StrongerLeanerBetter
Back pain,Denver

How to Avoid a Backyard Back Blowout.

So many people get hurt gardening every spring (really) and it is almost always the result of bad lifting habits. Rounding your back forward is bad, maintaining your low back’s natural arch and getting those hips back is good. Make sure lifting anything is safe for you particular back first. If you are unsure check with me or another licensed doctor first. Happy gardening!

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A simple posture exercise you can do at home.

Sitting is an epidemic these days. It can cause mid back pain, neck pain and headaches. And it looks bad. Check with a licensed healthcare provider before starting any exercise program.

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Improve balance and stability with this 1-Leg Deadlift.

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Back pain,chiropractor,Denver

2 easy ways to help prevent low back pain.

We’ve certainly observed that people experience more low back pain in the winter months. These 2 exercises can help you prevent it.

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Surviving December: a guide to get you through to January

You know the deal: December can be tough. And I know you can find a ton of these kinds of articles on the web. So I’m going to cut out all the fluff and just get to the point. Here are seven very straightforward strategies you can try out to get that calendar page turned over to January 1.

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Sleep – the magic cure for low drive in men AND women.
men and stress

Sleep – the magic cure for low drive in men AND women.

While I work with a lot of guys who seek me out for help with things like low sex drive, and fatigue, and weight gain, you’d be surprised that a lot of women are looking for help too.

While the fundamental approach is the same- reducing the impact of the various types of stress that screw up the balance between stress hormone and sex hormones, the specific changes can be a little different.

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17 minute workout to burn fat and make you stronger
men over 40

17 minute workout to burn fat and make you stronger

Brief and intense strength training (assuming you are cleared by your doctor to do it) is the cornerstone of a program to fix low testosterone levels naturally, and improve symptoms like fatigue, fat gain, and low sex drive.

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Burn fat with intense intervals.
men over 40

Burn fat with intense intervals.

My buddy Mike and I rode some steep hill intervals in Sedalia, Colorado this past Sunday. While we happen to love riding mountain bikes, it takes a little work to love riding up steep hills. You kind of need to convince yourself that pushing hard is fun.

But the truth is, this type of intensity is important for guys as they get older. Most of us rarely do anything that’s physically intense anymore. But letting that red-line stuff go is what starts the drop in testosterone that a lot of guys experience as they move into their 40s.

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Three gut problems that can destroy a guy’s health.
men over 40

Three gut problems that can destroy a guy’s health.

You might not realize it, but stress in your gut can cause cause fatigue and weight gain. It can even lead to lost sex drive. How is that possible?

Easy. Stress in the gut can cause cortisol to rise. Cortisol is basically a stress hormone. When cortisol is up, and when stress is up, testosterone can drop, especially over the long term. So guys with chronic stomach problems tend to experience the symptoms of lower testosterone in men- fatigue, weight gain and loss of sex drive.

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It’s as difficult as you want it to be.

It’s as difficult as you want it to be.

I’m reading this book called “How Bad Do You Want It?” by Matt Fitzgerald right now. While the author is writing about endurance sports, the premise applies to anything: The perception of your effort during a task determines how you perform. So if you think something will be difficult, it will be. If you think getting stronger will be hard, it will be. If you think losing fat will be hard, it will be. If you think getting back to feeling like the old you is impossible, it will be. But what about the flip side? Believing you can get shit done is the first step.

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Guys over 40 need a hobby to keep them healthier
men over 40

Guys over 40 need a hobby to keep them healthier

Just remember this – guys over 40 need something to get away from the stress. The stress drives healthy hormones, the hobbies bring it back up. For me, it’s racing off-road triathlon (even if I’m not great at it). For you it can be whatever you want. But it does matter.

That’s me in the picture, running as fast as I ever have. You see, when I go in to these races, my main goal is to beat my time from the year before. And I knew it was going to be close that year.

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Where the racing fits in: Why every guy needs some kind of hobby.
men and stress

Where the racing fits in: Why every guy needs some kind of hobby.

That’s me yesterday, taking a break from riding my mountain bike in the 100 degree weather that we had in Denver this past weekend. The question is, “Why?”

For me mountain biking, and off-road triathlon are hobbies, and in the interest of full disclosure, I am not particularly good at either one. But I don’t care.

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Sugar- the silent health killer
men over 40

Sugar- the silent health killer

“Toss my cookies?”

“Yes”

“Doc, say it ain’t so.”

This tough conversation that I had with Ron yesterday was for his own good. Ron’s a 54-year-old who came to me for natural help with fatigue and weight loss.

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Shorter duration and higher intensity can help fix your low T
men over 40

Shorter duration and higher intensity can help fix your low T

As a 47-year-old guy, I know that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. One common misconception I hear often is the idea that lots of endurance training is good for you. For guys over 40, this isn’t necessarily true.

Prolonged endurance training, like long bike rides, will tend to raise cortisol levels. This can lower sex hormone levels in both men and women.

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Swimming for men over 40
fatigue,high intensity exercise

Swimming for men over 40

Men over 40 should swim. It’s a great way to cross-train your upper body, build muscular endurance in the shoulders and challenge your heart in a different way. Something about being in the water also has a stress relieving effect. It can reduce cortisol levels, help fight fatigue, and improve mood too.

The best news? It’s ok to suck at swimming, because the lack of efficiency actually makes it a better workout. But you need to swim outside – it’s a million times better than swimming indoors. Give it a try!

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Arm Training is still relevant. Exercises to build bigger arms can indeed build better health for men over 40.
building bigger arms

Arm Training is still relevant. Exercises to build bigger arms can indeed build better health for men over 40.

After I realized that chronic “functional” training was screwing up my hormones (cortisol too high, testosterone borderline low) I dialed things back. While the functional zealots will scream that arm training isn’t functional (a term almost never defined BTW), I call bullshit. You use your arms every day- doing real life things, like lifting very heavy tomato plants, controlling a mountain down a steep slope, carrying a whiny toddler who refuses to walk, or staying in the top position of a push-up for a long time .

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Guys over 40, there are 3 main types of stress that can really screw you up

Guys over 40, there are 3 main types of stress that can really screw you up

Guys over 40, there are 3 main types of stress that can screw your health up big time. This can be the underlying reason why you feel fatigued, irritable, and fat. Do you know what they are?

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