Q & A

What is Cupping?

Cupping is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy that has been used for more than 3000 years. It involves using special cups to apply suction over the skin of an affected area. The negative pressure created in the cup causes the skin to draw upward into the cup. The cups are then left in place or moved around the skin to improve the blood circulation in the area, rid the body of toxins, improve general well being and help with many different ailments including pain, inflammation and muscle tension.  

When should I seek professional advice about a sore joint or muscle soreness?

I recommend seeking advice if one specific area has been sore for more than 3-4 days, especially if it is changing your sleep patterns and stopping you from performing normal daily activities. My zoom consultation would be ideal. With some additional information I could give you solid advice on what to do next.  

How many repetitions should I be doing with my exercises?

I tell patients that you should be able to do at least 10 reps with good form. If you can't do 10 reps or the weight is controlling you, decrease the resistance. On the other side of that, if you can rep out 30 reps, I would look at increasing resistance. I feel like this is especially true for anybody over 40 years of age, because of increased risk of muscle strain and soreness if too aggressive with resistance.

How long should I hold a stretch to loosen up a muscle?

Muscle need to be warm to stretch effectively. If not active, look at short duration stretching of 3-5 seconds. The goal is to warm up a muscle at this point.  Aggressively stretching a cold muscle can actually cause a muscle to spasm. The best time to lengthen a muscle with stretching, is after it is warm, or after exercise.  Performing longer stretches of 10-15 sec will work better at this point. A pulling or stretching sensation should be felt to actually lengthen muscle. Different muscles do stretch differently throughout the body. Contact me with any questions.

With limited time, what should I focus on strength or flexibility?

In general, I typically want to see flexibility before strength. We naturally lose flexibility as we age, increasing stress on joints and increased muscle soreness.  Increasing muscle flexibility allows the body to heal more quickly, and decreases muscle soreness. If I only have to time to do one thing today, I will stretch and get back into strengthening routine another day.

I tried doing an exercise routine my friend is doing, but does not seem to be working for me, why?

The first thing to remember is that we are all wired a little differently and can respond completely different to the same exercises. This is why I always tell patients not to compare injuries with other people. Finding the correct exercises for the individual is what I'm good at. Exercises don't have to be complicated but they do need to be the right ones for your body type. How our nervous system responds to exercise is a very important factor and often gets over looked. I have been trained to look at the entire system to find best starting point for you.  

How much time do I need to spend working out each day?

Generally, the goal should be about 20-30 min of evaluated heart rate per day. A person can elevate a heart rate in a lot of different ways. Our bodies are constantly adapting, so changing up stress loads is a vital part of any program. Heart rate is a simple way to develop exercise goals. Remember increasing resistance and/or speed are two main things that can be changed, to increase stress on a body.