Breathing While structured breathing work may seem simple-even silly- to some, we know that it is a powerful tool for the pregnant and postpartum woman. Deep breaths have the ability to calm the nervous system which can affect muscle tension, heart rate, and blood pressure. Additionally, the respiratory diaphragm can mobilize muscles in the pelvis and back due to anatomical connections. Muscles, including those shown in the photo below, are big players in midline stabilization and support. A great place to start is the 90/90 breathing drill (seen below). Try this out for 10-15 breaths at the end of your day.  Ask questions Many postpartum women do not know all of the details after birthing their baby. Some have told me they were not aware they had stitches down below until the 6-week check-up when the doctor wanted to make sure they were healing well! The check-up at 6 weeks can be quick so arrive with questions. It is helpful to know about any tearing, episiotomies, tools used during the birth, etc. These factors are all great to bear in mind as you return to exercise and daily functioning. Another question to ask-- “Is there a pelvic health PT that you would recommend?” They may know someone in the area or have worked with them prior. However, do not become discouraged if they don’t have a name to offer. A Google search for “women’s health PT” or “pelvic PT” should show professionals in the area. Compare websites and reviews to see if the PT would be a good fit for you and your goals! Pelvic Health Physical Therapy Once you have been cleared by the doctor for “usual exercise” and intercourse, I highly suggest visiting a pelvic health or women’s health PT. They will be able to further answer any questions about symptoms you may experience immediately postpartum and later. A pelvic PT is specialized on evaluation and treatment of the pelvic floor musculature. They can perform internal evaluations to test the strength and endurance of your pelvic floor, check for prolapse, address any soft tissue issues, etc. For the evaluation, the therapist will use a gloved finger to palpate muscles internally. While a great deal of information can be gathered from an internal evaluation, it is not necessary for visiting a pelvic PT. The therapist can then prescribe exercises to help relieve the symptoms and provide hands-on work to hips, back, sacrum and other involved areas. Your PT should be a huge help in getting you back to fitness postpartum! Other areas they can treat and improve are bowel/bladder issues, painful sex, and pelvic pain. Focus on healing and strength rather than weight loss Social media and advertising may be all about “getting your body back” and fixing “mummy tummy,” but that is not the focus when you are postpartum. The first step in returning to fitness is addressing foundational strength and continuing to heal from the pregnancy and birth. Your body will go through so many changes in the months following your pregnancy and the timeline is different for every single woman. Steer clear of programs that say at week 8 you do blank. It should all be self-paced and based on symptoms, your birth story, and prior activity level. Do you need help starting out? This was the number one question I received from women in the clinic. “What can I do? Where do I start?” So I developed programming to recover and rebuild your core after having a baby. Check out the THRIVE: Rebuild Bundle programming HERE.  Find a community for support
Returning to group classes or running groups can be challenging because you will not be jumping right back into the level you were previously exercising. Having a group of women who understand your needs and have been or are currently at the same stage as you is tremendously beneficial. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please join my Back to Fitness Postpartum Facebook page. We have posts nearly every day and a lot of great discussions- some serious and some silly! Once you return to group classes, be sure that the trainer knows you are postpartum and if there are any symptoms with movements. If they offer other movement suggestions that still do not feel great, then modify further! Symptoms (leaking, pain, heaviness in the vagina) are a signal to decrease the workload by resting or modifying or both! Getting back to fitness postpartum can be challenging but it is not impossible! With a holistic plan and support you will be able to recover and rebuild to get back to your favorite activities. If you are looking for help with learning more about postpartum fitness, the pelvic floor and how to reach your goals, then please reach out at Athletes’ Potential. Thanks for reading, Dr. Jackie, DPT
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 Why is this topic so important to me? It’s because I’ve personally been through this process. Twice. And it’s one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my life. Successful return to sport after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction requires optimal physical AND psychological recovery. The psychological component is quite often overlooked. Fear, emotion, and poor self-esteem can have profound effects on patients' compliance, athletic identity, and readiness to return to sport. An athlete can be physically prepared for return to sport, but if there is fear or anxiety associated, then this process should be prolonged. If you’re a clinician, parent, or athlete reading this, here are four key areas to consider: 1. Psychological Distress:
 This is where education and setting the expectations is huge. When working with an athlete, it’s important to consider this as a part of rehab. Who wouldn’t have anxiety or emotions when they can no longer play their sport and get their knee operated on. It’s completely normal. Rather than hiding it, have a conversation with your athlete. Educate them on what to expect before, during and after the procedure and for rehab. Assure them that everything will be okay and that they will get back to their sport. When an athlete knows what to expect, there’s less psychological distress associated with the process, which can significantly impact the success of the rehab and return-to-play process. 2. Self-Efficacy:
3. Locus of Control:
4. Athletic Identity:
 In addition to the 4 areas above, an objective measure can be very beneficial to quantify where the athlete stands from not only a physical perspective, but psychological. That’s where the ACL-Return to Sport after Injury scale (ACL-RSI) can be helpful. The ACL-RSI is a great outcome measures to assess athletes' emotions, confidence in performance, and risk appraisal in relation to return to sport.
Recognizing positive and negative psychological responses to injury is the first step in initiating treatment and potentially modifying beliefs through psychological interventions. It is important to identify patients who are at risk for poor outcomes because targeted psychological interventions may be successful. If you know of an athlete going through this injury and recovery process, don’t forget that there’s more to it than just what you can see. Cheers, Dr. Ravi, DPT Sources: - Christino MA, Fantry AJ, Vopat BG. Psychological Aspects of Recovery Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2015;23(8):501-9. - Sadeqi M, Klouche S, Bohu Y, Herman S, Lefevre N, Gerometta A. Progression of the Psychological ACL-RSI Score and Return to Sport After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Prospective 2-Year Follow-up Study From the French Prospective Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Cohort Study (FAST). Orthop J Sports Med. 2018;6(12):2325967118812819. - Ardern CL. Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction-Not Exactly a One-Way Ticket Back to the Preinjury Level: A Review of Contextual Factors Affecting Return to Sport After Surgery. Sports Health. 2015;7(3):224-30. -Schub D, Saluan P: Anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the young athlete: Evaluation and treatment. Sports Med Arthrosc 2011;19(1):34-43. Melissa A. Christino, MD, et al  Here’s what we know:
That last bullet point is a HUGE problem. How do we know when an athlete is ready? Traditional return-to-sport criteria are mainly focused on the time after ACLR and knee-specific impairments, while the return-to-sport decision-making process is only made at the hypothetical “end” of the rehabilitation period. When is this “end” point? When the patient runs out of insurance-covered visits? When the ortho clears them based on a 5-minute exam? When there’s no longer a government shutdown? This “end” point is completely made up and very subjective. That is why we need more concrete, objective measures to allow these athletes return to sport at a high level with the lowest risk of re-injury.  Dingenen et al. proposes: “an optimized criterion-based continuous and multifactorial return-to-sport approach based on shared decision making, with a focus on a broad spectrum of individual sensorimotor and biomechanical outcomes, within a biopsychosocial framework.” I could not agree more.  This means that we need to get away from time- and isolated-based assessments and look at this from a holistic 360 degree view, taking into account not only the biological factors of the athlete, but psychosocial factors as well. Since there are many individuals involved in this process, it takes a team to make the outcome truly successful. This team consists of the individual, their family, physical therapist, athletic trainer, orthopedic surgeon, sport coach, strength coach, etc.
Remember – A single component alone (i.e. time) is not enough to determine whether someone is ready. All of the components below could have the box checked except the last one and this athlete would still not be ready. I hope this provides some insight to you if you are going through this process as an athlete, parent, or clinician looking to return to sport.
Cheers, Dr. Ravi Source: Dingenen B, Gokeler A. Optimization of the Return-to-Sport Paradigm After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Critical Step Back to Move Forward. Sports Med. 2017;47(8):1487-1500.  “Since 2008, average family premiums have increased 55 percent, twice as fast as workers’ earnings (26%) and three times as fast as inflation (17%).” “Premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage rise 5% to average $19,616; single premiums rise 3% to $6,896.” “Deductibles for covered workers has tripled since 2008, growing 8 times faster than wages.” Not trying to be a Negative Nancy, but that’s no bueno. Unfortunately, this is where our current healthcare system stands. This data was released by the Kaiser Family Foundation in a recent survey. The annual survey was conducted between January and July of 2018 and included 4,070 randomly selected, non-federal public and private firms with three or more employees (including 2,160 that responded to the full survey and 1,910 others that responded to a single question about offering coverage). Over the past decade, insurance premiums and deductibles have significantly increased relative to workers’ earnings and inflation. We continue to pay more for insurance, but get less in return. We want a healthier country, but we continue to create barriers to access “healthcare.” So how do we change this? Use the system less and, more importantly, NEED IT LESS. What I’m getting at is taking control of our own health. We have plenty of data to show that chronic disease is impacting this country.  Improving and maintaining our health and wellness through movement, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and social relationships is crucial. With technology, we have this information at our fingertips. While it can be tough to decipher through the guruism and instamodels these days, it’s important to do your research and find professionals that you trust with your health. Here are some general recommendations we give: 1. Move everyday. Strength train at least 2-3x per week. Test your heart and lungs. 2. Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants (but also.. protein is life). 3. Get at least 7 hours of quality sleep each night. 4. Stress management is often overlooked and this can be managed through self-reflection, meditation, counseling, exercise, etc. Find what works best for you. 5. Social connection and relationships is an area I believe is very important for all of us. We all have our people and it’s important to prioritize those relationships for our own health and well-being. If you want to dive further into the details of this survey, you can find the original article here: https://www.kff.org/health-costs/press-release/employer-sponsored-family-coverage-premiums- rise-5-percent-in-2018/?fbclid=IwAR2u9WY8T4eAiEOUaJQkjHXF7-p6xEVXPHXhx5Qpup-o- NKz-slUBSK-1Bc Insurance and healthcare is expensive. Employers and employees are starting to take notice of
this tread. They’re being incentivized to take a proactive approach as well as minimize the use of their healthcare. At the end of the day, let’s get people moving better and eating less shit, and more importantly, realize that we have the power to take control of our health and avoid being imprisoned by this expensive healthcare system. Cheers, Dr. Ravi, DPT  Coming at you with the the final part of our two-part series for ensuring healthy shoulders while improving your pull-ups. In this part we’re talking about how to develop appropriate strength in the appropriate areas. For those of you who missed it, part one is super important and I highly recommend reading that before moving on with part two. For those of you who are caught up, let’s get after it. Part II: Strength In any training program, it’s important to make sure your movements are balanced and that your shoulders are working in multiple directions (ex: vertical pulling, horizontal pushing, horizontal pulling, etc). The pull-up is an excellent example of a vertical pull strengthening exercise. With most pulling exercises, your body is primarily moving through two movements: elbow flexion and shoulder extension. This means your primary shoulder extension (latissimus dorsi, teres minor, post delt) and primary elbow flexion (biceps brachii, and brachialis and brachioradialis) muscle groups need to work synergistically to perform this movement appropriately.  https://coreem.net/core/biceps-and-triceps-tendon-rupture/ Unfortunately this synergistic relationship isn’t normally the case. More often than not I find that people way over utilize elbow flexion and underutilize shoulder extension. When this happens bad things happen and those bad things usually end up manifesting themselves as pain along the front of the shoulder. As you can tell in the picture above, the long of of your biceps tendon crosses the shoulder joint and when you rely too much on elbow flexion with pulling based exercises, you can end up agitating that tendon, which leads to shoulder pain. I see the aforementioned situation happen all the time in athletes who do a lot of kipping pull-ups vs strict pull-ups, specifically in those who don’t have the requisite strength to perform consecutive strict pull-ups but are repping out 15+ kipping pull-ups at a time. Now I’m not saying kipping pull-ups are bad or that you shouldn’t do them, but kipping pull-ups should be an expression of strength, not a way to avoid a weakness. To ensure you’re not overusing your biceps while doing the pull-up you want to have strong, engaged lats (latissimus dorsi). To make sure this is the case, check out our top 3 exercises below for improving shoulder lat strength and control. Drill #1: Active Hangs This drill is an all time favorite of mine for a couple of reasons. First, it allows you to feel how your lats should be contracting while you are going a pull up. Second, it allows you to strengthen your shoulders in a vulnerable/weak position. You’re only as strong as your weakest link and being strong in a weak position is a great way to prevent injuries. Drill #2: Lat Pull Over This one is a great example of “killing two birds with one stone” because not only are you able to improve lat strength with this drill, but because of the long eccentric phase (muscle contracting while lengthening) of this drill, it’s also a great way to improve shoulder mobility. Drill #3: Single Arm Banded Lat Pull Downs Breaking up a bilateral movement (using both arms) into a unilateral movement (using one arm) is a highly underutilized training modality that allows to balance out weaknesses. Plus, as an added bonus, you’re able to perform a vertical pulling drill at a slightly different angle which, as we talked about above, is how you train for healthy shoulders. If you have shoulder pain while doing pull-ups, or want to prevent pain from coming, this two-part post is a great place to start. Ensuring appropriate mobility and then building appropriate strength is a common occurrence in the rehab world. If you’re in the Atlanta area and are interested in working with a unique professional that can help you optimize your health in all of these areas, we need to talk. Being proactive and staying on top of your health will help you avoid serious health problems down the road. Submit a contact request by clicking the button below and we’ll get you set up with one of our Doctors for a free 15-minute phone consult. Thanks for reading, Dr. Jacob, PT, DPT, CSCS  Have you ever been in the middle of a workout and feel an ache or pain? It’s completely normal if it’s something small and goes away. It’s another story if it continues to bother you or increase in pain. Sometimes we just do too much (or too little) and it pisses off some part of our body. You may start to realize it’s impacting the way you move and you may even avoid a particular movement that causes the pain altogether. Often times, people see this as a sign to take some time off and rest. This may be the case in some instances, but it’s not always the best solution. Some people go to a healthcare professional to find out what’s going on. Quite frequently, they’re told to stop that activity or exercise. We hear it all the time from new patients. “Squats are bad for your knees.” “Running will wreck your body.” “Stop doing CrossFit. You’ll get hurt.”  [Credit: Barbell Physio] But, what if you’re an Olympic weightlifter who has a competition coming up? What if you’re a runner who loves a good 5k? What if you have a stressful job and CrossFit is your outlet to relieve that stress? Come on, healthcare - we can do better. If these are your goals, we want to help you get there. Here’s 5 different ways to train around pain and decrease stress on that painful area:
MAIN GOAL: MAKE THE LEAST CHANGES POSSIBLE TO THE MOVEMENT Now, let’s break down each one of these using knee pain with front squats as an example.
 [Credit: EricCressey.com]
 [Credit: Barbell Rehab]
Here are a few other examples for you:
Here’s the overall concept: Pain comes on --> scale back movement slightly --> train movement --> adapt --> progress difficulty --> adapt --> back to prior level --> continue training pain-free --> hit PR  [Credit: kcbi.org] I believe that any great coach or physical therapist should be able to modify and progress/regress any movement or activity. If you have given these methods a shot and pain continues to impact your life, then find a healthcare professional who understands your goals and doesn’t tell you to stop.
Cheers, Dr. Ravi, PT, DPT, CSCS  Squatting is simple- get down and get back up. It’s an essential movement for everyone. Children often hold a squat and play. We all must squat, to differing heights, to get on and off the toilet. The elderly need to be able to sit down and stand up on their own to promote quality of life and longevity- this is a squat! But squatting actually isn’t simple. There are 101 ways to squat, some awesome and some not so awesome. However, there are five “principles” that are true across all of the barbell squats. I’m not sure these are the only principles, in fact I know they are not, and I’m not sure principle is the right word. Anyway, these are five pieces of the squat that I am constantly emphasizing with patients. #1 Set up and create tension while the barbell is in the rack- Place your hands, set your feet under the bar, full grip on the bar and elbows down. Then unrack the bar and maintain this while you squat.  #2 Toes stay down- Feet should remain fully planted. Big toes and heels stay down, screw feet out into the floor and descend into your squat.  #3 Maintain Stacked Position- Use a PVC or broomstick to check your ribs and pelvic position throughout the range. The stick should remain in contact with back of your head, mid back (between the shoulder blades) and hips.  #4 Hip Below Knees- This position is not unsafe or bad for your knees. In fact, it is healthy for your knees to have full range of motion. Warning: this will lead to glute gainz that might lead you to needing new pants.  #5 Bar over midfoot- Regardless of the type of squat, the bar should still be aligned over the middle of your foot. Take some film of yourself the next time you squat and see how it looks!!  If you have pain when you squat, try applying these principles. This is a great way to find major movement deficits and clean them up. If you can’t seem to add weight to your squat, apply these principles. Creating more tension with shoulder and foot set up can be enough to help you put up bigger numbers. Maybe your squat is perfect... Probably not. Apply these principles! Thanks for reading, Dr. Jackie, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS  [Credit: San Francisco Chronicles] Did you know that 70-85% of ACL injuries are typically non-contact? Or, that female athletes have a greater risk of ACL injury compared to males playing similar sports? It seems like every week you hear about another athlete who tears their ACL. In the NFL, 36 season-ending ACL injuries have been reported this year. Three took place this past Sunday, including a non-contact ACL injury by 49er’s QB Jimmy Garoppolo.  [Credit: Fox Sports] What’s even worse is when it comes from a celebration… A contact ACL injury seems to justify itself more so than a non-contact ACL injury. These season-ending injuries can have a huge impact on an athlete. Not only is it a long and costly process, but it can take a toll on you as an individual from a physical and mental standpoint. Take it from someone who has had two ACL injuries himself. I’ve even talked to parents who keep their kids out of sports due to the risk of an ACL tear. After my first ACL injury, my mom begged me to stop playing football and cheer my team on from the stands…HA! Love you Mom, but no way was that happening. I had to come back to play my senior year and it was 100% worth it. My second ACL tear was non-contact and didn’t come until six years later – which has fueled me on a path to help those who have suffered this same injury. So……Can ACL injuries be prevented? Prevented? Not really. Reduced? Definitely. Prevention means that we can stop something from happening, which means we can predict it. We’re not quite there yet. Reduction means we are making it smaller or less in amount, degree, or size. We have proof of this. For simplicity's sake, you will still see prevention and reduction used interchangeably, but keep in mind what we discussed above. A powerful research study came out this year by Webster et al. 2018 - Meta-Analysis of Meta- Analyses of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Reduction Training Programs. It conclusively shows that 50% of all ACL injuries and 67% of non-contact ACL injuries in females can be reduced with the simple implementation of 2-3x per week of injury reduction/prevention programs.  [Credit: Woodcreek Soccer] Some important components of these programs are: Dynamic Warm-Ups Foundational Strength Proprioceptive Training Plyometric and Power Development Acceleration/Deceleration, Multi-directional Sport-Specific Training In later posts, we will break down these different components of a well-designed injury prevention program. At Athletes’ Potential, we design and implement these programs often to help our athletes, whether you’re someone who has had their first surgery or an unsuccessful rehab experience. It is our goal for the athletes we work with to return to their sport not only physically prepared, but mentally as well. Please feel free to reach out to our Docs if you have any questions. Cheers, Dr. Ravi, PT, DPT, CSCS  Whether you’ve never stepped into a gym or are a diehard fitness enthusiast, chances are you’ve attempted a pull-up. That’s a good thing! It’s hard to argue an exercise that is more foundational to upper body strength than the pull-up. That being said, for how much I love this exercise and think it is something everyone should be doing (or at least a type of modification), I treat patients all the time in the clinic with shoulder pain related to the pull-up. Whether it be mobility issues, strength, or poor technique, there are a number of reasons why your shoulder can hurt during or after pull-ups and this article is the first of a two-part series that will teach you how to keep hitting your pull-ups pain-free! Part 1: Mobility First and foremost, let’s take a look at what exactly is happening at the shoulder joint while doing a pull-up. When you raise your arms over your head to get in the starting position for this exercise, your shoulder joint has to do a combination of two movements: flexion and external rotation. If you're limited in any of these two ranges of motion your body will make compensations to get your arm in position, which will eventually set you up for a higher risk of injury. Think of it this way: If your car tires are out of alignment, nothing will happen right away, but eventually there is going to be uneven tread wear and you’ll end up blowing a tire sooner than later. The same can be said for your shoulder if you're lacking requisite mobility with either shoulder flexion or external rotation. The videos below are great ways to test if you have enough shoulder range of motion, as well a favorite drill of ours to improve any range that needs work. 1. Flexion  (Shoulder Flexion Self-Assessment (Performed by Norcal Strength and Conditioning)
(Banded Overhead Opener)
(Thoracic Spine Opener)
2. External Rotation  (Shoulder External Rotation Self-Assessment - Performed by Michael Carroll)
(Chest Opener)
(Front Rack Opener)
To recap, if you have shoulder pain while doing pull-ups, or want to prevent pain from coming, the first place to start is to make sure you have enough shoulder flexion and external rotation to perform the exercise without compensation. Be on the lookout for Part II of this blog post which will dive into the common mechanical flaws and strength imbalances that can lead to shoulder problems with the pull-up. If you’re in the Atlanta area and are interested in working with a unique professional that can help you optimize your health in all of these areas, we need to talk. Being proactive and staying on top of your health will help you avoid serious health problems down the road. Submit a contact request by clicking the button below and we’ll get you set up with one of our Doctors for a free 15-minute phone consult. Thanks for reading,
Dr. Jacob, PT, DPT, CSCS  We’ve all seen the outliers: People who are in their 70's, 80's and 90's that just look like they’ve aged better than everyone else. Not only do they seem physically healthier, but they’re mentally very sharp. Early on in my career as a physical therapist, I had the opportunity to work with one such man. His name was Charlie and he owned a mechanic shop in New Braunfels, Texas. When I saw him, he was 85 and was coming in because of some hip pain. I was blown away by how physically active and quick-witted he was. He still worked full time in his mechanic shop with his two sons. The main reason for him coming in was that his hip pain was limiting him when it came to climbing into his deer stand. To make him even more impressive, he was on zero medications; he had never had a significant health issue; and lived independently. If you’ve been around people in their 80's, being on zero medications is incredibly rare in its own right. I ended up working with Charlie for a few months and every time I saw him I picked his brain on life and how he was so healthy and active at his age. Over the course of our time, I picked up 4 Key Habits that had contributed to his remarkable physical and mental health at his age. If you want to age like Charlie, stick to these four habits: Habit 1: Move a lot Charlie never did one day of structured exercise in his entire life, except when he was in the Army early in his life. Moving is what Charlie did best. He started his mechanic shop in his 30's and had been doing that pretty much everyday for 50 years. This is a physical job to say the least, so he had a lot of movement built into his day. He also was a big believer in walking. He would walk 3-5 miles every morning with his dog. You don’t have to exercise much, if at all, when you move and are active all day long. Habit 2: Have something to wake up for I thought this was a really interesting piece of advice he gave me. He gave me this nugget of advice as he was describing the new computer software they were using for his mechanic shop. In his mid-80's, he was learning a new software program to help his shop run more efficiently. He was so excited about the changes they expected to see with this new upgrade. What I found out was that he loved what he did. He was obsessed with cars and making them run better. He had done what very few people every accomplish: he had matched up his interest in life with how he made his living. He got up early everyday so he could be at his shop to open up and greet the first customer. What really resonated with me was Charlie's ability to constantly try to improve and his drive to wake up early and seize the day. Think about how many people hate their jobs. The internal stress created with hating what you do, yet having to go and do that everyday is significant. Charlie was onto something and it was one of the big reasons for his long term health. Habit 3: Eat like you have Type I Diabetes Charlie’s wife had died about 10 years before I met him. She was born with Type I Diabetes and had lived an incredibly long life for someone born in the early 1900's with Type I Diabetes. Charlie credited the way his wife had the family eat to much of his own health. Because his wife had to be very strict about what she ate, the entire family just ate the way she did. There were two big nutrition components to how he ate: First, he ate minimal to no sugar besides fruit. He chose black coffee, a banana on his oatmeal instead of brown sugar and he never ate desserts. Second, eat nothing white. Charlie explained that his wife would have big insulin spikes when she would eat white bread, rice, or even drink milk. Recent studies have shown that a cup of milk causes the same insulin response in the body that eating a piece of white bread does. He and his wife just figured this out by tracking her insulin response to food. Other than that he ate pretty much whatever he wanted. He was a big fan of the brisket from Rudy’s BBQ, which was right down the road from our clinic. He was also an avid hunter and would eat a lot of venison as well. Habit 4: Go to sleep early Charlie swore that going to sleep early was important. To put this in context, he usually got to his shop around 7am and they didn’t open for business until 8am. He would get up around 5am every morning to take his dog on a walk before going into his shop. He would usually go to bed by 9:00pm. That meant he usually was getting about 8 hours of sleep per night. We all know sleep is important. Often one of the most difficult parts of sleep for people is actually getting to sleep at a decent time. Follow Charlie’s advice and start waking up earlier. You do that for a week or two and I’m sure you’ll be ready to go to be once it’s 9:00 or 10:00pm. I know these 4 habits seem simple, and they are. Your health doesn’t have to be complex. There’s also no magic supplement you can take that will give you longevity like Charlie. In an age of Bird Scooters, Amazon delivering your groceries, and having an app for everything, don’t forget the basics. Move often, have something you're excited to wake up for, sleep and eat well. If you’re in the Atlanta area and are interested in working with a unique professional that can help you optimize your health in all of these areas, we need to talk. Being proactive and staying on top of your health will help you avoid serious health problems down the road. Submit a contact request by clicking the button below and we’ll get you set up with one of our Doctors for a free 15-minute phone consult. Remember: If you have a body, you’re an athlete! Thanks for reading, Dr. Danny, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS |
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