Weekend Warrior

How many times have you been told to not do too much on the weekend? But there is more time to do stuff. You will pay for it on Monday. That’s what I say to myself. Thank god I am a chiropractor and have friends to fix me on Monday morning. It is always easy to say I will ramp up my running mileage or I will work on the yard in stages, but I end up throwing in a  long run or doing all the yard work in one day only to pay for it with muscle soreness and pain. I hate to take an anti-inflammatory too , but sometime you need to work or sleep for that matter and sometimes pain will put an end to that. The best tricks I know how to deal with muscle soreness are #1 Drink fluids and electrolytes (gatorade, etc.) all day and afterward#2 Take a hot bath with a cup of rock salt in it afterward to help pull out the lactic acid or the toxins or whatever is making the muscles sore. #3 Get your body moving properly via chiropractic, yoga, stretching du jour. #4 Don’t forget your protein to help rebuild the muscles, so eat some. and#5 build up if you can and don’t do it all in one day. Enjoy!

Poof! Pillows

My pillow is too soft, was the first thought I had this morning. It is hard to know what is the best pillow to use. Some like goose down, some like fiber-fill, some like contoured foam. Like I said, there are a lot of choices so it is hard to know what’s best. I’ve tried everything, even the water filled, bean-filled, air-filled, foam-filled, etc. I always gravitate back to the fiber-filled. They come in different thicknesses depending on the way you sleep. The firmer thicker ones usually are for side sleepers. Typically the companies that sell pillows tell you on the outside what type of sleeper the pillow is for. The problem with pillows is they wear out. I replace mine every 2-3 months.

Position-wise, you should always be as symmetric as possible, with your head anyway. So, lying on your side, your nose should line up with the middle of your chest.

Back Sleeper:

Pillows under the knees helps reduce stress in the low-back.

Belly Sleeper:

The same thing, a pillow placed below the abdomen can reduce back stress in this position.

Overall, finding the best position to spend 6-8 hours a night can really help you to feel better throughout the rest of the day. Get chiropractic adjustments, get your sleep position right, and get the right pillow position and POOF! into it.