What’s the deal with spinal curvature – does it matter?
What's the deal with spinal curvature? Can a Chiropractor correct it? Does it matter? Is correcting it a meaningful correction? These are some of the questions that we have to consider. Here's the idea: The idea is that we see a process of degeneration in the...
Review of Movement Matters
A review of Movement Matters, author Katy Bowman. Often, we read something and think, “that was pretty good,” and we take away a few pearls that may or may not make much of a difference in our life, overall. This isn’t that kind of a...
What is alternative medicine
What is alternative medicine What is it really? Something without scientific validation AND something that no one outside of that particular field believes in. Perceptually, alternative medicine is often viewed as essentially being anything that is different...
What Does a Healthy, Pain-Free, Neck and Back Need?
Turns out, all healthy backs basically need the same thing. They need to have muscles with enough endurance to provide support to the spine. They need to be able to get into optimal positions and sustain them. They need to have the joints above...
The Thing About Posture You Probably Don’t Know
The thing about posture is that it takes effort. No one has good posture accidentally. Naturally, we will all default to hanging "passively" on our joints and ligaments, and this has a strong propensity to lead to pain and discomfort. This also tends to...
My Top 10 Tips for Losing Fat and Eating Healthier
1) If you don’t think you should eat it or are trying not to – don’t buy it! This is tougher if you have kids but the concept here is to set up a barrier - the best one being to keep it out of your house. If you know there aren’t any cookies in the...
Two Different Chiropractic Approaches to Back Pain and Disc Herniation
You might think that there is some kind of standard of care when you go to a doctor. For the most part, there's not. Doctors within the same specialty can vary significantly and often there are many different treatment options available for the exact same...
Learn to Run
If you're going to run, then it's a good idea to take the time and effort to do it well. Just because you CAN run doesn’t mean you know HOW to run. And just because you can run fast or far in a decent time also doesn’t mean you know HOW to run...
My Personal Neck and Upper Back Pain Experience
-Does you neck and upper back seem to be a constant annoyance? -Do you have tight and sore spots that never seem to go away? -Does your range of motion seem limited? -Does your neck sometimes go into spasm and "lock down"? -Are you worried that you're going to have to...
7 Things I learned in 2013
Reflecting on the past year and some of the things I learned. Whatever you are, be a good one. - Abraham Lincoln 1. Learning takes place much more rapidly when you have to teach or perform. This is one of those things that seems...
Moderating the Knees In vs Knees Out Squat Debate
This post is a link to a post that I wrote for BreakingMuscle.com - discussing the current debate on knee movement and positioning in squatting patterns in relation to performance and injury prevention. Hint: It's not about the knees - it was...
My Personal Low Back Pain Experience
Most of us will experience Low Back Pain It is commonly stated statistically that Low Back Pain (LBP) affects at least 80%of us some time in our lives, perhaps 20-30% of us at any given time. It is the fifth most common reason for all physician...
Do You Have a Short Leg? Does it Matter?
Why I stopped using short leg checks and a better way! Are you being treated or have you been treated for a short leg that is potentially a factor in your low back or hip pain? If you haven’t, that’s most likely a good thing. Leg checks...
How to Find a Good Chiropractor
10 Ways to Know Who's Good and Who's Not. Every profession has those who are good, those who are not, and then everybody in-between. I'm sure you can likely think of how this is true in your own profession. For outsiders, it can...
Glute Bridges And Hip Thrusts For Back Pain Relief
This blog post is is actually a link to a guest post that I wrote for Bret Contreras' website. Bret is one of the leaders and innovators when it comes to hip and glute strengthening for performance and aesthetics. Click the link below to learn...
10 Things I learned in 2012
The difficult thing about putting a list like this together is that I will inevitably look back at this in the future and realize its shortcomings or errors. This seems to happen as you go through life and keep learning. Nonetheless, I...
How To Control Your Cravings and Lose Fat
With New Years Resolutions fresh on many people's minds, I thought this was a pertinent topic to address. “If only it were a little easier to control my cravings, I could eat healthier and lose some of this excess weight.” I’m a big believer that...
Quick Low Back Pain Fix
Try this simple technique to reduce your low back and hip pain and spare your lumbar spine and hips. The technique is to brace your core when doing specific movements. The best way I know to CUE this is to imagine that someone is about to...
Shoulder Pain and Impingement, part 2
Keeping a neutral spine and not arching the lower back, you should be able to bring your upper arm past your ears. Keep your arms straight and your hands close together. Notice the lack of full flexion in the first picture and the...
Shoulder Pain and Impingement, part 1
I’ve been dealing with my own shoulder impingement issues lately as well as working with a couple of patients which has motivated me to learn more about shoulder pain and shoulder health. And since shoulder pain is so common... "Shoulder pain is highly prevalent...
Structure vs Function
Do you really need those X-Rays? Evidence suggests NOT. There are many differences between how clinicians approach spinal treatment and/or pain. Some approach generally from a structural model, pointing out misalignments on x-rays and indicating...
Moving Well
Movement is a full body endeavor. Somewhere along the way, most of us lose our ability to move well much too soon. Our current state of general thinking on exercise however, likes to break movement into individual parts. We go to the gym to work...
Chiropractic and Low Back Pain
It’s true. Chiropractic is most notoriously associated with low back pain. Many chiropractors somewhat resent this stereotype because we can treat so much more. Low back disc surgery is the third most common surgery in America. LBP is the...
Chiropractic and Pain Control
Treating pain, in my opinion, is a high calling. Not that it makes for a better profession, I just think it is an important undertaking. I specify this notion because sometimes chiropractors downplay pain and act like they are called to...