Working Out Too Hard: Healthy or Health Hazard?

It’s the middle of the summer and if you don't already have your beach body, chances are you're making an effort to get fit fast. In an attempt to shed excess pounds, many people are hitting the gym hard. But here’s the real skinny on exercise: There is such a thing as overtraining. Yes, I said it.

Over doing it in your daily workout regime can leave you sore, more prone to injury and just downright exhausted – none of which are part of the goal. Besides the obvious, the goal of intense exercise should be to sustain energy, not lose it.

After too many bench presses or too many miles of running, muscle soreness is common due to excessive muscle damage and lactic acid build up. Lucky for you, I’m here to bring you ways of counteracting this.

1. Take Calcium lactate at least once a day
2. Take Magnesium lactate at least once a day
3. Stock up on that protein post workout. Whether it be in the form of soft boiled eggs or protein powder blended with bananas and blueberries to perfection, your body needs it.
4. Plenty of water
5. Icing down sore areas that feel strained or tired after a strenuous workout for approximately 20 minutes. Note: Remember never to put ice directly on the skin. Wrap ice in a thin towel.

All of the above are key players in helping muscles rebuild and combating soreness and fatigue.

Another two helpers of metabolizing lactic acid out of the muscles are Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) and the herb Schisandra. All of these can either be found at a local health food establishment or at www.standardprocess.com.

Want to learn more about how to offset life’s little indiscretions like this one? Want to know how to healthily neutralize the burden of drinking too much coffee and eating fast food? You can have all these answers and much more for only $6.95 all in my pocket-sized book called “Antidotes for Indiscretions.”

What’s better than the gift of health for family and friends? And doctors, I offer the option to buy these books in bulk if you’d like to sell them in your office with your own personalized labels attached.

Learn more by clicking here or sending questions to CharlesSeminars@gmail.com.

N.Y. Yankee player Andy Pettitte needs Professional Applied Kinesiology

Earlier this week, coffee in hand, I was reading the Wall Street Journal. To my surprise, I learned that Andy Pettitte is being put on the disabled list and is likely to be out for four to five weeks. And for what? A groin injury?  I see injuries similar to Pettitte’s on athletes all the time in my office. A groin injury is something that a Professional Applied Kinesiologist could fix and get Pettitte back on the field in approximately one week, if treated right away. 

Professional Applied Kinesiologists believe that a sprain/strain results from an awkward or over exerted movement, which in turn, excites the nerve endings (Golgi tendon organs) at the beginning and end of the muscle to "shut off" the muscle in an attempt to protect it from further harm. 

While Pettitte is bound to receive traditional methods of physical therapy (like electrical muscle stimulation, ice, massage and ultrasound), it’s important to realize that the muscle MUST be functioning properly BEFORE it could be strengthened through any form of physical therapy. Applied Kinesiology uses specific chiropractic techniques, muscle massage therapies, sports nutrition and exercises to get the muscle function working properly. If the muscle function is not restored prior to the more traditional methods of rehabilitation, the healing process will take much longer – like somewhere in the ballpark of three to six weeks, as in Pettitte’s case.  

If Pettitte visited a Professional Applied Kinesiologist, he could expect to receive a therapy known as origin/insertion technique, where the endings of the injured muscle(s) would be stimulated to restore normal function by diminishing the signals from the Golgi Tendon Organs. Pettitte could also expect to undergo what Professional Applied Kinesiologists call “speed healing.”  

Speed healing is the process of restoring the normal tone and function of the muscle so that traditional physical therapy treatments could work more effectively in rehabilitating and strengthening the injured muscle. Muscle strength alone will not do the job – it is with normalized muscle function that a Professional AK comes in to work in conjunction with a physical therapist, strength and conditioning coach and massage therapist. This is the reason similar injuries can lead one athlete to be restored to pre-injury status or can hamper an athlete for the rest of his career. Speed healing was developed specifically for this type of injury 46 years ago and has been used successfully on thousands of professional and amateur athletes worldwide. 

As mentioned, Applied Kinesiology would help Pettite restore normal muscle function so that his groin injury could be rehabilitated more effectively, but he would also need to implicate proper nutrition and vitamins into his lifestyle as a supplement. If I were treating Pettitte, I’d suggest he take the following: 

1. Raw calcium tablets, which contain the enzyme phosphatase to help the muscle heal
2. Gotu kola, an herb which has been shown to help muscles to recuperate
3. An enzyme solution to place on the area to be absorbed through the skin. This aids in decreasing the inflammation and muscle waste products.

Applied Kinesiology works with muscle function, like the gears of a car. Then, it can be exercised, like with a gas pedal. Electrical muscle stimulation, ice, massage and ultrasound are all good techniques and work well WITH Professional Applied Kinesiology (PAK). However, PAK  is very effective at specifying these general therapies to the individual person. The key is that Andy Pettitte would have to be treated RIGHT NOW with Professional Applied Kinesiology. If so, he could be back on the field in one week. If delayed, the injury will take a few days longer to heal for every week the muscle is not treated by a Professional Applied Kinesiologist.  

It’s been said that insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results. If the traditional course of physical therapy treatment is followed, the results will likely be similar to 2001 when Pettitte suffered a similar injury and had difficulty the remainder of the season. Because of this, there is a high probability that he will not regain the form he displayed over the first half of the season during 2010. But this does not have to be so if Professional Applied Kinesiology was performed in conjunction with the fine treatment he is currently receiving.

Five tips before hitting the beach

To tan, or not to tan? That is, very simply, the question. How much sun exposure is safe for your body is one of the most popular questions asked around summer time – especially during heat waves like the one we just had in New York.

It’s no surprise that many people feel better about themselves when they’re tan. Some people claim it builds their self-esteem and confidence, others say it makes them look thinner.

But on the other hand, it’s no secret that “sun worshipping” can be very dangerous.

In my pocket-sized book, "Antidotes for Indescretions," you can learn specific natural remedies to counteract the negative impact that some foods and lifestyle choices may cause us. In my book, I discuss natural remedies for things like sunburn,  greasy foods, cigarettes and excessive coffee drinking. Learn more about my book here: http://www.charlesseminars.com/producs.html

The most important thing to remember is that sun exposure is like a workout for your skin. Just like exercising is imperative to your overall health, Vitamin D from the sun is important as well. But just like you need to take adequate breaks from exercising so that you don’t fatigue your muscles, you must take breaks from the sun. Like many things in life, neither too much nor too little sun is a good thing.

Here are 5 helpful tips to remember for safe sun exposure:

1. Take your oils before and after sitting in the sun.

And no, I don’t mean sit there and lather on a full bottle of baby oil. The oils I’m talking about are the ones your skin produces naturally.

Sunlight is a powerful oxidizer that tends to pull calcium out of the skin and draw it into the bloodstream because of Vitamin D activation. But taking things like fish oil, flaxseed, black currant seed oil or olive oil before sun exposure will help keep the skin moisturized and pull the calcium back into the skin.

It is also helpful to take calcium lactate to ensure that you have enough calcium in your body for the oils to bring to the skin. And as an added benefit, taking calcium along with oils can prevent things like nasty cold sores.

2. Eat mushrooms before sun exposure.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, mushrooms may help protect your skin from the sun. Mushrooms contain the enzyme tryosinase, which converts the amino acid tryosine into melanin.  Melanin is what allows us to tan and protects the skin.  Melanin is the pigment that is secreted by melanocytes, a type of cell in your skin. The type, combination of types, and amount of melanin determines things like your hair color and your skin color, both naturally and with sun exposure

Melanin is the body's way of protecting skin from burning, so popping a few mushrooms in your salad the night before a big beach day might just help protect you from the sun’s dangerous rays.

3. Select the right sun screen.

Ultraviolet light from the sun comes in two main wavelengths: UVA and UVB.

UVB is what you want for healthy Vitamin D production. UVA, the deeper penetrating ray, is what causes premature aging and wrinkles. So, be sure to select the sunscreen that protects against UVA rays.

What most people don’t realize is that it takes about 15-20 minutes for sunscreen to start working. Because of this, it is important to apply sunscreen with some time to spare before sitting in the sun. Sunscreens are measured by SPF, or their “sun protection factor.” It is ideal to use a sunscreen with at least 15 SPF; 30 SPF if you’re fair-skinned.

The SPF rating gives you an estimate of how much longer you could stay in the sun without getting sunburned. If you typically burn after 20 minutes and you put on a sunscreen with an SPF of 15, this sunscreen may give you 15 times the protection. That's 15 times 20 minutes, or 300 minutes (5 hours), according to KidsHealth.org.

4. Take antioxidants after sun exposure.

Unprotected overexposure to ultraviolet light from the sun accounts for 90 percent of symptoms of premature skin aging, according to sources. That is because overexposure to the sun damages the moisture barrier in the epidermis layer, and damages collagen fibers in the dermis layer and leads to the accumulation of abnormal elastin. In turn, this may cause the formation of wrinkles and/or dark circles.

To prevent this, nourish your body with things like green tea, cruciferous vegetables, blueberries, grapes and bilberry to counteract the oxidizing and aging effects of the sun.

5. Drink plenty of water.

This one is probably the most obvious tip, yet the most ignored.

Keep hydrated BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER you’re in the sun. Whether you’ve been in the sun for 10-minutes or two-hours, the sun still causes your body to lose water by sweating. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink. By that time, you’ve already started to dehydrate.

Remember that the sun is strongest between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., so limit your time in the sun around that time. Also, remember to take breaks by reading a good book in the shade, or going indoors for air conditioning and food.

Happy and safe tanning!

-Dr. Charles

Doctors: Build your practice and increase your ability to heal your patients, Everyone else: Expand your knowledge on natural healing

Greetings Doctors, I hope you have all been enjoying the summer months and that those of you in New York have been keeping cool and hydrated.

I just wanted to remind everyone that my Applied Kinesiology 100-Hour Certification 8 Session Course is now available on DVD. Now you can learn the art of Applied Kinesiology at your leisure in your own home. With these professionally edited DVDs, you may rewind, skip ahead and review all at your own pace. It is all possible now that my DVDs have specifically labeled chapters.

Doctors: By learning Applied Kinesiology, you will increase your chances of permanently healing your patients. You will learn methodical ways to identify and narrow down problems within your patient, how to treat it and help the patient prevent it. Learn to heal through muscle testing and nutrition and give yourself a better opportunity to heal your patients.

Even if you're not a doctor and have never heard of Applied Kinesiology before, you can benefit from my DVDs. You will expand your knowledge on nutrition and lifestyle changes that you can benefit from. You may also learn why you're feeling certain symptoms, alternative options to your regular medications and why you may need to see a kinesiologist.

You can order the DVDs through my website by going to http://www.charlesseminars.com/producs.html

And to review the courses and topics that address everything from intestinal problems to carpal tunnel syndrome, click here.

As an added bonus, here is a sample clip from one of my DVDs:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zygmQjHEvQk]

Please don't hesitate to send questions, concerns and suggestions to charlesseminars@gmail.com

Enjoy your weekend!

Kinesiology explained by me

Here is a clip of me explaining to a room full of doctors what Applied Kinesiology is. I hope this serves as supplement to my last blog post. This clip was taken from the Applied Kinesiology 100-Hour Certification 8 Session Course which is now available on DVD. For more details, including prices and ordering information, click here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9deNzBOTUoQ

What is Applied Kinesiology?

You might be wondering - what is Applied Kinesiology? Maybe you stumbled on to this blog, or maybe you're interested in the topic and want to learn more. But whether you are a newbie or an expert, the basics never hurt. I'm glad that you want to learn. For now, let's boil it down.

Applied Kinesiology (AK) can be defined as the clinical application of the study of movement and function. It is a method used to diagnose illness or imbalance in the body by testing muscles for strength and weakness. With AK, muscles are tested as primary feedback mechanisms to examine how a person's body is functioning. AK may even indicate certain irregularities with a specific internal organ.

Practitioners of AK believe that any problem or imbalance with an organ is accompanied by weakness in a corresponding muscle. For example, a weak leg muscle may be caused by a lung problem. Nutrition has a lot to do with it. Certain foods or nutritional items, when chewed, stimulate the nerves in the mouth and may have an instantaneous effect on the corresponding muscle’s function. For instance, if the muscle clinically associated with the liver is weak and vitamin A is indicated for liver support, chewing vitamin A or a carrot may cause instant and drastic improvement of the muscle’s function. On the other hand, if a toxic chemical is causing a problem in the liver, a muscle associated with the liver will test poorly immediately after the substance is chewed or inhaled, as stated in an article written by Anthony L. Rosner and Scott C. Cuthbert.

Applied kinesiologists are often chiropractors, but they may also be naturopaths, doctors, nurses, or other health care workers. Kinesiologists observe patients’ posture, muscle strength and range of motion along with more traditional forms of diagnosis like medical history, a physical examination and/or laboratory tests.

During a typical treatment, the practitioner may press on key “trigger points” on a patient's body to find out if they cause a muscle weakness. Common trigger points include behind the neck and on the wrist. The patient may be asked to hold a body part in a certain position while the practitioner applies physical force or pressure in an attempt to push the patient out of that position. Such will prove muscle strength or weakness and aid the kinesiologists’ diagnosis of internal problems or illnesses as well as appropriate treatment.

In order to restore the muscle strength, practitioners may apply manual stimulation and relaxation techniques to key muscles. Other forms of treatment may also include a chiropractic adjustment, diet changes and reflex procedures.

AK was originated by George J. Goodheart, D.C. in 1964 and in 1976, the International College of Applied Kinesiology was founded to promote the research and education. The American Medical Association has accepted that AK is a reliable tool and advocates its use for the evaluation of disability impairments.

For more detailed information, click here. And don’t hesitate to email me any questions at charlesseminars@gmail.com.