About This Episode

Episode 129 Keep moving to maintain flexiblity as you age with Brian Murphy, Doctor of Physical Therapy and owner of Pinnacle Physical Therapy

Physical therapists are capable of really helping patients avoid surgery, avoid the need for medication. We are going to discuss the need to invest in the body’s ability to move and to be strong and to allow people to do the things they really enjoy. 

People are on devices and social media so much now that positions where your head is forward and rounding of your upper back. What’s interesting about the human body is that there are alternating patterns of joints that are supposed to be very mobile. And joints that are supposed to be very stable. So when you think about your back, your neck is a mobile joint. It’s supposed to be able to rotate. a lot. In those circumstances with those prolonged positions, unfortunately we we lose the mobility because we’re only working in one plane of motion.

We’re working in the sagittal plane. Our head stays still. We don’t ever work in the frontal plane and we don’t ever work in the transverse plane  we don’t have to.  That is a particular area that I see a lot of patients who are having neck pain complications with neck pain, headaches. And then also low back is another great example. The low back is a very stable joint. It’s only meant to bend forward and extend,  but the areas above it, the thoracic spine and your hips are both very mobile joints, or at least they should be.  I have seen clinically numerous times patients will come in complaining of pain in their low back. But the problem is arising from the stiffness in their hips and in their thoracic spine, from base of your neck, kind of down to the lower back. If you lose mobility in those two areas,  your low back has to do a lot more work. It’s doing some things that it’s not meant to do. So Instead of just treating where the pain is located, we’ve got to get those ball and socket joints moving again.

Motion is lotion.

We’ve got to keep mobility in our hips. We’ve got to keep rotation in our thoracic spine.  got to get out of these rounded postures  flexed postures and work on the opposite motions. A lot of times we have to work on extension.  So  some of this stuff isn’t rocket science, but unfortunately patients just don’t realize that. Once again, the human body is meant to have this beauty of variety of movement, and when we relegate ourselves to very stringent movements,  we lose those capabilities that are inherent,  that is going to be problematic.

Learn more about Pinnacle Physical Therapy

About This Episode

What Causes Obesity?

What causes obesity? Is it genetic? Is it lifestyle. And what about choices? You’ve probably heard that weight gain occurs when someone ingest more calories than they burn, but that’s certainly not the whole story.

Genetic factors contribute to the risk of obesity. But, many people who carry obesity genes do not become overweight and healthy lifestyles can counteract these genetic effects. It’s hard for some individuals who have addiction to sugar. Dopamine levels are involved and it’s just hard because of the way our society is wired. But let’s look at recent upward trends of obesity. Our genes really haven’t changed enough to explain that. So what has changed? Our food, which is a subject for another day, but also our activity level and our social eating patterns. Since the 1970s, the average caloric intake has increased by 500 kilocalories per day. Tracking rod, along with the increase in obesity. The standard American diet contains more fat, more sugar, more protein, more grains, and less fruits and vegetables. We’ve replaced nutrient packed foods with fast convenient food. And sweetened drinks. 

There’s a big study called the nurses health study. And for every two hours women in this study watched TV, the risk of obesity was increased by 25%. Now do the math. If you watch four hours of TV a day, your chances of being obese are increased by 50%.  

You will never reach a place where you can slack up and eat whatever you want and not gain weight. It’s not going to happen. So here are some practical tips. Replace your couch time with something you enjoy that’s active. Get up and march or dance or do squats. And eat more fiber. It fills you up, keeps your gut healthy and suppresses your appetite.  Eliminate ultra processed foods from your diet as much as possible. They’re loaded with fat and sugar to bring you back for more. Lastly, eat at home. Portions at restaurants are out of control and healthy choices are harder to make. 

About This Episode

You took the shot, now what?

You got a prescription for the shot and now you’ve replenished your wardrobe with smaller clothes then comes the bad news. Either your insurance no longer wants to cover your medication for weight loss. Or you have side effects that make it intolerable. Without making changes, you will gain all that weight back. You lost weight with the shot, now what?

Lifestyle modifications with healthy diet and exercise are important. It even says so on the package inserts. There are differing opinions about what constitutes a healthy diet. The bottom line is avoid ultra-processed foods and eat whole food. Low fat diets are not associated with weight gain and are healthier for your heart and lower the incidence of breast cancer. 

Everyone is different. Some people can lose weight with lifestyle changes, others need help from surgery or medications. The GLP – 1 agonist generally help people lose 5-22% of their BMI. They aren’t without side effects and they are expensive. Obesity is a chronic disease that puts your health at risk. Lifelong treatment is required. Healthy Looks Great on You, lifestyle medicine podcast tackles this tough issue.