dances wouldn't come in handy).  The "I" has the same starting position as the first two, and then you raise your arms straight up so that they are directly over your head, making your body a straight line.  The picture below shows the starting position for "Y" (A) "T" (B) and a modification for "I" (C).

I hope this post was informative and helpful for you guys.  As always, if you have any questions or would like elaboration feel free to comment at the bottom!

*Note: This post is meant to increase the stability of the shoulder joint.  If you have or think that you have a shoulder injury or pain in the shoulder joint you should see your doctor before performing any of these exercises.*

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

It's been awhile since I've done a post on a book, but I just finished the third Harry Potter.  The third book is excellent, and also marks the start of the maturity of the series overall. In this one, Harry has just turned 13 - and as he gets a little older, the story gets a little darker.

WARNING!  This post is contains spoilers.  It is pretty much all spoiler with a few of my opinions thrown in.  Sorry I'm not sorry, this post is meant to be for fans of the series who want to discuss the book in depth.  I do, however recommend that you read the series (if you haven't already), then come back and join in the fun.

One of the things that I really like about the third Harry Potter novel is that the main villain isn't He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  I mean, the villain is associated with You-Know-Who, but not actually the man himself.  It's not the first time we hear about other dark wizards (cough cough Lucious Malfoy), but it is the first time Harry and the gang take on a new opponent.  I think it expands the perspective you get of the story, and makes the whole wizarding world more believable.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love me a good super villain, but when you only have one person being evil against every other person... not very realistic (at least outside of the Marvel universe).  The Dark Lord was a true dark lord, he had armies of people and creatures behind him.  One man doesn't get that far even if he is a super powerful wizard.  I like that this novel gives us a bigger picture of the wizarding world and shows us a realistic side of evil dominion.

Then you combine that with the betrayal of a close family friend, and Harry is getting a heavy dose of real world war.  How many traitors are there in a war?  No one really knows unless they are caught, but let's face it, there hasn't been a war without traitors - and the closeness of this betrayal to Harry really makes the reader feel it on a personal level.  It doesn't matter that the facts weren't accurate -  Harry's parents were still betrayed by a friend.  And not even betrayed because the friend was captured and tortured, which would be slightly more understandable. It was a deliberate and planned deception, which makes the sting even worse.  Betrayal that had actually been going on for a while, the Potters knew someone was leaking information.  What a horrible feeling -  having someone you trust betray you, knowing that you would die for your friends and one of them is selling you out literally to your death.  I can't imagine, but I would guess Lily and James died heartbroken on so many levels.

So, apparently time traveling is a thing in the wizarding world (you guys like that segue?).  And let's face it, was anyone surprised that Hermione used time travel so that she can take extra classes?  Classic Hermione.  

There are a lot of people that go around and are like WAIT!! If time travel exists, why didn't someone go back and kill He-who-must-not-be-named before he became an evil overlord and mass murderer?  Why didn't someone go back in time and prevent him from trying to kill Harry's parents?  It is an interesting thought that time isn't really set in stone, but to those people who are hating on this third novel, please remember a few things. Yes, the Dark Lord is pretty evil. I'm not trying to debate that, dude was evil, and he deserved what he got. BUT can we really justify going back in time and killing him before he commits a crime?  Well, haters, if we paid attention in Divination class (and more importantly to what Professor McGonagall said about the device itself) the future is a very, very tricky thing. And how can you punish someone for something they haven't done?  The argument that he will go on to kill people is irrelevant. Yes, we know that it's been written down, and in terms of Harry Potter history it happened, but going back and killing him before he kills in the name of prevention? Not OK.  I mean come on, innocent until proven guilty, right?  Just the act of going back in time and trying to kill him before he could cause too much damage would be changing time, so you wouldn't know 100% he was going to kill until after it happened... because you already changed the outcome. Technically, that leaves a tiny chance he could change his ways (slim, but still there, hence the 'beyond a reasonable doubt'). So now what? Do you still punish him for a crime he hasn't committed?  That's not a justice system I can get behind. 

Ok, so then let's say you find a way around that conundrum. Maybe you wait for him to kill someone, or find some other way to justify going back in time and ending it all before it starts.  So, you've gone back in time and stopped the Dark Lord from rising to power!  Awesome!  Now there aren't two huge wars! And you saved countless people by providing a key eye witness in Tom Riddle's murder trial.  So now what?  Well, guess what - you just created a time paradox.  By eliminating the cause of the war, and the cause of you going back in time in the first place, you've made an alternate timeline. The only way to get back where you started is to have the war... which means you have to everything play out as it did originally. If you don't, everything has now changed, and you can't get back where you started and may not exist at all.  BOOM, classic time travel paradox.  So guys, when you are raging on Mrs Rowling remember time travel is a tricky thing.  And to all the haters who are like, 'well, then why were Harry and Hermione were able to still save Sirius and Buckbeak', I say, 'well they didn't change the CAUSE, just the outcome.'  They didn't stop Sirius from going to jail the first time, they didn't stop the trial, or Buckbeak maiming Malfoy, they only changed the outcome, and they did it quickly enough that nothing else had happened yet that was contingent upon that action.  BOOM knowledge explosion (I'm basically a logic wizard, it's ok to admit it). I mean, come on, go watch Back to the Future/Minority Report/contact me for a list of other movies that will show you how wrong you are in ways ranging from "that movie was fairly entertaining" to "this one is incredible, and how have you not watched this yet?"

So lets talk for a second about Azkaban and Dementors.  This shit is super dark.  I mean, these things live off of stealing people's happy memories and thoughts, and not only that, they can literally steal your soul.  They steal the essence of what makes you, well, you.  But not only do they take everything from you, they take away your ability to re-make yourself.  You don't just lose yourself, you lose the ability to make yourself, the process of learning and growing that we all go though continuously in life. That's just gone.  And there is no chance of recovery.  You might as well be a vegetable.  It is interesting to note that people on the internet say JK Rowling wrote the Dementors to represent her own depression she was dealing with.  And I think this is perfect.  No idea if its true, I haven't researched it, but either way, it works.  Depression can't be seen, and muggles are incapable of seeing Dementors. And when it's left untreated, when you lose the support of others, when you're alone, it gets worse and harder and harder to function as a normal person.  Just like Harry and the Dementors, the longer you are exposed to depression, the harder it is to overcome.  Most of the prisoners in the prison fall so low thanks to the Dementor,s that they go insane or they stop caring about anything. They stop eating or caring for themselves, and they die.  The comparison of the effects of Dementors to depression is very powerful.  The Dementors aren't killed by the patronus charm, depression never really goes away, it just become better or manageable for a time period.  So props to J. K. Rowling book 2 showing us how wrong any form or discrimination is, and book 3 giving us a first hand experience of what living with a mental disorder is like.  TAKE THAT Harry Potter haters who say that it's a kid's series. These are serious issues.

Now the idea of Dementors as guards for wizard jail seems very cruel to me.  The only thing I can think of to justify the use of the Dementors as Azkaban guards is that I don't know how to get rid of them.  I mean the patronus charm is awesome but it doesn't seem to kill the Dementors.  Now I could be wrong, but I don't think it's ever mentioned how to kill a Dementor.  The story tells us how Dementors multiply (in later books), but from what I know, does not tell us how to kill them.  So you could argue that putting them as guards at least keeps them from running around giving random people their creepy kiss, but still, the idealist in me says that there must be a better solution. Because let's face it, being in Azkaban is cruel and unusual punishment.  The prisoners there lose their powers, and then also have every good memory and thought taken from them. Most of them go insane.  There are people that argue against solitary confinement as cruel and unusual and (not that I have experience with either) I would guess that Azkaban is a just little bit worse.  I suppose wizards don't have the death penalty, but that doesn't seem to justify Dementors.  I'm at a loss here - I think there must be a better solution for controlling them and not letting them run around hurting innocent muggles, but I don't know what it is. Like I said, at least they are all in one place.

And in this edition of "Wizards are Useless", we're gonna talk about being an animagus and how when someone turns into a rat and you trust them, you're a moron.  Like, come on, your animagus is basically a window into who you are as a person (your inner spirit, or whatever you wanna call it) and you think trusting the "rat" was a good idea?  I'm actually a little mad my 13 year old self couldn't figure this out when she was reading the books for the first time.  Seriously, you're worried that someone in your inner circle is betraying you and you look around, why do you not immediately look at the guy who shape-shifts into a rat?  Come on, people.  Even his nickname should make you pause. "Wormtail", come on, a spineless blind slimy bug (yes, worms are helpful for plants and life, but we're gonna ignore that for now).  This is who you trust with your life?  Sirius turns into a dog, known for loyalty and you're like, 'nope not a good idea, lets go with the rat'.  James Potter, you done goofed.  I suppose when you don't learn math or logic in school, just magic, this is what happens.

But now onto a lighter subject... like those Undervalued Characters Who Deserve More Credit Than They Get.  I know you have been waiting for this part.

Snape- Ok, let's not take future books into account.  Snape is a dirty (like dude go shower) jerk.  He may be good at potions, but let's be real for a sec: he's a horrible teacher. He plays favorites way beyond what is an acceptable level.  He ostracizes his students (I mean does he really need to intentionally mean to Neville).  He is vindictive and cruel. I mean, he threatens to poison several students, and Neville's toad.  Dude has some serious issues.  BUT I have to give him a shout out for "saving" Harry, Ron and Hermione in the shrieking shack.  Yes, he was completely off base, yes, he was a jerk while he was doing it, yes, he probably didn't give a crap about the three students.  BUT!  Look at it as an outsider - you don't know Sirius' story. For all you know, he is a crazy mass murderer.  That was the thought belief Snape was acting on.  Should he have handled the situation better?  Hell yeah, like call the other professors and stuff.  But I'm still giving him props for trying to save the day

Professor Trelawny- This shout out is based purely on her actually doing something useful.  Yup, that's all I got.  Thank you for actually making a prediction, it's about time.

Hermione- Ok, Hermione is awesome on her bad days, so you could argue she doesn't deserve to be on this list cause she's always recognized for her awesomeness.  True. BUT she slaps Malfoy in the face.  And for that we love her just a little bit more in this novel.

Lastly if you haven't read this histerical troll post comparing Twilight to Harry Potter you should 
http://www.eatliver.com/twilight-vs-harry-potter/