Green Exercise and Ecotherapy

Yet more on the benefits of exercising "outdoors" or what is also called "green" health.

Just five minutes outside exercising can improve your mood! :o)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100502080414.htm

More on the benefits of green/outdoor exercise:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110204130607.htm

I usually reference the added "mood" enhancements when discussing outdoor exercise, but another very important point that I will talking more and more about this year is the benefit of outdoor exercise in "natural" environments on your nervous system.  More specifically, your proprioception  and ability to balance so you don't trip and fall.

If you always walk on a perfectly "safe" and level surface such as an office building, parking lots, treadmills, sidewalks, etc., then you won't walk nearly as well on uneven surfaces.  Want to walk better on ALL surfaces?  Get off the artificial surfaces and onto the trail or some other outdoor area.  Grass, dirt, trails, sand, etc. all have extra BENEFITS to increasing your efficiency to stay upright so you don't fall.  Also, our eyes are suffering from all the staring at one focal length and one focal width 9-12+ hours per day.  Our ears (vestibular system) are also decreasing in efficiency with all the sitting!  All of this sitting or walking on "safe" surfaces is decreasing our ability to safely move in natural environments as joints, vision, and vestibular decrease in function.

Bottom Line: Move more and go outside when you do!  When I have the choice between running or walking on pavement/concrete vs. the dirt off the side of the trail, I opt for the dirt because it is UNEVEN and thus better for my proprioceptive system.  Balance training is fall PREVENTION!

All of the above is even more reason to hike in the wilderness!  Think of hiking as both Ecotherapy and proprioception enhancement...for better and safer movement and feeling good while you do them.

In Motion,
Coach RJ

Z-Health Thought of the Day: Brain Mapping & Touch Receptors

I’ve been talking to a lot of people about how the brain “maps” our movements based on proprioceptor input. Proprioception of our body’s ability to sense where it is in space. For example, are you leaning forward? Backward? Sideways? Are you standing perpendicular to the horizon? Is your body rotating? If so, which direction? Is someone touching you? If so, how much pressure are they applying? How much force do you feel on your feet? Your hands? Your back? Basically, we use vision, inner ear, and mechanoreceptors around our joints to sense proprioception. Proprioception is “all the body all the time.” Our “brain map” is constantly updating millions of times per year based on all the input. If you have good “map clarity” then your body knows how to move. If your map clarity is poor, your movements can be awkward, guarded, and inefficient. What we want is good map clarity so we know where we are going and how to get there—efficiently and safely.

The brain prioritizes real estate! All parts are not created equal when it comes to brain power. The area of our bodies with the most amount of brain power are the hands. The next two areas of highest receptor importance are the feet and facial area around the lips and tongue.

As we might imagine, the hands and mouth are extremely important and sensitive…but once again…let’s talk FEET!

The feet—often overlooked and disrespected in America until something goes wrong. Each foot has 26 bones. Both feet together have ¼ of the bones in your body—plus a very high percentage of the brain power! Respect the feet! What happens or does not happen at the ground with the feet will significantly change your body moving through space above.

To see this receptor “brain real estate” representation graphically, you can look at the “Homunculus” drawing. You’ll see the hands are HUGE along with the feet and oral area—this is where most of our brain power is directed.

The University of Washington has an awesome “Neuroscience for Kids” section that explains the Homunculus is simple terms. Check it out below—yes—it’s also a good place for adults to begin!

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/flash/hom.html (Brain Mapping Receptor Tutorial)

Move well. Improve your neural map clarity, and appreciate your brain and body for it is truly amazing. Take care of it. Exercise. Eat healthy food that will HELP your brain. If you work “with” your brain and central nervous system, things can change fast in a positive direction. The brain rules. Work with it. You’ll be glad you did.

In MOVEment,
Coach RJ

Z-Health Thought of the Day: "Opposing Joints"

Our joints have a lot to do with proprioception. It’s a big word, but basically proprioception is our body’s ability to sense its position in space. Are you leaning forward, falling, slipping, spinning, tilting, speeding up, slowing down, etc.? We have receptors in our joints that sense all these and give IMMEDIATE feedback to the brain. Other ways to sense proprioception are vision and vestibular (ears).

The cool thing about proprioception is that it is all the body all the time. Our bodies are constantly re-evaluating our positions to make corrections and adjustments—millions and millions of times per year. The mechanoreceptors which are highly concentrated around our joints move at 300 MPH, so this happens really fast! Mechanoreceptors are all over the body—not just at joints—but they are more concentrated at the borders of joints, so working with the joints is a more efficient way to tap into this existing system. Ever felt a bug crawling on your skin? A really small bug or insect not even biting you? Thank the mechanoreceptors in your skin and hair follicles that sense movement!

While all the joints are connected at some level, certain joint areas have a more direct connection to other joint sites—these are called “opposing joints.” It’s really pretty fascinating how “everything is connected” and how we have these diagonal and spiral relationships in the body.

Here’s a short list of opposing joints. One is very connected to the other. If you have pain in one—you are likely to also have pain in the other. If one area is too painful for me to work on with you, I can use the opposing joint relationship to go to a “different” part of your body which can then reduce pain and increase mobility in the opposing joint that was originally hurting more. That is cool. I’ve already used this method to help people with Z-Health. One lady had really bad right hip pain, so I went to her left shoulder—then her right hip got better within minutes!!!

Here’s the short list of “Opposing Joints”

Toes-Fingers
Ankle-Wrist
Knee-Elbow
*Hip-Shoulder
Pelvis-Neck
Low Back-Mid Back
Tailbone-Jaw

*Example? Got a shoulder problem? It can likely be caused by an immobile hip that forces you to compensate all the time with your shoulder—often the “opposing” shoulder! Remember—where mobility is lost it will be gained at another joint as a compensation. Lose hip mobility—the shoulder might be forced into hyper mobility to compensate which puts the shoulder at risk for injury.

Think about where you might have pain, but don’t stop “where it hurts” because the root cause is likely somewhere else. This is a big lesson of Z-Health for me. Keep looking beyond where it hurts to find where the problem actually started. Sort of like root cause analysis but for our health and movement instead of a mechanical or factory processes at work. Traditional methods often miss this important point. Yes—the shoulder rotator cuff can be repaired, but what caused the tear? Where is the root cause? If we don’t find it, we might be looking at another shoulder repair! This exact scenario has presented to me quite often the last ten years. The real problem never got fixed by the surgery…back to square #1…how do you move?!!!

In Healthy MOVEment!
Coach RJ