PROS: The days of doing endless bicep curls and sit-ups are over. Those types of exercises relied on isolating specific muscles, one-by-one, and working them separately. Our bodies don’t work this way. There never is a situation in real life where we need to use just one muscle completely isolated from the rest of the body. So, why should we train that way? We shouldn’t, and these new types of workouts support just that. They train multiple muscles, and take us through complex full body movements more similar to what we encounter in daily life.

The days of running at the same speed on a treadmill for hours on end are over as well. Research has shown workouts that incorporate a higher intensity workout for a smaller duration of time are more effective for building lean muscle mass and dropping fat mass. These new exercise systems use this to their advantage. Cross-Fit, for example, has some workouts that only last 10 minutes, but you’re pushing your body very hard for that time.

CONS: Here at the center we’re seeing an increase in the casualties of a Cross-Fit or boot camp workout gone bad. In a group or non-supervised setting, it’s easy for someone who is not doing exercises correctly to go unnoticed. This, coupled with exercising to total fatigue, can result in poor biomechanics, which leads to injuries. A common example is hurting hips, knees or ankles from doing incorrect squats. A squat is a very complex movement that many people can’t perform correctly their first workout. These people should be doing easier exercises on the floor that eventually build them into a proper squatting pattern. There is a saying that says, “First move well, and then move often.” With many of these types of systems, the focus is more on how many reps you can perform rather than how well you can do the movements.

The Take Home: These new systems are very progressive with their incorporation of the latest research in exercise physiology. There are precautions that need to be taken before starting a program to avoid injury. Proper build-up work needs to be done prior to doing the high intensity, complex movements. At AWC, the rehab department does movement screens to pre-screen for potential weaknesses and injury. Addressing these problems before they become painful will result in saved time down the line.

Paul Fuhrman, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic

Healing Tip of the Week
If you’re contemplating starting one of these workouts (or already have), and noticed pain, come into the Advanced Wellness Center for a Free Movement Screen performed by myself. This offer is good until the end of November 2011.

Symptoms: Major anxiety episodes resulted from the side effects of sulfa poisoning. Patient was already stressed due to demands of being a stay-at-home mom.

Treatment: Alpha-Stim, as needed. After first 20-minute treatment, symptoms decreased immediately. Thus, the increase in neurotransmitters (serotonin and nor epinephrine) increased with the alpha wave passing through the brain and nervous system.

Note from patient in office: “The Alpha-Stim has been a miracle for me!”

The Alpha-Stim® SCS empowers you to control your anxiety, depression, and/or insomnia. Used just 20 to 60 minutes every day, every other day, or on an as-needed basis, it can help induce a relaxed state and enable the user to focus attention on the task at hand. The Alpha-Stim® SCS is well tolerated and very safe in contrast to drugs, many of which have been proven to have undesirable side effects and can be addictive. The Alpha-Stim® SCS leaves the mind alert. The person undergoing CES treatment will often report a pleasant, relaxed feeling of well-being. Anxiety reduction is usually experienced during treatment, but may be seen hours later, or even the day after treatment. Depression and insomnia control is generally experienced after one to two weeks of daily treatment.

Bryan Ales, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic

Healing Tip of the Week
If you’re experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety and/or insomnia, try the Alpha-Stim. It may help you avoid taking medications, which can result in undesirable side effects.

Your gut hosts upwards of 100 trillion bacteria, yeast and other microbes with over 500 strains of the microflora. There are only about 75 trillion of your own cells in the human body.

Take a moment to let that sink in. There is an entire living ecosystem within your body that has a population greater than yourself! Much like our own planet’s ecosystem, the gut’s ecosystem works in a very balanced and symbiotic manner if left unfettered. In fact, these organisms are vital in affecting blood-sugar balance, cholesterol metabolism, making vitamins and many other functions. And, between 50-75% of your body’s immune system is associated with your gut.

Most Americans do not have a healthy gut. The 2^nd and 5^th most prescribed medications in 2008 were the heartburn drugs Nexium and Prevacid.

There are many reasons why you may be having gut issues. These can include food allergies, abnormal amounts of certain bacteria, parasites, antibiotic use, low amounts of acid or enzymes, or damage caused by many factors. Gut health is crucial for overall health. If your body is unable to digest and absorb the nutrients in your food, your whole body suffers. Taking an antacid for your heartburn or a laxative, unfortunately, doesn’t fix the underlying causes.

Paul Fuhrman, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic

Healing Tip of the Week
Try making homemade sauerkraut (fermented cabbage). Cabbage, which is the starting material for sauerkraut, is high in glutamine, which is essential for gut repair. Homemade sauerkraut also contains large amounts of bacteria known to be good for gut health. Not to mention it tastes great on a bratwurst!

There are 26 bones in your foot with 33 ligaments. We have caused problems with our feet over the years by wearing unsupportive shoes, shoes that are too small for our feet and worn out shoes. We wear out the shoes because of the way we walk, not necessarily a perfect gait pattern, and our weight. Those poor feet!

I believe if you are athletic and wear your shoes daily for running and/or working out, they need to be replaced within 6 months. If you work on your feet and wear the same shoes every day, you probably need to replace those shoes in 6 months. If you start to get ankle, knee or lower leg problems, try changing your shoes.

If your shoes are too soft and comfortable, they are not helping your feet and your body. You need support and stability. I know from experience, that if you try replacing your shoes, you will have fewer aches and pains, and your back will thank you too.

Have you had this experience too?

Barbara Shur, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic

Healing Tip of the Week
Are your feet hurting? Is your back hurting? If so, ask yourself when you bought those shoes you wear all the time. If it was longer than 6 months, replace your shoes. You may find your feet and back feel better fast!

Overall, 60 percent of patients who received chiropractic care benefited to the same degree as those who underwent surgery. Further the 40 percent who could not be helped by chiropractic care, did go on to benefit to the same degree from the subsequent surgery as those who underwent surgery initially. “There was no detrimental effect cause by delaying their surgical treatment.”

The medical researchers concluded “our research supports spinal manipulation performed by a doctor of chiropractic is a valuable and safe treatment option for those experiencing symptomatic lumber disk herniation, failing traditional medical management. These individuals should consider spinal manipulation as a primary treatment, followed by surgery if unsuccessful.”

Separate studies that I’ve reviewed have additionally proven that cold laser, traction, core rehabilitation, and acupuncture are also effective in treating disk herniations. The Advanced Wellness Center uniquely provides expertise in, and can combine for even greater efficacy, all of these treatments, thus providing our patients the best possible results in overcoming the agony of many debilitating conditions such as disk herniation and sciatica. I’ve personally experienced this very condition and am thankful to the doctors of the Advanced Wellness Center for helping me to overcome it.

Dr. Mark deDubovay, DC, CTN

Healthy Tip: Always consider alternative medicine options first, as many of our patients do. Tell your friends that each and every one of our practitioners offers complementary consultations. During these appointments, all questions can be thoughtfully answered and appropriate care

However, most exercise experts now agree that this type of stretching should be saved for after your workout. When performing stretches that involve long holding times and no movement, also known as static stretches, you are actually temporarily weakening the muscles that you’re stretching. This isn’t good if you’re preparing to play a sport or do exercise where strength and coordination of these muscles is crucial for performance and safety. Instead I recommend what’s called a dynamic warm-up. This involves explosive movements, such as jump squats or lunges, where muscles are being activated rather than turned off. It’s kind of like telling them “wake up, its time to work.”

The static stretching is crucial after your workout. This is where we’re trying to condition your muscles to be “long and strong;” a great recipe for performance and safety.

Paul Fuhrman, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic

Healing Tip of the Week
Try a dynamic warm-up instead of your static stretches before a workout. I personally like the one demonstrated at the link listed below.

http://www.dutchlowy.com/2009/08/26/my-warm-up/

One of the secrets of such cuisine is the liberal use of garlic in combination with parsley. It’s simple and affordable. It gives food a zest it would otherwise lack, and it’s very healthy. Garlic contains hundreds of nutrients and minerals. And, it has powerful antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal properties.

And the best part is that when you handle garlic and find it difficult to get rid of its smell on your hands or your utensils, you just rub parsley on them and voila! The smell disappears.

Sese Novas, DC

Healing Tip of the Week
Marinate your chicken or fish with lots of garlic and parsley, and enjoy!

To me, liver disease seemed much more important than a “lose some weight and see me in six months.” And at my young age (early 30s), there was no way I was going to begin a lifetime of popping daily pills. I was sure there had to be an alternative. So, I fought it the way any young person would. I Googled it.

I went home and did some research. I quickly found the Advanced Wellness Center (AWC) in the rankings for my local search. After checking out the website, I had no reason not to give them a shot. I called and made an appointment with Sese Novas, DC.

Dr. Novas asked me a lot about my lifestyle and developed an in-depth grasp of my health issues. She also went over my lab exams and gave me a better understanding of what the results showed.

She really woke me up and made me realize what I was doing to myself. Her advice made me want to better my life. And this was all within the first couple of minutes of my consultation. Even before any treatment.

Dr. Novas made several chiropractic adjustments to help alleviate some pains I had been having. Her advice and treatment really helped me get to the root of the problem and showed me how to cure myself through my everyday life. Also, she referred me to Dhannel, an acupuncturist at the AWC, and she helped immensely!

Four months after I began treatment at the Advanced Wellness Center, I went back to my physician for a “progress report.” The results were amazing!

I had lost 35 lbs.
My blood pressure was normal.
My cholesterol was well balanced.
And best of all, my liver enzymes were back to normal and there was no sign of disease.

My physician was absolutely astonished and said she had never seen such an amazing turnaround.

Thanks to Dr. Novas and the Advanced Wellness Center, I am now living a much healthier, happier life. She inspired me to get back into running and now I am back to being fit and running 5-6 days a week.

The Advanced Wellness Center helped me help myself. They helped me save my life.

My son had suffered from a blinding headache for days. Nothing helped. But, after just one visit with Dr. Shur, he was pain free.

I remembered this experience when, last summer, I suffered from extreme sciatica. At first, I saw both Dr. Fuhrman and Dr. Mark, then Dr. Fuhrman took over my care full time. He used a variety of chiropractic techniques and within four weeks I was pain free.

Toward the end of the year I had another bout with that deep debilitating pain, so once again I went to see Dr. Fuhrman. He worked on me and suggested that I add some sessions of acupuncture to my treatment plan.

I made an appointment with Vince and the treatments went very well. By the end of the month, I was again without any pain at all.

For months, I continued to see Dr. Fuhrman for maintenance, since my x-rays show that I have virtually no discs left in my lumbar spine. I want to make sure I take care of myself.

And I hope to go back to him within a couple of months – just as soon as this cast comes off my foot. Dr. Fuhrman doesn’t know this yet, but I broke my foot and needed surgery.

Thank goodness for the Advanced Wellness Center. I know that once I can walk without a cast and see the professionals at the AWC, I’ll be able to get back to a pain-free status once again.

-Michael Morrisey

“The Advanced Wellness Center provides the high quality and professionalism that my patients expect and deserve. My patients have been particularly impressed with the nutritional assessments and consultation that the team, led by Dr. deDubovay and Rebecca Rebmann, provide. I plan on continuing to refer my patients who are interested in alternative and complementary services to them.”

Gretchen Hetzler, MD

“I have collaborated in patient care with Drs. deDubovay and Shur at the Advanced Wellness Center. I’ve been very satisfied, as have my patients, with their professionalism, quality of care and outcomes. I would not hesitate in recommending AWC to any of my colleagues for their alternative medicine needs.”

Peter R. Kurzweil, MD

“As a holistic practitioner and a foot and ankle specialist, I have been working with Advanced Wellness Center for well over 10 years. I have sent numerous patients to the Center with holistic health needs. Many of those patients had very challenging health concerns and Advanced Wellness Center has taken care of them extremely well over the years.

The Advanced Wellness Center has a tremendous amount of experience and expertise in nutrition, chiropractic, physical therapy, acupuncture and many other natural healing modalities. We are in a healthcare crisis right now and need more medical facilities like Advanced Wellness Center to handle our difficult and challenging patients. I highly recommend Advanced Wellness Center to any patient without reservation.”

S. Don Kim, DPM, QME, FACFAS

“Over the course of five years, I’ve collaborated with The Advanced Wellness Center in treatment of patients. The combination of physical therapy, acupuncture, and chiropractic care means that we can maximize our efforts to restore mobility as well as function so that patients can resume their activities of daily living.

The staff at AWC is extremely helpful in facilitating reports as needed, as well as assisting in the scheduling of patients. Without hesitation, we strongly and with the highest enthusiasm recommend the collaborative care offered by the Advanced Wellness Center.”

Kim Marshall, PT

“I am writing to thank you for your excellent therapy and management of my numerous musculoskeletal issues involving my neck, shoulders and back. As you may remember, my brother suggested tat I visit you a few years ago since your therapy has helped him. Since then, each time I visit my brother in California, I visit you for an adjustment.

After years of high school and college varsity athletics and a continuing active lifestyle, my issues have been chronic and with acute exacerbation. Therefore, I’ve visited a number of chiropractors throughout the country during the past few years. I’ve come to realize that there is not only a broad spectrum of chiropractic training, but also chiropractic skill and practice.

The therapy I’ve received in your office, from massage therapists, to the ultrasound therapy, to the multi-modality minimally manipulative adjustments, has truly been the best I’ve experienced. Your management is comprehensive, not only balancing the entire body from a mechanical/kinesiologic perspective, but providing a full spectrum of supportive therapies for optimal health including dietary supplements.

I’ve walked out of many chiropractors’ offices still feeling residual issues; each time I walk out of your office I truly feel in balance without any significant residual pains or discomfort. Your therapy has allowed me not only to feel better, but has allowed me to perform better in my daily sport and exercise routine, which has been a great benefit to my quality of life.”

Vasum Peiris, MD, MPH

“I have known Dr. Arnette for 10 years and referred numerous patients to him during that time. Dr. Arnette is a highly qualified practitioner of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. He has helped many of my patients over the years often with a variety of problems.

His treatment goes beyond using acupuncture and herbs and when appropriate may use his skills as a chiropractor. He also uses nutrition counseling and other lifestyle recommendations to help patients. I often think of him as a life coach for my patients discussing exercise, relaxations techniques and even spirituality to help people achieve their goals towards optimal health.”

Sarah Sandell, MD