Cell Phones
First, if you want to safeguard your health and safety, be cautious about when and how long you use your cell phone. Specifically, put down the cell phone while driving. Statistics show that the rate of accidents while using handheld cell phones is four times higher than drunk driving. Multi-tasking while driving is dangerous to your health and to others on the road. Many states are outlawing handheld cell phones on the road. With newly published statistics like these, I expect new laws in all states. Dr. John Medina, author of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School puts it this way: “Driving while talking on a cell phone is like driving drunk. The brain is a sequential processor and large fractions of a second are consumed every time the brain switches tasks. This is why cell phone talkers are a half-second slower to hit the brakes and get in more wrecks.”
Second, there are relatively new findings showing the longer a man uses a cell phone on a daily basis, his sperm count and the quality of his sperm are both significantly lower. By significantly lower, I mean 20 million less per milliliter, one-third less motility, and about 50 percent fewer sperm with normal form. They reported that every aspect of a man’s sperm count is affected by cell phone usage of two hours or more per day. These findings were presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. I read a short recap of this finding in the most recent edition of Men’s Health magazine. I am not sure why this information has not been more widely distributed, but we should be able to put this information regarding cells phones to good use: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/54866.php.
Injuries
What we all feel as “tightness” in our muscles is really muscle imbalance. We see more muscle imbalances today because our modern lifestyles mean more sitting in cars, at desks and at computers. Generally in our society, postural muscles are imbalanced. Some are tight due to being in a shortened position for long periods of time, and their functional antagonists are overly lengthened by being in a constant state of stretching. Both muscles are weakened and both are inhibited from optimal force production, increasing the chance of injury.
Watching postural and joint imbalances has been a pastime of mine and I see them everywhere I go, even among our youth. A few weeks ago, I passed a mother and her teenage daughter downtown. The daughter’s feet and legs hurt me just to watch them. She was not overweight, but she walked across the parking lot with her knees and ankles caving in. She was almost walking on her ankle bones rather than the balls of her feet. Today I passed another mother and daughter walking along. The daughter had such externally rotated feet (commonly called duck walking) that she was damaging her knee joints with every step.
In general as a society, we have lost the strength, muscle extensibility and neuromuscular connection from our brains to our muscles to move properly. Even models with rounded backs and shoulders are in for a lot of pain and injuries long after their modeling careers are over. Some of us are leading active lives and want to be able to participate in our recreational activities. Most people, however, just want to lead a pain-free life and be able to perform normal activities of daily living.
In working with clients, I try to educate them about what type of joint they are using for simple functions. For instance, the knee is a hinge joint that is meant to move back and forth like a door hinge. The example above with the daughter walking duck footed, does not allow the joint to swing back and forth as she has allowed it to rotate externally to the outside following the lead of her feet. This pattern of walking means she has created a muscle imbalance—some too weak and some too tight. She has also created a disconnection between the muscle and the brain, meaning she cannot properly recruit the full muscle fibers.
The National Academy of Sport Medicine said, “neuromuscular efficiency is the ability of the nervous system to properly recruit the correct muscles.” Without flexibility and access to a full range of motion, postural distortion patterns will increase, and the body will create “relative flexibility,” in which the body seeks the path of least resistance during movement and compensates by altering movement patterns of the muscles putting one at a higher risk of injury.
There is a cycle that occurs: Tightness, muscle imbalances, poor posture, improper movement, joint dysfunction and overuse injuries, and then pain. The answer to injury prevention and pain-free living is flexibility training, which decreases muscle imbalances and keeps the joints properly aligned. In fact without optimum levels of flexibility, as you use your muscles, it may not be possible for you to achieve your goals without getting injured. Flexibility training is a key component in decreasing muscle imbalances, joint problems and establishing “neuromuscular efficiency.”
I encourage you to do strength and endurance exercise, but we must also incorporate stretching and flexibility. Add flexibility into your daily routine and your activities to maximize strength, good health and prevent injuries.
Our biweekly column addresses health, fitness and life enhancement issues. Upcountry Fitness Inc. in Ha‘iku welcomes comments and questions: phone 575-7334, email info@upcountryfitness.com, or on the Web at www.upcountryfitness.com.