Posts by Randall Holmes
Quick Tips to Boost Your Productivity
When we get into the act of being productive we usually use coffee or some other caffeinated device to fuel our activity.
However, there are a lot of healthy choices you can make on a daily basis that will work to fuel your productivity. Holmes Chiropractic not only provides chiropractic care services that help our patients reach peak levels of wellness, but we also provide educational materials to our diverse patient base that will help them better their lives. Below are a few easy life hacks that will help you get more done throughout your day.
Stay Hydrated
Making sure that you drink half your body weight in ounces of water is crucial to maintaining balance and focus. Dehydration can lead to fatigue, brain crash, and worse. Over half the population is dehydrated and they likely don’t even know it.
Eat for Fuel
Eat lots of healthy fats (think walnuts, avocados, eggs, chia seeds, and fatty fish) for brain fuel. Look for unsaturated fats to fuel your day, which will help reduce your risk of getting heart disease and lower your cholesterol levels.
Rest Appropriately
Athletes say you can’t over-train but you can under recover. Make sure that you get the requisite 7-9 hours of sleep on a nightly basis to make sure your body regenerates from the day-to-day abuse you put it through.
Stay Active
Staying active will actually boost your energy levels, not deplete them. The more you do, the more you can put on your plate.
On top of the great tips mentioned above, visiting the chiropractor regularly will help your brain and body function at peak levels. We’re not just here to treat injuries; we’re here to help you get more productive and stay more productive at Holmes Chiropractic. Contact us today to schedule your consultation.
5 Foods/Beverages to Cut from Your Diet Immediately
At Holmes Chiropractic we provide services beyond chiropractic treatments in Houston, TX, which include nutritional counseling that helps our patients achieve new levels of wellness.
Below we go over a few foods and beverages to cut from your diet as soon as possible, or at the very least be very judicious about how often you partake in such foods and beverages.
1.) Soda Pop
Cutting out soda pop will help you drastically reduce your sugar intake, not to mention that acidic content of many sodas, which add have additional ingredients for flavoring and color which have serious consequences to your health.
2.) Bagels
Truth be told, bagels have very little nutritional value on their own — it’s only when you add things like eggs, veggies, etc. that they start to bring something to the table nutrition-wise. In that case, why not substitute a more nutritious option? Try going to a health foods store to look for bagel alternatives.
3.) Candy
Cutting candy from your diet, just like cutting soda, will help you drastically reduce your daily sugar intake.
4.) Salty Foods
Eating nuts that are laced with salt and other spices/flavorings kind of cancels out the nutritional value. High levels of sodium in the diet can also lead to serious health conditions like heart disease and high blood pressure. Make sure that, when eating nuts or chips or crackers, that you opt for a low (or no) sodium option.
5.) Alcohol
Believe it or not, a hard night of drinking will actually dehydrate you. You’ll have a hangover, you’ll have taken in way too much sugar and too many calories with no nutritional value, and a pocket full of paid bar tabs. Every time you can say “no” to alcohol you’ll be better off for it.
If you have any other questions about how you can maximize your diet for optimum results, contact Holmes Chiropractic today.
5 Easy Life Hacks for Higher Levels of Wellness
When it comes down to it, all many of us need are just a couple of little tweaks to start experiencing a more healthy, disciplined lifestyle. Holmes Chiropractic is constantly staying up to date on best practices and the latest breakthroughs when it comes to diet, fitness, injury rehabilitation, human optimization, and even injury prevention.
Below we go over a few simple life hacks that will help boost your levels of wellness and boost your productivity.
1.) Sleep at Least 7 Hours
Get rid of that idea that sleeping is for suckers. It’s actually quite the opposite, as lack of sleep and insomnia and linked to obesity, heart disease, and even Alzheimer’s Disease. Sleeping at least 7 hours on a nightly basis with help make sure your brain and body rid itself of toxins and get the rest they need to start over the next day.
2.) Eat Smaller Portions
Instead of going in for the kill each time you sit down to eat, make smaller portions. Try to fast for 12-16 hours daily for an extra energy and focus boost.
3.) Shop on the Periphery of the Grocery Store
Make sure that most of your purchases are clean proteins and veggies, which usually reside on the two far sides of the grocery store. Stay away from the sugary, processed-carb-heavy foods in between the good stuff.
4.) Push Yourself
Make yourself learn a new sport or skill, whether that be MMA, basketball, archery, or anything else under the sun. It’s good for you to start out poor at something and build your way up to excellence.
5.) See Your Chiropractor Regularly
Seeing the chiropractor is a great injury prevention and injury treatment method which is fantastic for the joints, the back, spine, neck, and more. Chiropractic adjustments also help neuro functionality and has even been shown to help reduce your chances of getting serious diseases down the road, too.
If you have any questions about what you can do to achieve higher levels of wellness, contact Holmes Chiropractic today.
2 Easy Ways to Incorporate Yoga into Your Everyday Routine
At Holmes Chiropractic we like letting our patients know what they can do outside of their routine visits with the chiropractor in order to maximize wellness and productivity.
Yoga is a great addition to any wellness routine which might also include a healthy diet, rigorous exercise, and routine visits with Holmes Chiropractic. However, some of us can find many excuses not to get to the yoga studio. Maybe it’s financial reasons, maybe it’s because of a sheer lack of time. Either way, below are a couple of ways that you can fit yoga into any daily routine.
1.) Start Doing Yoga at Work
It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting at the desk or you’re up on your feet for hours on end, it’s easy to take a minute out of even the most packed, stressful schedules to “stretch it out.” You can get some good time in stretching out your legs, hamstrings, your lower back, your spine, your neck, and more.
2.) Make Yoga a Part of Your Active Recovery Plan
After we work out hard one day we might rationalize taking the next day off. But, the truth is, who has that kind of time? Often, our days off are great opportunities to remain active while remembering to be gentle on our bodies. Yoga is an amazing antidote for the physically demanding workload. It’s perfect for the athlete and the weekend warrior alike!
If you have any additional questions about how you can incorporate yoga into your daily routine, contact Holmes Chiropractic today.
Fresh Start for Spring: Stability in the Lower Back
As the season changes, it’s time to prioritize the health of your spine
Say goodbye to the winter slog- it’s time to freshen up your routine. Along with spring cleaning, you should always focus on the health of your spine. A great way to limit the impact of back pain on your life is by focusing on adding stability into your lower back. Your core and associated stabilizing muscles should be much more than a set of muscles developed for appearance’s sake; let’s look at the muscles which contribute to spinal stability and what they do for you:
Workout Pitfalls: How to Avoid Working Out the Wrong Way
With so much focus on how to workout, we need to make sure we aren’t working out the wrong way!
For many of us, working out is the first part of our routine to go out the window. Outside of work, working out is the activity that requires the most energy input and therefore it is the easiest to set aside on a day when you are feeling lazy. Let’s change our attitudes toward working out and avoid these common mistakes.
Are you actively practicing any of these workout pitfalls?
- Working out for the mirror: mirror muscles are chests, shoulders, abs, biceps, triceps and traps; the ones that make you look great. Looking great is a part of feeling good, but by focusing on only these muscles, you are foregoing the strengthening of muscles that matter for the longevity of your body.
- Working out is a chore: if you dread the hour of your day you have carved out for working out, chances are you are due for a change of activity. Focus on muscle building and cardio conditioning activities that you actually enjoy.
- Taking short cuts on your warm up: This is the most important part of your work out. If you are going to take short cuts, make them in the actual exercise. Falling short on the warm up leaves you susceptible to injury and actually harms your chances of building muscle effectively.
- Cardio before strength training: choosing cardio first can sap your energy levels that you need for muscle building. Try alternating days between the two or doing cardio after weights.
Learning Better Posture is the Best Thing You Can Do for Your Back
When it comes to spinal health, posture is king
Unless you are constantly changing your position throughout the day, you are likely to settle in to some kind of posture that is putting undue pressure on some part of the body. Because “proper posture” involves a lot of positioning of the upper body, slumping and slouching causes a lot of the problems to filter down to the lower back, which is responsible for bearing the weight of the upper body. Read on to find out how you can make “good posture,” second nature.
Chiropractic Supports Your Quest for A Healthier Weight
Finding your ideal target weight
Chiropractic and weight loss are two subjects that overlap and influence one another. Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the daily burden on the spine and prevents many of the deleterious spinal conditions that come with age and natural wear and tear, considerably increasing the efficacy of chiropractic treatment. But how does chiropractic influence weight loss? Chances are, you are already aware of an ideal target weight. But getting yourself there can feel overwhelming- where to start?
According to The Chiropractic Way of Life
Flexibility and range of motion are the first things to go with age. When we are young, we take everything for granted: how could tying your shoelace cause you pain? As we grow older, seemingly harmless motions can contribute to a vicious cycle of pain. While pain limits motion, limited motion can lead to injury, and this is a cycle that many Americans are led into by jobs that require long hours in front of the computer. At Holmes Chiropractic, we want you to rediscover the joys of having a full range of motion Below are just a few of the benefits you can enjoy from a more flexible body:
- Confidence that regular motion will not create pain.
- Better athletic performance
- Better posture
- Longer connective tissues and muscles
- Prevention of injury
The Profound Impact of Sleep Disruption
Sleep is a fickle friend
There are so many barriers to sleep: internal and external stressors, physical and mental disturbances and chemical imbalances all play a part in keeping us from getting the sleep we deserve. But sleep is so essential to our experience that we cannot simply accept lack of sleep and get on with it. Poor sleep health is linked to depression, diabetes, obesity, heart disease and a host of other maladies. At Holmes Chiropractic, we are making a better night’s sleep a priority for the Houston community. We know that more quality sleep makes life easier. It helps with:
- Mental acuity
- Improved immune functioning
- Better memory
- Perform better physically
- Improved digestion
- Lowers the risk of early death.