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This article shares some great points regarding foods that are pro-inflammatory and some alternative substitutes.
I would highly recommend looking at your diet if you suffer from inflammatory conditions such as arthritis; any allergies; crohn's disease; eczema; fibromyalgia; psoriasis...and the list goes on.
The vast majority of inflammatory conditions begin in the gut.
Of course, it doesn't stop with just working on diet. You have to also take into account stress levels; movement levels; emotional state & hydration as some additional factors to assess and address. The body is a system, you can't treat the symptom without treating the cause and your body won't heal unless given the right environment to do so.
Four of my top core exercises everyone should make a part of their exercise regime...
First up is...
BREATHING:
The first being BREATHING:
Before you laugh, yes, I did say breathing!
Simple right? Not really. Most of us (myself being a culprit at times) are dysfunctional breathers, this being due to stress; injury; emotional issues; poor health etc. We breathe around 20,000+ breaths per day, that is a lot of opportunity for dysfunction.
We use our core muscles for breathing; simplified our diaphragm & pelvic floor contract together on the inhale to create Intra Abdominal Pressure (IAP), this stabilises our spine & we recruit our remaining core muscles on the exhale.
The dysfunction comes in when we either hold in our stomachs for long periods (females being biggest culprits) or start taking shallower breaths. This makes it extremely hard for normal functional breathing and requires us to recruit our neck and chest muscles with every breath.
To learn how to work on your breathing keep reading. I would highly recommend ANYONE with lower back pain to focus on their breathing especially but really EVERYONE should be doing it...
Visit our exercise library and have a read through our Stability Exercises the first 3 exercises that come up which are about BREATHING.
I love nothing more than when a client has a lightbulb moment. I live for these moments! Here is one from yesterday:
Client: “I’m not sure if it was right but when I was carrying my shopping home yesterday I tried to focus on keeping my shoulders drawn down and gently squeezing my arm to my side like we have been doing in the exercise you get me to do. I noticed that my shoulder that usually aches a lot after my shopping trip was fine yesterday and thought I’d ask if I was doing the right thing?”
Me: “Hell yeah, you were doing the right thing! That’s what I like to call body awareness, AKA progress! That is EXACTLY what you should be doing every time you carry anything.”
Client: “Ah, I thought it must have been right as my shoulder didn’t hurt”.
The scenario ended with a HIGH 5! ☺
When we make our bodies more aware of good movement patterns and enforce it as a habit that is where CHANGE occurs! Those “AHA” moments are way more effective if the client is taught the biomechanics of a movement, along with the FEEL of it. These movement patterns are then trained and re-inforced in session. When this translates to their lives and they begin to make connections between WHY we are doing what we are in the gym and how it translates to their lives it is hugely empowering for each individual. It doesn’t always make sense when explained during sessions until the connection is made outside of the gym through body awareness.
I always try and train my clients for LIFE, to prepare them for whatever life throws at them and in order for them to achieve functional and pain free lives. Everything we do in-session has a purpose and a direct translation to their necessary function through life, whether it be through sport; certain hobbies; achieving basic pain free functional movement patterns or just being ready for the unpredictable!
