Dr. Curtis McElroy

Category: Internal Medicine

  • Exercise Equipment For Family Fitness

    Exercise Equipment that Enables Families to Get Fit at Home

    A lot of people recognize the need to get fit as a family, but don’t have the money to sign up for family fitness classes, lessons or personal trainers. Even sports for kids can be expensive. So, how can families get fit together? The thought of doing it from home can be intimidating too considering how expensive various types of exercise equipment are. Not to mention how it’s supposed to work if you live in a small house.

    While you may think it’s impossible to get fit as a family, unless you live in a big house or have a lot of money, the truth is that nothing is impossible! Below are a few simple ways that you and your family can get fit together regardless of how big your house is or what your budget is.

     Take Advantage of the Great Outdoors

    If you have a large backyard, consider spending more time in it as a family exercising. Even if you don’t have a big backyard, you probably have access to a local park, baseball field or even a parking lot where you can move around. A few simple ways to get outside and move around (which is exercising) is to play catch, Frisbee or other fun games like hide-and-seek or tag. Just as long as you’re moving, you’re exercising and having fun!

    Pull Out the Jump Rope

    Remember when you were little and went to P.E. class in school and they had you jump rope for 10-15 minutes at a time? That’s because jumping rope is a great form of physical exercise, and it’s inexpensive to do. Jump ropes can be found practically anywhere – even the dollar store, but you can make your own if you have excess rope lying around. To get the whole family involved, consider holding jump rope contests or using a long rope that has to be worked by two people while one, maybe even two people jump in the middle of it.


    Get a Ball

    There are all kinds of balls out there that can provide hours of entertainment, and exercise, for families. For instance, there are baseballs, soccer balls, volleyballs, basketballs and the list goes on. You probably have at least one of these lying around the house or garage somewhere. If not, you can usually find them for a dollar or so.

    You don’t have to go out and purchase a basketball goal, soccer nets or expensive sports equipment to have fun with balls as a family. For instance, you can create your own basketball game by using a trash can or make your own goals for a friendly game of soccer. There are plenty of games to play with sports balls – just use your imagination.

    Exercise Videos

    There are thousands of kinds of exercise videos that will help you get moving as a family. It doesn’t matter if you like a lot of movement or prefer pilates or other forms of exercise, you can find an exercise video for it by conducting a simple internet search for it on your home computer.

    And, don’t limit yourself to your living room or exercising with an exercise video. You can use your backyard, patio or even the park if you upload the video to your phone. Just think outside-the-box and you’ll be ready to go!

     

     

     

     

  • 5 Ways To Improve Posture When Sitting At A Desk

    5 Ways To Improve Posture When Sitting At A Desk

     

    Most of us know that our posture is very important for the future health of our backs, but when you work at an office every day, it’s easy to fall into bad habits. Here are 5 quick fixes for improving posture when you sit at a desk.

     

    1) Support Your Lower Back

     

    You can reduce the strain on your back with lower back support. This means you should use an adjustable chair so that you can find the perfect height and tilt to support your lower back. If you can’t immediately get your hands on a better chair, use a cushion to increase support in that area.

     

    2) Change the Position of Your Screen

     

    Adjust your computer screen so that the top is roughly level with your eyes. This will help you naturally sit better as you look at the screen throughout the day. It also helps to make sure that there is no glare or reflection on the screen so that you don’t have to strain to see it.

     

    3) Adjust Your Height

     

    An adjustable chair is very important to ensure you’re at the right height for typing. Your arms should be straight and parallel to the floor. Any higher or lower and you could be damaging your posture. Optimum posture also means having your feet flat on the floor, but you may need to use a footrest to help. Remember, crossing your legs isn’t good for posture.

     

    4) Change Your Phone

     

    If you use the phone a lot as part of your job, then you can end up straining your neck and back muscles. In this case, a headset may be a better choice for you. Even if you don’t use the phone often enough to justify this change, remember to keep your phone – and any other items you regularly use – in easy reach so that you don’t need to stretch and twist to reach them.

     

    5) Take Care of Your Wrists

     

    You should leave a gap at the front of the desk, before the keyboard, to let your wrists rest when you’re not typing. It also helps to use a padded mousemat to reduce strain, particularly if you experience pain in your wrist when clicking the mouse.

     

    Although not all of us have the benefit of being able to choose the desks and chairs we use in our office, we can all do small things to improve our posture and reduce the possible chance of injury now and in the future.

  • How To Boost Your Energy For Work Outs

    How To Boost Your Energy For Workouts

    Should You Take Energy Pills for Working Out?

    Everyone experiences slumps in their energy once in awhile. Late nights, stressful days, too much food and drink and not exercising enough or eating a healthy diet are all reasons why we might find it difficult to keep going during a long day – or have the energy for a morning or evening workout.

    It’s tempting to pop a pill for energy when there are so many pills out there that promise boosts to your energy level. But these energy supplements can be harmful to your health – and could even cause death if you have a medical condition or don’t take them as directed.

    Some of the side effects of taking energy pills before a workout include the following:

    Increase of heart rate – If you engage in a good workout, your heart rate is going to rise anyway. Add that scenario to taking energy pills before the workout and you have the potential for a disaster.

    If you have a history of heart problems or high blood pressure you could be putting yourself at risk for a heart attack or stroke when you take energy supplements before a workout. You may not know that you have these problems until it’s too late.

    Severe headaches – Energy pills – especially those with loads of caffeine – are known to cause severe headaches. Headaches are likely to occur when the caffeine is wearing off and your adrenalin levels decrease.

    Many people are more susceptible to caffeine headaches than others, but it’s still not a good idea to take energy pills that are loaded with caffeine just before working out. You may suffer for the rest of the day or evening.

    Mood swings – Energy supplements can cause drastic mood swings that range from feeling like you could climb Mount Everest to irritability and depression so severe that you can’t function.

    You may easily become dependent on the energy pills to keep you from crashing after one dose, and dependency on any type of drug can lead to problems that are difficult to deal with.

    Sleep disorders – Insomnia and other sleep disorders might occur with prolonged use of energy pills. If you ever suffer from sleeplessness after drinking a cup of coffee in the evening, you’ll likely have the same reaction after taking energy pills.

    You may be unknowingly sabotaging the reason for exercising in the first place – to pursue or maintain a healthy lifestyle when you take energy pills for a boost of energy before working out.

    Rather than taking energy pills for a quick boost before a workout, try the natural way of eating some energy-boosting foods, such as peanut butter, an apple or string cheese. You’ll get a natural high and feel much better after the workout.

     

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