When there’s nothing to do, do nothing.

With the recent pandemic inundating every part of our daily lives it is easy to become overwhelmed with the feeling of helplessness or insignificance. After all, how many of us are epidemiologists or biochemical engineers working on a cure? “You’re really telling me that all I can do is stay home, wear a mask, and wash my hands?” Yes. Therein lies the difficulty. The human disposition to strive for control in our lives hinders us in accepting that sometimes we have already done everything we can.

This is when it is time to be still and do nothing.

Have I mastered this ability? No, definitely not. However, it is something that the enormity of Covid19 is teaching me. I have recently begun asking myself “Will this action change anything?” Does it help for me to refresh my news feed, to check into a debate on Facebook, or to panic buy/stock paper goods? No. Well then, don’t.

What I can do that actually WILL help me is to learn to control how I respond to challenges. I can choose calmness, awareness, and patience. For me this meant an increased diligence with Zazen. Zazen is seated, quiet meditation, where the practitioner observes the breath, the mind, and the world without engagement.

This is difficult, and it looks a lot like doing nothing.

With practice and intention we can develop the mind, and we can change how we react to situations which may be out of our control. To this prodigal blogger that seems like an ability we could all benefit from in 2020.

Stay well, wash your hands, cover your face, and develop your mind. This too shall pass.

– Nicole Mims. PT, DPT

Stretching to Fix YOUR posture: correcting for rounded shoulders

Ever wonder why your shoulder or neck hurts when you reach overhead or while you’re lifting weights? Chances are good that posture is a contributing factor. One of the most common postures I see across age groups is where the shoulders (where the upper arm meets the collar bone and shoulder blade) are slightly rotated in. This happens often for 3 main reasons. 1) some muscles are long and weak 2) some muscles are short and/or stiff 3) You habits feeding into the above.

So we know that this can be an issue, the next question is “how can I fix this?”

Check out my video below where I target the flexibility portion of this question.

stretching to fix rounded shoulders

If you think you might have poor posture, you may find a prevous post helpful as well which addresses Forward Head Posture .

I hope this is helpful.

Best,

Nicole Mims. PT, DPT.

Wellness: healthy body + clear mind

Hypertrophy 7/30/18 + bonus review of Planet Fitness

The workout: Hypertrophy. Week 3, day 1.

Focus: vertical push/pull + posterior leg

Total volume: 42 sets

Circuit 1: 4 sets, 8-10 reps

• Neutral grip lat pull down
• Cable shoulder captions
• Weighted hip thrust (back elevated glute bridge)

Circuit 2: 4 sets, 8-10 reps

• Wide grip lat pull down
• Barbell shoulder press
• Hip extension w/eccentric focus (commonly known as back extension, I focus on the movement coming from the hip joint and using my glutes only)

Circuit 3 (Abs): 3 sets, 30-45 seconds

• Traditional crunch (30 sec)
• Oblique crunch left/right (30 sec each)
• Flutter kick (30 sec)
• Bicycle (30 sec)
• Front plank (45 sec)
• Side plank left/right (45 sec each)

I always enjoy the opportunity to workout with friends. The workout feels faster, I have more fun, and having an accountability buddy is great for consistency. I recently have worked out 1-2 times a week with a friend from my PT class who has a membership with Planet Fitness. Like a lot of gym rats (I assume) I had some presuppositions regarding how my experience would be and they were not entirely positive. I’ve got to be honest y’all, I was pretty impressed.

The gym was CLEAN, like spotless clean. The locker rooms were clean. The equipment was clean….it was amazing.

The gym staff were polite and professional.

Not a single person dropped their weights or performed more than their last rep with bodily noises involved (grunting, huffing, etc.)

Weights were where they were supposed to be! There are signs every 5 feet reminding people to re-rack their weights and I got the impression it was something the staff reinforced.

It was temperature controlled. “What gym isn’t?” You might ask. I’ll tell you. Every single Gold’s location which has bought into the crossfit fad with their “Gold’s Fit” has the darn doors open in the evening so their clientele can pretend they train in Sparta or some nonsense.

Exactly zero gym bros tried to hit on me or “help” me.

The only real negative I found was in the variety of equipment. This Planet Fitness had most of your standard gym fare; however, there were no squat racks, or free barbells/plates available. This is probably due to the idea of keeping away the gym bros or “lunks.” Unfortunately for me, it’s also a nonnegotiable component.

In summary, I won’t be giving up my Gold’s membership anytime soon ( I enjoy squats and deadlifts too much), but for most people I think this gym is a great option and is surprisingly affordable.

Best,

Dr. Mims

Keep Striving, You’ll Get There

At some point everyone has had goals that seemed impossible. Keep moving forward and eventually they will just be milestone in your rearview.

With love,

Dr. Mims

Flexibility Training – Part 1 (why do I care?)

Flexibility Training – what is it and why do I care?

I used to be highly inflexible, the first year of PT school it became somewhat of a joke where classmates would practice special tests on me to see what the “abmormal” result was. However, it was something that I worked on regularly. Now I’m fairly limber, often having clients and patients frustrated at how “easy” i make things look. Flexibility tends to be an underrated aspect of health and wellness as it can contribute to movement impairments and thus injury.

What is flexibility? Flexibility is the combination of soft tissue extensibility and control of the nervous system. This allows muscular control through a full range of motion for a given joint. What the hell does that mean? It means that if you are suppose to have a 180 degree range of motion for a given limb, you can control that limb from 0 to 180 degrees of movement and back.

Why is flexibility training important? – Flexibility training is important, because most people in our society lead sedentary lives. The resulting poor posture and movement patterns increase risk for injury and at the same time decrease the efficacy of workouts. This means that one who is inflexible is not only wasting time while they are working out (let’s be honest, who has time for that?) but also increasing their risk of injury which is of course the opposite goal of health and fitness.

Please stay tuned for a video post on how to determine what you should stretch and how based on your postures.

Best,

Nicole Mims. PT, DPT

Fitness does not = Wellness

It’s easy to get caught up in trying to lose that last 5 pounds or get that one pose in yoga. Remember that exercise is an investment in your future self.

You’re in it for the long haul!

Best,

Nicole Mims. PT, DPT

About the Author:

This is NOT one of “those sites” where the author gives advice without evidence or confuses their opinions with fact. My name is Nicole Mims. I am a Physical Therapist living in Austin Texas. I was an RRCA certified running coach and a NASM certified Personal Trainer before going to school for my Doctorate in PT. I plan to discuss health and wellness with a holistic perspective. My life and education have equipped me to do this. I believe that people should have access to evidence based information to better their lives. In my effort to give back, this site is free and non ad driven.

I walk many different paths in my day to day. I’m an avid gym goer, PT, artist, advocate for sobriety, dog mom, lay buddhist, and often simply a human with all the related strengths and foibles. Advice here will be fact based with resources, but it will also be a sounding board for what I’ve found to be true in my life. Some articles are just personal expression of feelings that need a way out (located under personal). Hopefully we’ll both find something we can use here.

With love,

Nick

Exercise for maintaining function

 

 

http://lolsnaps.com/funny/50398

Physical Therapists often work with older patients whose diagnoses have an underlying cause of either stiffness, weakness, or both.  Tragically, many times a loss of independence could have been prevented by a person having maintained their strength into later adulthood.

As we age we can lose muscle strength, bone density, skin elasticity, and metabolism. Balance can even become an issue. This results in a higher risk for obesity, fracture, wounds, poor posture and resulting pain or disability.  The forecast isn’t all doom and gloom though! Exercise can improve all of the above AND it’s never too late to begin.

You don’t need to be bodybuilding grandma to benefit from strength training and you don’t need to go to extremes.   Here are a few things what I recommend to help safely build strength. Everyone who has weakness, but especially older people can use this advice maintain function and prevent injury.

*THIS IS NOT A PRESCRIBED/PERSONALIZED HOME EXERCISE PROGRAM. THESE ARE GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON WHAT I COMMONLY SEE*

 

Sit to Stand: 

Position: Sitting near the front of chair/stool/box
Feet positioned back, knees in line with and almost over toes
Draw navel in towards spine and lean forward from the hips
                            (nose over toes)
Back straight, head in neutral

Action: Squeeze through your glutes and the front of the legs
Push through the feet and come to standing
Stop just before knees and hips are fully extended
Reverse steps and return to starting position without ‘flopping down

Form: Do not arch your back.
Do not allow self to “flop down”
Push evenly through foot, not only heels
Keep glutes contracted the entire time

Sets/Reps: 2-3 sets, 10-20 reps

Glute Bridge:

Modification to increase difficulty

Position: Laying on back, palms up
Knees bent ~100 deg, feet flat
Draw navel in towards your spine and flatten your back

Action: Squeeze through your glutes
Push through your heels
Raise bottom up until shoulders, hips and knees are aligned
Hold 5 seconds, slowly lower to starting position

Form: Do not arch your back.
If you feel this in your back decrease how far you raise your hips

Sets/Reps: 2 sets, 10-20 repetitions (increase hold of this gets easy)

Seated marching:

Position: Sitting upright, Using fingertips for balance. Engage your stomach muscles. Pulling your navel in towards your spine

Action: Pull knee up toward ceiling
Hold 5 seconds
Slowly lower
Perform, alternating sides

Form: Keep your body upright without leaning side to side.
Keep leg straight up and down without rotating in/out.

Sets/Reps: 2 sets, 10-15 repetitions on each side (total of 20-30 per set)

 

Clamshell:

Position: Laying on side,  knees bent, feet together
Heels, shoulders and hips aligned
Tilt body slightly forward (pointing navel toward the floor)

Action: Squeeze through your glutes (buttocks)
Keep your heels together and lift top knee up.
Hold 5 seconds, slowly lower to starting position. (In this photo I have a resistance band around my knees, this is a simple way to increase the challenge but is not necessary to benefit from this exercise)

Form: Do not arch your back.
Do not allow hips to rock back & forth.
–You may want to perform with a wall or other straight surface behind you
Keep glutes contracted the entire time.

Sets/Reps: 2 sets, 10-20 reps (to challenge further, add a band around the knees or increase hold to 10 seconds)

 

Bent knee fall out:

Position: Laying on back,  knees bent, feet together
Draw navel in towards spine, contracting abdomen
Flatten back
Place hands on pelvic bones

Action: Keep hips and abdomen still
Allow one leg to fall out to the side, while keeping the other vertical.
Slowly return the moving leg to starting position.  Perform on opposite leg.

Form: Do not allow hips to rock side to side
You will be able to feel this movement through your hand placement
Keep abdomen contracted and still.

Sets/Reps: 2 sets, 10-20 reps each side

 

Push Up Modified: 

Position: Begin on hands and knees, knees together,
Feet extended back behind you
hands under shoulders
Keep back straight, head neutral
Knees, hips, shoulders in a line

Action: Slowly lower yourself toward ground/mat
Stop just before chest touches ground.
Push evenly through chest and return to starting position

Form: Do not arch your back.  Stomach should not touch before chest.

Sets/Reps: 2-3 sets, 10-12 reps

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Try performing the above exercises 3 to 4 days a week and see how you feel!  Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.  Also, stay tuned for flexibility for older adults and cardiovascular exercise.

Best,

Nicole Mims.  PT, DPT

outtakes –  Zoee decided to try helping

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meditation – Benefits and Basics

In my lifetime eastern practices have become more common with concepts such as mindfulness, meditation, feng-shui, and yoga entering the mainstream.  I imagine that this stems from a western need to unplug from our fast-paced techno-driven lives. People constantly have their attention pulled in 5 different directions.  Everyone tries to be everything.  Single moms or dads who try to balance obligations to the PTA, work, and their own hobbies with soccer practice or continuing education.  Millennials who are just beginning to dig themselves out of debt from college and the 2008 recession working full-time and trying to get their own personal projects off the ground… Perhaps we are just as busy as we used to be, but how we relate to one another has changed so much that we have lost touch with everyone, including us.  After all, how many real, intense, or transformative interactions have any of us had that were brokered by social media. Maybe these eastern practices are becoming more popular because they provide a way by which we can come to know ourselves.

For my personal story, I began drinking too much in 2015 as a (poor) coping mechanism for anxiety.  After life events  made me see this, I decided to give up alcohol entirely.  Searching for a way to calm my mind and develop a sense of peace I remembered meditating in martial arts classes when I was younger.  We would perform several minutes of seated mediation at the beginning and end of class.  I was always more focused after this.  My instructor had told me about great Buddhist practitioners in Tibet who could endure torture, captivity and immolation because they had so trained their mind’s through meditation.  I by no means was planning on such dire circumstances, but the idea of mental fortitude sounded exactly like what I needed at the time.  I sought out a local Buddhist temple and it was not long before I was hooked.

Seated meditation or “Zazen” is the central practice of Zen Buddhism as Zen is very much focused on ‘doing’ to achieve the path.  Recently my sister asked a few questions about meditation.  Although far from a master, I felt both able and interested to discuss them here.

What is meditation? 

• Meditation is the practice of cultivating a sense of peace and self-awareness through a variety of techniques such as focusing on an object, chanting or visualization. The methods may vary but the end result is a sense of calmness and clarity. There are studies which have found that meditation actually affects your brain waves and over time, through neuroplasticity, can make real changes in anxiety, depression, chronic pain, learning and other disorders.
  • https://doi.org/10.1177/153321010731162
  • https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1393.002

Types of meditation

• According to healthline.com there are 6 common types/styles of mediation
  • Mindfulness Meditation
    • Generally associated with Buddhist teachings.  Involves the combination of concentration and awareness.  Some people focus on an object, an image or a sensation such as their breath or heartbeat.
  • Spiritual Meditation
    • Generally associated with Hinduism, Taoism, and some flavors of Christianity.
    • Involves quiet and focusing on a deity or connection with earth/universe etc.
    • Many people use the sense of smell to heighten this meditation.  This may involve essential oils, incense, or candles
  • Focused Meditation
    • More modernish type of meditation.  Involves focusing on one of 5 senses.
    • May involve counting mala beads, focusing on a candle, or listening to a gong
  • Movement Meditation
    • Often people think of yoga here but this might also include walking, qigong, gardening or other form that encourages movement to guide you.
  • Mantra Meditation
    • Associated with both Hinduism and Buddhism
    • Uses a repetitive sound or phrase to clear the mind or connect to an image.
  • Transcendental Meditation
    • Involves the use of a silent mantra to calm and focus.
    • Considered on of the more popular forms of meditation.  

How do I begin meditating?

• I believe (as is the case with most things) this depends on what your goal is.
  • If one of the above types tickles your fancy, you might try looking up more information or books on the subject.
  • I personally recommend finding a group that practices the style you are interested in and ask questions.  (this could be a forum, a business which focuses on meditation classes, or a Buddhist or Hindu temple.)

“None of that works for me”

• If you don’t have any interest in reading about types of practice, you aren’t the group type, and/or you’re averse to trying a non-western theology, keep on reading.
  • Google play has many excellent guided meditations available for free download.
    • simply type in the goal you have:  “Guided meditation for anxiety” and try one out.

• Follow a meditation Podcast.  One of my favorites is “The Buddhist Society of Western Australia” (random I know)
  • they have a plethora of both Dharma talks (which I find insightful) as well as purely guided meditation

OR

• You can try what I do: Zazen
  • General advice
    • Start with shorter periods of time and build up.  Don’t be frustrated if you can’t sit for very long.  As we discussed, this makes sense considering our lives.  The things we need to do are usually the things that are challenging for us.
    • Set a timer for yourself.  If you are checking a watch, you wont be able to get in the right mindset.
    • Get in a comfortable sitting position.  I know this seems obvious but if you are uncomfortable, that is what is going to be on your mind.
    • Do not make judgments on yourself.  You may have thoughts crop up that you wonder where they came from. Instead of giving them your intention or being frustrated that you can’t clear your mind at first, try to allow them to drift back to where they came from.  If you analyze or judge it will only stay in your mind longer.
    • Find a quiet place.  If you have kids, pets, or others who might disturb you, tell them what you are doing and explain that you are not to be bothered for the next ______period of time unless it is an emergency.
    • Turn off the ringer on your phone as well as any alarms you might have other than your timer.

Steps

1) Set a timer for how long you want to try to meditate for.  Being conservative early on is usually helpful.  If you are frustrated during your meditation it will cause a toxic mindset.

Bonus: This gives you fewer excuses for why you can’t fit meditation into your schedule.  Maybe start with 5-10 minutes.

2) Sit down in a comfortable position.  This does not need to be on a cushion or cross legged. Try to sit with decent posture as poor posture will cause you back or neck pain  and this can detract from your experience.

3) Close your eyes almost all, or all the way.
Zen practice says to keep your eyes a little open and focus on a spot on the floor in front of you.  However, if you are having difficulty ‘tuning out’ the world you may want to just close your eyes.

4)  Observe your breathing. Some people begin by counting their breaths up to 10 before starting back at the beginning. Breath in and out smoothly and try to relax your body.  Allow thoughts to drift away and think only about your breath.

5) When your timer sounds, open your eyes slowly. Thank yourself for taking ‘me time’

6) Repeat daily.

Yes, daily.  Make it into a habit, part of your life.  The benefits of meditating increase and become more permanent with time and frequency.

I myself have noticed that when I slack off on taking the time to practice, I become much more anxious, irritable and illogical. Like anything, the more you practice, the easier and more second nature it will become.  If you frequently are able to achieve a calm state at will, how much easier will that be when you are stressed or anxious?

**Note that this information comes from my personal practice.  I am not a guiding teacher, counselor, monk etc.   This is also not meant to be a cure-all in any way.  You may find that meditation is beneficial to you, you may not.

I hope that you have found this helpful.

With love,