Below we have brainstormed a quick list of Christmas-specific risk factors for your spine:

• The tree: everything from cutting it to setting it up and adorning it with ornaments. Trees are heavy! Take care to use proper form when lifting and moving.
• The shopping: stress leads to muscle tension; tight muscles pull your spine out of alignment.
• The lifting of young relatives: any lifting motions should be performed with care. 
• The sitting around: lack of activity is a cardinal threat to your spinal health. 
• The consumption of booze and other inflammatory ingredients

Awareness is king this holiday season

If you suffer from any form of chronic back pain, keep a running mental dialogue with yourself regarding the state of your spine. Avoid activities you know will aggravate your back pain; ask for help performing heavy duty lifting tasks; take a break if a certain repetitive task like tying ribbons is becoming too monotonous for your spine. As it stiffens and becomes sore, take immediate steps to alleviate the pain- use ice and heat, stretch and exercise in small ways. Avoid inflammatory ingredients when possible and always remember to adjust your posture when you feel yourself slumping. As a last resort, use ibuprofen to keep inflammation down. 

A Christmas visit to the chiropractor can help immensely

If your spine is feeling the stress of the holiday season, give our office in Houston a call to schedule an appointment. We use natural modalities including spinal adjustment to restore spinal alignment and improve range of motion in stiff spinal joints. We help you have a happier holiday season by ensuring that your back is in a state of balance conducive to enjoying family activities. Happy holidays Houston! 

The post When Christmas Time Puts your Back at Risk appeared first on Dr. Randall Holmes.

Indulging is good for the soul; a single slice of pie can bring a measure of happiness that is hard to find elsewhere. But there is such a thing as diminishing returns on each consecutive slice of pie. And while overindulgence is symptomatic of the holiday season, it is always worth keeping things in perspective when it comes to your physical fitness. At Holmes Chiropractic, we are in the business of body balance- and the holiday season is a consistent challenge for the fitness of our patients. Here are some friendly holiday reminders from your chiropractor.

Don’t throw it all away: many people simply stop exercising during the holiday season. 

This serves you a double disadvantage: you lose many of the gains you have made during the year, and you start the coming New Year with a fitness deficit. Instead, use a dose of discipline and readjust your fitness expectations. If you simply don’t have the time to reach your 150-minute-per-week goal of moderate aerobic exercise, focus on getting your fitness in smaller spurts.

Focus on small-scale exercise this holiday season

20 minutes of high-intensity interval training helps your body reap many of the benefits of a longer workout plan; if you are not committed to this level of intensity, try, ‘exercise snacking,’ a relatively new fitness concept that focuses on small intervals of aerobic workout. 10 minutes of jogging around the block upon waking up; a 10 minute yoga session in the office at lunch; and 10 minutes of bodyweight exercising in the evening time. We believe you can find little windows throughout the day to maintain fitness levels despite the hectic holiday schedule. 

A healthy holiday is a happy holiday in Houston

Don’t let your spine take a beating this holiday season- whether due to lack of physical activity, overindulgence in baked goods or a combination of negative factors, it’s up to you to maintain your health throughout the holidays. At our office in Houston, we are standing by to help you overcome holiday-specific risk factors for your spine. We can help you restore balance to your back and hit the ground running as the New Year approaches. 

The post Holiday Indulgence without Sacrificing your Fitness Gains appeared first on Dr. Randall Holmes.