Workouts: Should You Lift or Do Cardio First? I get it: we’re all insanely busy and it’s a miracle that we can get to the gym at all. So when we work out, most of us try to get in both strength training and cardio exercise in a single session. But should you do weights […]
Fix your posture, grow your delts & heal your shoulders! What the heck are face pulls? If you’ve ever been treated for a shoulder injury at Ascent Chiropractic there’s a good chance you know all about them. But if you’ve never done them before, face pulls just might be one of...
What’s Better For Your Back: Barbell or Hex Bar Deadlifts? The deadlift is one of the gold standard lifts in the gym. It’s pretty simple, really: You load a barbell up with weight, grab it with a shoulder-width grip, plant your feet on the floor and pull until the weights come off the...
Cheat Your Way to More Muscle? I get this question from my athletes often: When it comes to weightlifting, are ‘cheat’ repetitions worth it? You’re probably not surprised to know my short answer is ‘no.’ The long answer, however, is that not all cheating is created...
What Actually Is Muscle Memory? Muscle memory is a fascinating topic that’s essential to understanding what’s going on with your musculoskeletal system. And it’s for more reasons than simply making your muscles look good now that summer’s finally arrived (although...
There’s no excuse for not exercising – your life depends on it! Sure, some of us live for the “workout high” — that intoxicating feeling derived from getting your heart rate up and pushing your body’s limits, while for others exercise is a chore, an item to be checked off their...
Correcting ‘Computer Guy’ Posture! A few months back I discussed how to correct anterior pelvic tilt – also known as ‘butt and gut syndrome’. It quickly became (by far) the most-read article on my blog, so if you haven’t read it yet check it out. So let’s...
Feeling especially sore after a workout? Whether it’s a nagging sore shoulder or a stiff and painful lower back, there are a couple warning signs to look out for to determine if it’s a normal post-exercise ache or something you should seek medical attention for. Before you test a...
The Best Core Strengthening Exercises that Won’t Harm Your Back! THE CORE. We hear about the core and the importance of strengthening the core all the time, and if you’re a patient at Ascent Chiropractic, you’re probably sick of hearing me talk about why you need to be working on...
Make 2019 Your Year For Maximizing Your Fitness! When January first rolls around, the season of excess quickly transforms to a season of new expectations – more than 40% of Americans report making New Year’s resolutions. But – surprise, surprise – 80% of those people are no longer following...
Rounding up the most important research of the year! 1. Reducing your risk of diabetes could be as simple as taking vitamin D and fish oil. The number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes is expected to rise by 20% in the next 12 years, but consuming a diet rich in vitamin D and fish oil […]
Protect Your Shoulders & Back In The Gym! When it comes to proper lifting form, trainers and fitness gurus tend to harp on making sure your lower body lifts are performed properly. A lot of people end up underestimating how technical upper body exercises actually are, and reserve all that...
Fix your pushup mistakes! Most of us (including me!) learned how to do pushups in grade school. Ever seen a grade schooler try to do a pushup? It’s not pretty, and unfortunately, few people ever get better. Doing pushups incorrectly can lead to back pain and shoulder bursitis, and prevent...
Want an all-natural solution to decrease pain, improve your mood, protect your brain from age-related decline, and enhance your memory? Sound too good to be true? It’s not, but unfortunately, even though we’d all love a miracle drug that we could take in the morning and go on with...
Why Are We Still Doing Sit-ups and Crunches? Myths (especially myths concerned with health and fitness) take a long time to die. As a sports chiropractor, over the past ten years I’ve seen many ridiculous fitness trends come and go, and it’s finally time for sit-ups and crunches –...
Squats have long been a staple of lifting programs. It’s easy to see why: it’s hands-down the most effective exercise for building strength, speed, and size, and has a remarkable carryover to everything from the vertical jump to Olympic lifts. When you squat you use pretty much every muscle...
The 8 Best Arm-Sculpting Exercises. We all love doing compound exercises with heavy weights at the gym. But bench presses, squats and deadlifts alone aren’t going to get you sculpted arms because they aren’t sufficiently targeting and isolating the muscles of the triceps, biceps,...
Why Do We Care So Much About Testosterone? There are very few factors more important than testosterone when it comes to overall health and function in men. Of course, we all know about testosterone’s ability to increase muscle mass and strength by increasing muscle protein synthesis. But...
Our Brains Were Wired To Move. For millions of years, our ancestors moved – walking, running, climbing – as an integral part of daily life. Today, most of the modern world doesn’t move nearly as much as we were designed to, and new research suggests that it’s one of the major...
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the biggest buzzwords in the fitness industry because of its potential to torch maximum calories in a minimum amount of time. The basic idea to do short periods of all-out work followed by short periods of active rest to make the body work...
Put More Years In Your Life & Life In Your Years Most of us wish to have a long and healthy life span. Most importantly, we all wish to remain healthy and active for as long as we’re alive. However, with human life changing dramatically over the last century, never before has the...
Are You A Weekend Warrior? Planning on getting together with the guys for a game of football this weekend? Shooting some hoops or running a 5K? If so, are you sure your body is prepared for this kind of intense physical activity? It’s no secret that many Brookfield residents are crunched...
Starting A New Exercise Plan: Sound Familiar? You splurge on new workout clothes and equipment, sign up for the most exciting fitness classes, and hit the gym like an addict for two weeks. But it starts with just one missed workout, progresses to a couple absences per week, and then...
Avoiding Back Pain As we age and our bodies become more susceptible to damage from every day activities, back pain can become increasingly problematic. Minor aches and pains can progress to long-term damage if we are not careful how we carry out certain activities. Consider these tips when...
Stressing Out? Have you ever seen the “Stress Reduction Kit” poster that directs the stressed-out user to place the kit on a firm surface, BANG HEAD HERE, and repeat as necessary (or until unconscious)? Unfortunately, stress is a fact of nature, but dealing with it doesn’t have to be as painful...