Do you have a hard time raising your arms to wash your hair, putting dishes in an overhead cupboard or pulling on a sweatshirt? You may be suffering from excessive thoracic kyphosis.
ETK is a disproportionate forward rounding or curvature of the middle and upper back, also known as the thoracic spine (Kendall, McCreary & Provance 2005). Everyday movements and athletic performance can be limited by ETK, as this excessive rounding of the middle and upper back can affect the function of your breathing, shoulders, spine and arms.
by Ryan Halvorson
Myth: Exercise alone can overcome poor eating habits.
Truth: An average person would have to run 6 or 7 miles to burn off the 750 calories in a McDonald’s® Double Quarter Pounder® with Cheese.
Myth: Preworkout stretching reduces injury risk.
Truth: Researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at more than 300 studies and found no link between stretching and lower injury rates.Node Features: Hide Open Image
by Natalie Digate Muth, MD, MPH, RD
The health benefits of nuts like walnuts, pecans and almonds have been widely promoted. But for the millions of Americans with food allergies, the advice to eat nuts could be hazardous to their health. For these individuals, nuts—or other food allergens, such as shellfish and milk—could prove deadly.
by Beverly Hosford, MA
Whether we’re vacationing with our family or heading to the 2015 IDEA World Fitness ConventionTM with 12,000 other fitness enthusiasts, it can be challenging to stay fit when we’re on the road. Even the healthiest exercise professionals can get caught off-guard with aches, pains, stress and guilt that prevent us from having fun and functioning at our best.
If travel throws the fittest of us off track, imagine what it does to everyone else.
by Amanda Vogel, MA
If you regularly use social media such as Facebook and Instagram, you will have noticed posts plugging fitness by way of body-conscious photos and memes meant to get people moving. For example: a picture of a gorgeous bikini-clad woman with the caption, “Today I will love myself enough to exercise.”
by Natalie Digate Muth, MD, MPH, RD
The following chart offers a quick reference to some of the most popular diets. Use it to help you guide clients
toward the best eating plan choices for them.
