Chiropractic works best when the patient takes charge of their own health care. Part of that responsibility includes a reasonably consistent routine of strengthening and stretching in addition to cardiovascular exercise and proper nutrition. While aerobic exercise, such as walking, running or swimming, has many excellent health benefits it does not make your muscles strong. Strength training does. By strength training with weights you’re using your muscles to work against the extra pounds, called resistance.This strengthens and increases the amount of muscle mass in your body by making your muscles work harder than they are used to. Strength training also represents a long-term commitment. The health and fitness benefits you achieve through strength training are obtained over months and years, not days and weeks.

Any time you start a new sport or activity, you should start out slowly so that your body gets used to the increase in exercise. If you’ve never lifted weights before, your muscles may be sore when you wake up the next day or even 2 to 3 days later due to something called delayed onset muscle soreness. You should get some expert guidance before you begin any type of strength training. Your coach or trainer can give you advice on how many times a week you should lift and what kinds of warm-up and cool-down exercises you should do before and after lifting to avoid soreness or injury. Strength training does involve the possibility of injury and it’s important to minimize this risk as much as possible. No one wants two or more weeks of downtime because of a soft tissue injury that could have been prevented. One specific method of helping to prevent injury involves paying attention to proper technique. The second specific method is regular Chiropractic Care.

Dr. Chait offers a complimentary posture analysis and consultation prior to the begining of any exercise program or to evaluate what program you are presently using. Because all of the physical work involved in strength training is based upon effective spinal biomechanics, by engaging in regular Chiropractic Care, you are helping to make sure your ability to perform vigorous physical activity and reap the rewards of long-term health. Regular Chiropractic Care is focused on restoring optimal spinal alignment and detecting and correcting sources of nerve interference. Call Chait Chiropractic Center today at 941-371-1070 to schedule an appointment.