Obesity...its not just for breakfast!

As a chiropractor, "rehab guy", "soft tissue guy", "neurology guy", trainer, and even referred to as "kind of a mixture of a bunch of things"...the biggest problem I see in the world of rehabilitation and physical fitness is THE MAJORITY OF THE PATIENTS I SEE ARE TOO DAMN FAT!

No, not very political of me but then again most of you who know me can attest to that.

FAT is not a bad word, however there are good fats and bad fats. Confusing but off the target a bit.

How did the US get so FAT? I think I remember the one fat girl and one fat boy in grade school (I will not mention their names for fear of bringing back bad memories for them), and the rest were the skinny, wiry little types of that generation (the 1970's). Longish hair, and Toughskins jeans falling off until we started to outgrow them then the constant harassing about waiting for the flood waters. One pair of pants (usually plaid, blecht!) for church, and one pair of Toughskins for everything else. We used patches in those days, and when the patches on the patches wore out then they were made into cut off jorts! We didn't need much and since that was the norm, didn't want much.

A 12 oz can of Coke was a treat, and walking to Tom's (variety store, non-existent now) for a Hostess cupcake was a real luxury.

Did I say walking? Oh yeah we did that back then. We walked, and we played, and we walked to go play, and then we walked again...sprinkle in the random fisticuffs for good measure since boys will be boys...oh yeah, then we walked home with our scraped knees, and bloody noses, washed off and took a drink from the hose, went in and ate something which was made just prior to our eating it...

OK, here is your objection and usual gripe and wine. "I don't have time to make dinner because in today's world both parents have to work". Here is my answer. Quit F---ING whining! My parents both worked, long hours...longer than I am sure the majority of people work today. But as adults they cared more about their children then themselves. Wait, that's it! I know why everyone is so fat!

When a parent looks at their child and sees an obesity problem, they must not really care enough for that child! When a spouse looks at their spouse and sees an obesity problem, they must really care for their spouse. When a friend looks at a friend and sees an obesity problem, they are not really friends after all...unless they are trying to help them.

The reason that there are so many FAT people in the US is because people care about themselves more than they care about others. Sure we can blame the food companies, but we eat the shit they put out there. We can blame the government, but we still elect the same assholes looking for easy work and benefits over and over again. We can blame everyone we want, but until our blatant lack of caring for one another in this world changes, we will still see rising rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, metabolic disorders, learning and behavioral disorders, etc., etc., etc...

Start today. Get a good friend out for a workout. Force your child to be physically active. Yes, I said force them. After all you are the parent, not their "freakin' buddy"! Tell your spouse you love them enough not to let them die a horrible, drawn out, demeaning death from one of the many cancers we dump trillions of dollars into just to have them win! If you are a medical practitioner, grow some balls and tell your patients they are TOO DAMN FAT and they have to do something about it now...not "the beginning of next month I'm really gonna start that new diet" bull pucky!

I took my friend for a work out today, don't want to see him die from (fill in the blank). I will encourage and give guidance to all my patients today regarding diet and exercise because I don't want to see them die from (fill in the blank). I will encourage all of my loved ones to do the same, because I care for them and I want them to stay alive so I can continue to build memories with all of them and not have them die unnecessarily from (fill in the blank).


Please try to do the same

What a Combo-Platter...

Chiropractic and Strength and Conditioning

Let me qualify the above title...our brand of chiropractic at Marchese Sports Therapy...not the blind gorilla manipulators.

That said, why do the two go together?

In the recent past a large emphasis in strength and conditioning has been focussing on what is termed CNS fatigue. What's disturbing is that the majority of coaches using this mystical term have no idea what components of the human nervous system make up the CNS. Briefly put it is comprised of the brain and spinal cord.

With that said, how do we evaluate for CNS fatigue? Why is chiropractic care an essential part of strength and conditioning, yet may be the only subspecialty kept off a professional teams health care staff (that part still puzzles me to this day). I cannot go into the testing, that would be akin to giving a loaded gun to a mass murderer. "I had them close their eyes and they fell over and busted their wrist...his post didn't say anything about that". What I can talk briefly about is why chiropractic is actually very good for athletes who value the most important "muscle" they have...their brain!

A former patient of mine who has been in the NBA for several years once said "it is only a matter of time before this s--t is in every locker room in the NBA". he went on to say "if I ever become a GM or something, my players will be getting this kind of work". Me being the eternal pessimist replied "not likely".

What he was referring to was a systematic stimulation of the nervous system utilizing multiple bone and joint, as well as soft tissue, and therapeutic exercise/neurological re-education techniques. You are probably asking yourself what is special about this?

Why should we be impressed by this? The simple answer is that we as chiropractors have the ability to perform an extensive orthopedic, neurological, and biomechanical evaluation and then have the ability to interpret the findings in a way that no other therapeutic profession is doing now, to come up with a set of tools to put to work restoring the lost function as indicated by the examination. The most important to the athlete concerned with the state of his or her CNS "fatigue" is the neurological aspect.

The human body after all is a system of neurochemical exchanges which pass for communication. Chiropractors can affect the communication utilizing input into the central nervous system (adjustments, soft tissue manipulation, therapeutic exercise/neuro re-ed, ems, etc) for the soul purpose of changing the central integrated state (level of functioning of the central nervous system) of the CNS.

If the central integrated state (CIS) of the athlete is improved, and monitored before and after the implemented therapeutic intervention, the athlete should be able to respond to the stressors they face during their competition in a competent and effective manner. This seems like a no-brainer eh'?

Devils advocate here. There is no all encompassing term to describe the function of the central nervous system. Let's just use the term central integrated state to mean a compilation of the neurological findings accumulated by the chiropractor during the evaluation. It is merely the sum of all the excitatory and inhibitory potentials occurring in the nervous system. Too much inhibition in the system and the CIS is low and far from threshold (achieving its task). this has been referred to as "global dampenning" by Thomas Culleton DC, DACNB. Too much excitation and the CIS is too close to threshold, possibly allowing for an escape of function. Furthermore...how does the CIS get affected by the various techniques and interventions put forth by the treating chiropractor? One example would be to increase the sensitivity of a muscle found to be difficult to bring to threshold (contract/activate), compared to others which may lead to muscular imbalances, and potential injury. How is this achieved? First identify the muscle(s) via evaluation procedures. Next pick the appropriate intervention to increase the ability of the muscle to fire, then implement it. An example could be, if a muscle is too close to firing (maybe described as "tight" or "cramping") then the appropriate intervention would be to "relax" the muscle and decrease the activity of the muscle spindle, using a "fast stretch technique". The common response would be to statically stretch the muscle, but unfortunately that would lead to increased muscle spindle activity, and potential for injury to the athlete.

A simple neurological approach towards keeping athletes on the field. Not mysticism, which is what the non-self-informed majority believe goes on during chiropractic treatment sessions.

For the sake of the athletes health, chiropractic (remember the caveat, and find and support the good ones) is an essential part of a whole health care team. Not just adjunctive fringe!