Self Myofascial Release Workshop with Dr. Brett Coapland

While many of us know and understand the benefits of mobility work and stretching for injury prevention and tissue quality, there is more to the equation. Stretching involves tissue length, while therapies such as massage and ART promote tissue quality by affecting and releasing tension.

In this workshop, you’ll learn more about your anatomy and how to do simple, therapeutic exercises and stretches that facilitate myofascial release in your body. Myofascial Release is the gentle application of pressure on muscles that have fascial tissue trigger points or “knots” in them. You’ll use foam rollers and massage balls to reduce muscle tension and to help break your pain cycle. The foam roller is one of the most effective, all-around self-maintenance tools for releasing chronic tension on bones, muscles, joints and nerves. You’ll feel its effectiveness from the first time you use it!

• Release Tension & Prevent Injuries
• Organize Musculature & Align Skeletal System
• Bring blood flow to connective tissue
• Give yourself an effective massage

Dr. Brett Coapland is the founder & director of Performance Health Spine & Sport Therapy in Concord. He is a licensed chiropractor, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and certified Active Release Techniques® provider.

INSTRUCTORS: Brett Coapland & Dean Carlson
DATE: Tuesday February 22, 2011
TIME: 7:00 – 8:30pm
PLACE: Get Fit NH Bootcamp Concord 287 South Main St. Concord NH 03301
COST: $35 (Workshop fee includes Foam Roller & Massage Ball)

This clinic will be limited to 25 participants. First come, first serve, so fill out the form below to send your registration in today. After registration you will be redirected to the payment page. If you have any question please call us at (603) 344-2651 or Contact Us Here.

Registrations must be in by Saturday, February 12th, so don’t delay!

Thank-you!

The Pharmacy Inside You – How Much Does THAT Cost?

As coaches we have heard it a thousand times… “Eating Healthy Is Expensive!”

I would suggest it is a matter of perspective. You see most of us tend to be very “short term” in our thinking, and perhaps our focus can be narrower than it could be.

We go to the grocery store, we make our purchases, we see the bill, and we marvel at how expensive it can be to “eat”.

But what else is in that cart, and why?

Nancy and I were talking about this very subject, and she brought up something I hadn’t thought of (smart lady, that Nancy)

What don’t we buy now that we are healthier?

It’s a fact – the human body does not work very well when we are feeding it pizza, cheesburgers, sugar, saturated fat, cereal, bread and pasta. It really doesn’t know what to do all that highly processed food you are jamming into it – pretty much anything from a box or a bag. Chemicals, fillers, preservatives and artificial coloring are, well, artificial to your body, and it reacts in some pretty nasty ways. Even a lot of the “healthy choices”  we think we are making can elicit a pretty nasty response. If you have ever eaten a low-carb “nutrition” bar sweetened with a truck load of sugar alcohols, you know what I am talking about.

You should feel good after you eat, and I am not just talking about Moose Tracks ice cream making you happy.

Here’s the rub – when it doesn’t feel good, we medicate it – sometimes with over the counter meds, and sometimes with prescriptions. We cover up the symptoms, when in reality the majority of the time it is our nutritional habits that are causing them! You weren’t born with a Prilosec deficiency – you earned that one all by yourself!

So back to what we don’t buy now that we base our nutrition on protein, produce and water:

• Pepto Bismol
• Mylanta
• Lactaid
• Tums
• Metameucil
• The Tylenol bottle in the cupboard had an expiration date in 2007 – oops! Guess we don’t use as much of that anymore either.

When I was 270+ pounds, those things went in the grocery cart all the time. How much does that eat into the “grocery budget”?

Take it one step further:

How much is your monthly cost for blood pressure and diabetes meds? We have had clients who take 7 or 8 different types of medications  (that ain’t cheap) that are now saving hundreds of dollars because they don’t need them anymore, and can now apply that cash to the grocery budget. Or how about the allergy meds that might be avoided if we would stop eating pro-inflammatory foods, or maybe get off some of the most common foods people are allergic to, like some dairy and wheat? It’s your choice!

So Now Is The Time To Take Action – What’s two items you can remove from the grocery cart so you can put something healthier in?

Let’s hear your thoughts, and then let’s…

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean

Die Earlier, Be Fatter, and Stink at Your Job…

…is what will happen without proper sleep, according to Zeo, the makers of a “sleep coach”.

Not sure what resident expert Dr. David Picard would say about the “sleep coach”, but check out this article and infographic of the negative effects of too little (or too much) sleep.

It’s enough to keep you awake at night!

Click Here To Read The Article…

Don’t Dabble with Diabetes

No Fun!

Diabetes is a deadly but often (maybe even usually) preventable disease. Some things about diabetes you may not know:

• There are over 246 million people worldwide with diabetes. Imagine ALMOST EVERYONE in the United States with this disease – that’s how many people.

• Every 10 seconds 2 people develop diabetes, and 2 more die of the disease.

• Approximately 80% of Type II diabetes is related to being overweight or obese.

The good news is that diabetes can be prevented, controlled, and even reversed with the proper care and nutritional practices. What are some steps you can take today?

• Eat more vegetables.

• Exercise 3-5 days per week

• Eat whole foods. If it comes in a box, don’t eat it.

Put them into daily practice!

Get your weight under control, eat optimally for health, and get regular exercise – Diabetes is a Disease you Don’t want to Dabble with!

To your best health,

Coach Nancy

More Coffee?

“I am so tired. I need to stop drinking coffee.”

“No, what you need is more coffee!”

This was a brief conversation I heard the other day.

I don’t think any one would argue that coffee contains caffeine. And few will argue the fact that caffeine is a drug that is addictive. The conversation I heard is a common one. One person realizes they are getting hooked on a type of food and try to break that physical and or psychological connection. While they are reaping the side effects of that food a well-intentioned friend suggest more of the food instead, because “It’s not going to hurt you.”

Lets quickly look at coffee/caffeine and just a few the effects it has on the body.

• Coffee has an irritating effect on gastric mucosa and can lead to development of ulcers.

• People that are heavy coffee drinkers may develop vitamin b1 insufficiency.

• Caffeine interacts with absorption of some nutrients in the small intestines.

• Caffeine is a central nervous system and metabolic stimulant, and is used both recreationally and medically to reduce physical fatigue and restore mental alertness when unusual weakness or drowsiness occurs.

Now the next time you meet someone who is trying to block a physical or mental connection with food in order to improve their health, don’t sabotage their efforts. Help them through the withdrawal period. For coffee drinkers they might be experiencing headaches, fatigue, irritability, an inability to concentrate, and stomach aches. These symptoms may appear within 12 to 24 hours after discontinuation of caffeine intake, peak at roughly 48 hours, and usually last from one to five days.

Think in terms of drug addiction when you are going to stop consuming coffee or run into someone who has. They need help not to digress into the habit, not encouragement to return to their habit. They are asking for help  because it is a rough process to stop one thing and start something new.

I like coffee. I love the smell even more than the taste. I drink an occasional cup of the hot stuff and enjoy an ice coffee during the summer. I have also experienced first hand the side effects when I stopped drinking coffee. Dean and I RARELY drink more than one cup of caffeinated coffee per day, and some days we don’t drink any. Be careful with any dependency, even the “legal” ones.

I don’t think anyone would tell someone who is trying to quit smoking to start up again just because the with drawl process is rough,  so why would we recommend coffee to someone who wants to quit?

To your best health,

Coach Nancy

I Have A Beef With This Beef

So I was shopping the other day……

I often stop at The Healthy Buffalo to pick up venison and buffalo, but I thought I would check out what the local grocery store had for healthy meats. I found a great selection of wild caught seafood at Market Basket. It was there that I found a new label. I was perusing the meat isle trying to find if they had free range beef.

I found a fascinating label instead. It read “Only Vegetarian Fed”.

This label was on a package of beef, and the label proudly proclaimed the benefits of (and charging extra for) making sure this cow was only fed vegetables.

Is this some incredible new development? Are we heralding the dawn of better beef?

Not so much.

This product was what food companies used to (and some still do) call “corn fed beef”, which was supposed to be the best possible beef on the planet. Richly marbled, tender and flavorful.

Here’s the rub – cows don’t eat corn, or at least they weren’t designed to eat corn.

Cows are herbivores – grass eaters, and when you feed them corn, all sorts of nasty things happen. As in – corn makes cows sick.

And that is turning out to be a bit of a PR problem for beef growers, at least in some circles.

Documentaries such as “Food, Inc.”, and books such as Michael Pollans “In Defense of Food” have revealed the costs – to the environment, the farmer, and the consumer – of feeding cattle an unnatural diet.

As vegetarian diets grows in popularity (not with me, but with many), it is only logical that we start seeing labels such as “Only Vegetarian Fed” start popping up.

While it may seem like a small thing to some, there is a big difference between “Only Vegetarian Fed” and “Grass Fed” beef.

Vegetarian fed beef is not the same as grass fed. Corn and Soy are vegetarian feeds, and very common in most beef production. Most organic and natural beef are finished with grain, so it’s important not to confuse these two types with grass fed.

In fact for a product to say grass fed it has to meet specific criteria.

Grass fed beef definition (USDA): grass and/or forage shall be the feed source consumed for the lifetime of the ruminant animal, with the exception of milk consumed prior to weaning. The diet shall be derived solely from forage and animals cannot be fed grain or grain by-products and must have continuous access to pasture during the growing season.

So what’s the big whoop, why is grass fed a better beef?

• Less calories: A 6oz steak from a grass fed cow has almost 100 fewer calories than a 6oz steak from grain fed cattle.
• More healthy EFA’s: Science suggests that people with a diet that has an Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio of over 4:1 have more health problems. Grain fed beef can have ratios that exceed 20:1, while grass fed is around 3:1.
• More CLA: Conjugated Lineolic Acid is thought to be a potent cancer fighter.
• More Vitamins A & E: Up to 400% more then grain fed.

Pretty powerful reasons to get some grass fed in your diet.

Getting back to the labels, there were three I noticed that day.

• The regular label without any special considerations.
• A label that said no antibiotics or growth hormones – better than the first, but still corn and soy fed, and more expensive.
• Finally the most expensive label said no antibiotics, no growth hormones, and only vegetarian fed.

Here’s my ideal label (which doesn’t exist yet):

No antibiotics, no growth hormones, and grass fed

Maybe someday…

Is grass fed more expensive? No doubt about it, pound for pound off the shelf it is.

But don’t be “all or nothing”. Start by using grass fed for one meal a week, and build from there. Realistically most of us eat too much beef (and too many calories) anyway, so if the cost considerations cause us to cut back a little, that’s probably not a bad thing.

Here’s to reading (and understanding labels) and making better choices everyday!

Coach Nancy

7 Simple Steps for Snoozing

The perfect night’s sleep is everyone’s dream, but few actually achieve it on a regular basis. These simple steps could be the key to your perfect night’s sleep.

1. A bedtime ritual is key to winding down. Get in the habit of doing the same activities 30 minutes before you climb into bed.  A warm bath touched with a few drops of lavender oil in the water will enhance your relaxation.  Also try to avoid stressful stimulation from the evening news or violent movies, instead listen to soothing music.

2. Avoid stimulants, stay away from tobacco, caffeine, alcohol, and sugar, particularly in the afternoon and evening.  Don’t eat anything two hours before bedtime unless you need a protein snack to deal with a low blood–sugar problem.

3. Sleepy time snacks. There’s a reason everyone wants to take a nap after that big Thanksgiving meal. Turkey is loaded with the amino acid tryptophan that manufactures serotonin, which is crucial for sleep. Tryptophan is also abundant in fish, dairy, eggs, bananas, figs, pineapples, nut butter, and tuna—all good foods to eat.

4. Vitamins B complex helps in the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, so a good vitamin B supplement along with at least 200 mg of vitamin C is sleep insurance. A calcium/magnesium supplement can also be effective for relaxing tense muscles.

5. A dose of helpful herbs can be found in a cup of chamomile tea. This hot tea is a soothing way to end the day. It has a tranquilizing effect, induces sleep, and improves sleep quality.

6. Expend energy through a long walk,  a bike ride, working out at Get Fit NH Bootcamp with all the great 6 PMers— all produce endorphins. (The exercise does that not the 6 PMers LOL) The endorphins help ease depression and improve sleep. But observe the two-hour rule by stopping physical activity at least two hours before bedtime.

7. Make your bedroom a quiet place. Keep the room dark and cool. Remove the TV, computer, and even the clock if these items make you restless. A comfortable bed and pillow are going to be key items if you want to sleep well.

Relax—you’ve earned it. You’ll be just a nod away from sweet dreams.

Coach Nancy

Getting it all Balanced out: A Natural Approach to Hormone Balance and Testing

By Dr. Laura Riley Jones

Hormones are powerful molecules essential for maintaining physical and mental health.  Steroid  hormones support a wide range of essential physiological functions, including blood lipid balance, bone mineral density, fertility, sexuality, a general sense of well being, as well as certain aspects of brain functioning. We frequently think of estrogen as being a female hormone, and testosterone as being a male hormone. But men AND women make both, plus several more that need to be in balance for optimum health. An imbalance of any one hormone can throw your physical and mental health out of balance, causing aggravating and even serious health problems.

For decades western medicine has prescribed Hormone Replacement Therapy as if everyone needed the same hormones and the same amount of each. Unfortunately, this method does not take into account the fact that one size does not fit all when it comes to hormones. Your hormones are like your fingerprints and in order to achieve optimal health, you need to know what your specific imbalances are.

There are several ways to test for hormones (saliva, serum and urine), however, a continually growing sea of reseach is demonstrating that salivary results most closely correlate with a person’s true levels and symptoms. This is because only the active portions of hormones are measured and it is these portions that determine how individuals feel. Because salivary collection can be done at home, timing of the test can be precisely controlled and levels can be determined at optimum times.  Saliva testing provides a means to establish whether or not your hormone levels are within the expected normal range and it is simple and non-invasive.

Dr. Riley feels salivary hormone testing has great benefits and  treats many patients, both male and female in order to restore hormone balance.  Her preferred methods of treatment include adrenal support, phytoestrogen therapy and bio-identical hormone therapy.  The severity of problems caused by the use of synthetic hormones led to a landmark decision in 2002 by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a long term health study of postmenopaual women. After discovering that instances of breast cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis increased with the use of medroxy progesterone and pregnant mare’s urine conjugated estrogens, research was halted. Bioidentical hormones were brought into the spotlight after women sought a safe alternative for synthetic hormone replacement therapy.

The difference between bioidentical and synthetic hormones starts at the molecular level. Bioidentical hormones have the same chemical structure as hormones made by the human body, and can replicate the actions of those made naturally. Side effects and risk factors are minimized when your body recognizes its own molecular structure, fills its receptor cites efficiently, and can utilize, break down, and detoxify hormones effectively. Bioidentical hormones can be tailored to match each individual’s needs by a compounding pharmacist. Synthetic hormones, on the other hand, have an altered molecular structure that the body does not recognize completely, thus their actions are not straightforward and they are not detoxified from the body as easily. Side effects are more common with these types of hormones because they are foreign to the body.

One common condition often identified as a result of salivary testing is Estrogen Dominance.  The term “Estrogen Dominance” can be confusing at times because it is less related to the amount of circulating estrogen and more related to the ratio of estrogen to progesterone in the body. Contrary to popular belief, Menopause and PMS are not the result of estrogen deficiency although estrogen levels do decline during the latter phases of a woman reproductive cycle.

More relevant is that the estrogen levels drop by approximately 40% at menopause while progesterone levels plummet by approximately 90% from premenopausal levels. It is the relative loss of progesterone that causes the majority of symptoms termed estrogen dominance. The disproportionate loss of progesterone begins in the latter stages of a woman’s reproductive cycle, when the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle begins to malfunction. The malfunction is initiated when the remnant tissue of the follicle (corpus luteum), the primary source of progesterone, begins to lose its functional capacity. By about age 35, many of these follicles fail to develop creating a relative progesterone deficiency. As a result, ovulation does not always occur and progesterone levels steadily decline. It is during this period that a relative progesterone deficiency, or what has become known as Estrogen Dominance, develops.

Typical symptoms of estrogen dominance are:
Mood Swings
Irritability
Depression
Irregular Periods
Heavy Menstrual Bleeding
Hot Flashes
Vaginal Dryness
Water Retention
Weight Gain: Hips, Thighs and Abdo  men
Sleep Disturbance (Insomnia, less REM sleep)
Decreased Libido
Headaches
Fatigue
Short-term Memory Loss
Lack of Concentration
Dry, Thin, Wrinkly Skin
Thinning of Scalp Hair
Increased Facial Hair
Bone Mineral Loss (Osteoporosis)
Diffuse Aches and Pain

For more information on Salivary Hormone Testing and the use of phytoestrogens or Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement therapy, contact Whole Health Concord at (603) 369-4626 for a free 15 minute consultation with Dr. Jones.

I’m Fit, Right?

What does it mean to “Be Fit”?

To assess “being fit” we view overall health as three legs of the same stool; Health Markers, Fitness Performance Markers and Body Composition Markers. Without each of those being taken into consideration, overall health and fitness is compromised. Two legged stools are pretty hard to sit on!

For instance we have seen members in the first responder community who can pass a base line fitness test which is all about numbers, but who are overweight, have high blood pressure and cholesterol levels out the roof. They could hardly be considered fit. Not picking on first responders, as many of us are in the same boat. Just saying there is more to it than “passing the test”.

At Get Fit NH Bootcamp we also perform a physical fitness test, but this is not a test you can fail. During a one minute time frame each client will do a certain exercise to the best of their ability. We do this with five different exercises in order to get a good judge of overall physical fitness abilities. (Some might be great at squats but have a difficult time with push ups, so one exercise will not be an overall judge) We repeat this test every four to six weeks, with the goal being to see improvement.

This improvement might come in way of the amount of the exercises being done or how they are done. But in real life most will not give two hoots how many pushups and situps they can do or how fast they can run, but they will care that they are improving.

We use these tests to demonstrate the efficacy of the program as well as show our members how much their hard work is paying off. If you have a women who could do no pushups the first time around but 8 weeks later can do 5 rock solid pushups, that is more important than being able to push an arbitrary number just to pass a test. We can then set goals for the next phase of training.

But fitness tests are just one leg of the stool. We also need to consider health markers such as blood pressure and cholesterol. It is more critical from a health standpoint for these numbers to be in line, as they are predictors of health challenges such as diabetes and heart disease.

Here are the baselines we use.

Blood Pressure: <120/80

Cholesterol:
Recommended Total: <200 mg/dl
Recommended LDL: <100 mg/dl
Recommended HDL: >50 mg/dl
Fasting Blood Glucose: <100 mg/dl

Triglycerides: Recommended: <150 mg/dl

Finally Body Composition Markers. We need to know a bit about how our body is put together- The ratio of our lean body mass to fat percentage. An easy way you can do this at home is with a quick trip around our middle.

Waist Circumference:
Women: <35″
Men: <40″

So don’t just look at one set of numbers. When we are looking for accurate predictors of overall health, all these factors should be considered. 

So what do you think now? Do you know all your “numbers”?

Do they tell you that you are “Fit”?

To your overall health,
Nancy and Dean

Is Your Thyroid To Blame?

Hypothyroidism: Is a Sluggish Thyroid Affecting your Weight and Energy?

by Dr. Laura Riley Jones, Naturopathic Doctor

Hypothyroidism is the result of inadequate cellular thyroid hormone production to meet the needs of the tissues in the body.  The most common symptoms of Hypothyroidism include fatigue, weight gain, depression, constipation, cold extremities, muscle aches, headaches, decreased libido, weakness, cold intolerance, water retention, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and dry skin.  Though controversial amongst medical practitioners, the diagnosis of Hypothyroidism is often missed by standard thyroid testing which typically looks solely at Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels.

Known as the most sensitive marker of peripheral tissue thyroid levels, it is often assumed that a normal TSH is a clear indication that a patient’s tissue thyroid levels are adequate (symptoms are not due to Hypothyroidism). A closer look at thyroid physiology demonstrates that the widely held belief that the TSH is an accurate marker of the body’s overall thyroid status is clearly erroneous.  Most Endocrinology texts clearly state that the diagnosis of Hypothyroidism should be made based on clinical symptoms and lab values should be used to only support, not dictate this diagnosis.

TSH is synthesized and secreted by your pituitary gland.  It acts as a mes¬sen¬ger sent to knock on the door of the thyroid. It’s purpose is to tell the thyroid to produce more or less T4, the inactive thyroid hormone.  T4 is sent out to the peripheral tissues where, in a healthy individual, it is converted to active, working thyroid hormone.  This active form of thyroid hormone is called T3.

In a patient with Hypothyroidism, the thyroid gland becomes diseased or fails to produce enough T4.   As a result, the TSH knocks and knocks on the door, and theoretically, the TSH lab will show a high number. Or, if the thyroid gland overproduces thyroid hormones (called hyperthyroid), the TSH lab will theoretically go low to show that the TSH signal to slow down thyroid hormone production is not working adequately.

It has been my experience, that to clearly rule out the diagnosis of Hypothyroidism in a patient with multiple corresponding symptoms, a full thyroid panel must be ordered.  This includes a TSH, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3 and at times, T3 uptake.  It is important to understand that many patients experience Hypothyroid related symptoms even though their TSH and Free T4 levels look perfect.  Unfortunately, their bodies may have a problem converting inactive thyroid hormone, T4, to active thyroid hormone, T3.  If only the TSH was examined on laboratory study, then the diagnosis could be missed as T4 levels (not T3 levels) dictate TSH.  For this reason, it is important to take symptoms into consideration at all times, recognizing that “normal” TSH, T4 and T3 levels as indicated by laboratories may not be “normal” for every individual.  Not all of us fit into the one size fits all approach to thyroid hormone levels. This is why so many patients are walking around with symptoms related to poor thyroid health, not being treated with the appropriate medical care.

A well-rounded approach to both thyroid diagnosis and Hypothyroidism treatment is critical.  Often times, thyroid hormone replacement therapy is a necessary part of treatment for Hypothyroidism.  Of course, an appropriate exercise routine and a proper diet has the power to make a profound positive impact on thyroid function.  A Naturopathic approach to thyroid disease involves both of the above, along with the potential addition of hormone replacement, and/or clinically studied mineral or herbal medicine recommendations to support healthy thyroid function.

Dr. Riley-Jones can be reached at at (603) 369-4626 or visit her online at http://www.naturalmedicinenh.com