Health
Posture:
Half of our health problems are due to poor posture from sitting all day, being on the computer, and looking down at our phones. I suffer from chronic thoracic outlet syndrome and cervical radiculopathy for many years as a result of multiple car injuries, physical tearing of muscles from overuse, and poor posture over a very long period of time. *Everyone* who works at a computer should be doing posture exercises for at least half an hour a day. Stand up from your workstation every hour and walk around for 5-15 minutes.
Wall Angels, Neck Muscle Stretches & Scalene Stretch <- Best Single Exercise And Stretch combo for the neck. For the scalene stretch, make sure that you keep your shoulder down by either sitting on it or grabbing your back thigh.
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Pressure Points Guide pdf <- Guide for thoracic outlet syndrome rehabilitation
- Lower your ribs - By lowering your ribs, you can get your shoulder blades to extend out and your neck to re-align. This exercise is incredible for my neck and shoulders. Go figure.
- https://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/adult_health/sma_thoracic_outlet_syndrome_exercises/ - Good summary on a single page.
Lower Back <- Lumbar and Pelvic exercises.
http://www.theracane.com/ <- Fixes the other stuff that stretching and strengthening can't fix. A rubber lacrosse ball inside a long sock or stocking can also work.
Foam Roller: Buy a meter long foam roller, GRID or PVC pipe from walmart or something; they are very effective at opening the chest muscles when laid down on vertically.
- One thing that is not mentioned in a lot of these videos is the importance of keeping your shoulders down and extended back; they tend to go up if you are streching the neck or back without noticing.
- Either sitting on your hand or, while standing, grabbing the back of your leg or buttock of the side you are working on is a good practice to pinning your shoulder in a better place when doing scalene and trapezius stretches. If you can, grabbing the underside of the chair from slightly behind you also works. Your shoulder should be going straight back and slightly down, not rotating inward (see: Proper body mechanics for shoulders).
- Next, make sure your lower back is straight by thrusting our your pelvis a bit and lowering your diaphragm, flexing your abdominal muscles and squeezing your lower buttocks muscles in a bit to stretch out the lower back.
- Finally, make sure your chin is tucked and straight during these exercises. You can do this by using your thumb to push your chin down and backwards firmly, but not hard. Once you feel your front muscles tense up a bit you know you are aligned.
- Juggling body mechanics with tucking your chin down and back, shoulders a bit back and downwards, your lower back straight and out forward and keeping that pose is very difficult for a beginner, so working against a wall for the first part is recommended.
Diet:
Keto Diet - If you suffer from celiac disease, allergies, asthma, cysts, skin tags, nasal polyps, COPD, chronic IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, rashes, ulcers, arthritis, or mental illness I highly recommend this diet. This has been a breakthrough for my physical and mental health after suffering for a decade from those ailments and is easy to adhere to. Chicken and spinach for life, yo. Email me if you want to trade keto recipes (got some good ones for paleo cookies and ice cream.) Keto diet isn't for everybody, so be sure to do your research about the health risks before committing to it.
Respiratory:
Anti-Combustion: As a medical-marijuana patient and former heavy cannabis joint smoker of 10 years: Please stop smoking cigarettes and cannabis joints and invest in a vaporizer or edibles! I ended up developing early COPD (adult-onset asthmatic type) from a combination of inflammatory health factors, enviromental exposure to pollen and mold, and cannabis combustion. Vaping is much healthier on your lungs, finances and general health. Edibles are even better but they often take up to four hours to work, which often times is too much of a lag for me to be medically beneficial.
I also recommend buying a water attachment or carbon filter to go with your vaporizer, as it cools the air and acts as a filter for particles and some of the carcinogens that might occur if you vape at temperatures > 200 C
- Vapenorth.ca <-Sneaky Pete has high quality service and sells both vaporizers and matching water tools. I recommend the Solo II with an Arizer bubbler attachment.
Vape tips <- Tips on using a dry herb vapourizer
Posture:
Half of our health problems are due to poor posture from sitting all day, being on the computer, and looking down at our phones. I suffer from chronic thoracic outlet syndrome and cervical radiculopathy for many years as a result of multiple car injuries, physical tearing of muscles from overuse, and poor posture over a very long period of time. *Everyone* who works at a computer should be doing posture exercises for at least half an hour a day. Stand up from your workstation every hour and walk around for 5-15 minutes.
Wall Angels, Neck Muscle Stretches & Scalene Stretch <- Best Single Exercise And Stretch combo for the neck. For the scalene stretch, make sure that you keep your shoulder down by either sitting on it or grabbing your back thigh.
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Pressure Points Guide pdf <- Guide for thoracic outlet syndrome rehabilitation
- Lower your ribs - By lowering your ribs, you can get your shoulder blades to extend out and your neck to re-align. This exercise is incredible for my neck and shoulders. Go figure.
- https://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/adult_health/sma_thoracic_outlet_syndrome_exercises/ - Good summary on a single page.
Lower Back <- Lumbar and Pelvic exercises.
http://www.theracane.com/ <- Fixes the other stuff that stretching and strengthening can't fix. A rubber lacrosse ball inside a long sock or stocking can also work.
Foam Roller: Buy a meter long foam roller, GRID or PVC pipe from walmart or something; they are very effective at opening the chest muscles when laid down on vertically.
- One thing that is not mentioned in a lot of these videos is the importance of keeping your shoulders down and extended back; they tend to go up if you are streching the neck or back without noticing.
- Either sitting on your hand or, while standing, grabbing the back of your leg or buttock of the side you are working on is a good practice to pinning your shoulder in a better place when doing scalene and trapezius stretches. If you can, grabbing the underside of the chair from slightly behind you also works. Your shoulder should be going straight back and slightly down, not rotating inward (see: Proper body mechanics for shoulders).
- Next, make sure your lower back is straight by thrusting our your pelvis a bit and lowering your diaphragm, flexing your abdominal muscles and squeezing your lower buttocks muscles in a bit to stretch out the lower back.
- Finally, make sure your chin is tucked and straight during these exercises. You can do this by using your thumb to push your chin down and backwards firmly, but not hard. Once you feel your front muscles tense up a bit you know you are aligned.
- Juggling body mechanics with tucking your chin down and back, shoulders a bit back and downwards, your lower back straight and out forward and keeping that pose is very difficult for a beginner, so working against a wall for the first part is recommended.
Diet:
Keto Diet - If you suffer from celiac disease, allergies, asthma, cysts, skin tags, nasal polyps, COPD, chronic IBS, rashes, ulcers, arthritis, or mental illness I highly recommend this diet. This has been a breakthrough for my physical and mental health after suffering for a decade from those ailments and is easy to adhere to. Chicken and spinach for life, yo. Email me if you want to trade keto recipes (got some good ones for paleo cookies and ice cream.) Keto diet isn't for everybody, so be sure to do your research about the health risks before committing to it.
Respiratory:
Anti-Combustion: As a medical-marijuana patient and former heavy cannabis joint smoker of 10 years: Please stop smoking cigarettes and cannabis joints and invest in a vaporizer or edibles! I ended up developing early COPD (asthma type) from a combination of inflammatory health factors and cannabis combustion. Vaping is much healthier on your lungs, finances and general health. Edibles are even better but they often take up to four hours to work, which often times is too much of a lag for me to be medically beneficial.
I also recommend buying a water attachment or carbon filter to go with your vaporizer, as it cools the air and acts as a filter for particles and some of the benzene carcinogens that might occur if you vape at temperatures > 200 C
- Vapenorth.ca <-Sneaky Pete has high quality service and sells both vaporizers and matching water tools. I recommend the Solo II with an Arizer bubbler attachment.
Vape tips <- Tips on using a dry herb vapourizer