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Community Corner

Maximum Effort with Maximum Results

Maximum Effort with Maximum Results

By Dr. Gerry Dembrowski, DC

 

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Do you love to run? Do you strive to improve personal or competitive performance? Do you exercise through pain and injury? Do you feel you are putting in maximum effort but getting minimal performance results?

 

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Jesse Owens said "I always loved running... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." My own personal competitive nature and expectations of body, mind and spirit were directed toward hockey and skating. The love for competition and improvement sometimes, well, most of the time, clouded my better judgment and the drive to push through pain and injuries has left its mementoes with age. If I knew then that ‘an ounce of prevention is worth 10 tons of cure’ it might have mitigated the consequences, as I have grown older. If I had known about loading up on natural anti-inflammatory supplements and free radical scavengers during training I would have minimized the cellular damage done by the physical beating I gave myself.

 

Permanent increases in performance; gaining the competitive edge; pushing through pain and injury; getting maximum results from maximum effort cannot be found in an energy drink, bottle, can, tablet or pill. The two major components are physical capabilities and mental resilience. The best examples of this are the men and woman serving in the Armed Forces, especially those in Special Operations and Special Forces. Special thanks from me to all who served past, present, and future.

 

As a Chiropractor & Specialized Kinesiologist I will focus here on: hips, thigh muscles, and ankles. These structures by themselves are not capable of providing stability or speed to your stride. They must be anchored or attached to a structure called the pelvic girdle. It works like the axles of a car. The frame of the car sits on the axles, connecting it to the wheels and transferring movement. The rear axle of your pelvic girdle is the sacrum and the front axle is the pubic symphysis. The pelvis anchors and supports your entire frame (i.e. bone, muscle, ligaments, tendons) and allows you to move.

 

The movement of a car relies on the connection between the axle and wheels. Movement of your body relies on the connection between the sacrum and hips. In a car bolts attach wheels and the axle together, your body uses ligaments to attach the sacrum to the hips forming a joint called the sacroiliac (SI) joint. If the wheels on your car are loose, the car shakes, rattles, and pulls to one side. A mechanic uses these symptoms to identify the loose wheels, and he tightens the bolts. When ligaments joining the sacrum to the hips are injured or strained, the body recruits back muscles to provide the required support. When the SI joint is injured it causes pain in the back, shoulder, neck, and sometimes even headaches. These are some of the symptoms I observe when the ligaments of the SI joint are injured.  

 

Just like your car takes a beating after miles on the road, so does your body. When a misalignment or injury occurs there will be compensation somewhere else in the body. If your pelvis is misaligned then your body will compensate from your lower back all the way up to base of your skull. It also changes the way muscles move bone from head to foot. Misalignments cause the hips to pull the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the upper and lower leg, causing shortening of the leg on the same side as the misalignment. Imbalances in the ankle and foot can cause fallen arches, pain, or other foot problems that decrease the efficiency of gait and stride changing the way you walk and run. Specialized Kinesiology and N.O.T. uses a simple test to determine if your SI joint is injured; correct the misalignments, and much more.

 

As with a car, preventative measures (like tightening bolts, wheel alignment, and tire rotation) maintain performance and longevity. Your body is even more complex than your car- it was designed to heal and repair itself. Sometimes, however, it needs a little attention and enjoys a little pampering. To determine if Specialized Kinesiology is right for you, I encourage you to call Groton Wellness (978) 449-9919 to schedule a free 15-minute phone consult. It costs you nothing except a few minutes of your time and the benefits could last a lifetime. While speaking with the wonderful front desk person you may want to schedule a tour of Groton Wellness’ amazing facility and learn more about the additional services we provided to the community: cafe to tantalize your taste buds and satiate your hunger, herbalist, detox programs, functional medicine, far-infrared sauna, colonics, message, facials, dentistry, orthodontics, chiropractic, Specialized Kinesiology, Neurological Organization Technique and much, much more.

 

Dr. Gerry Dembrowski holds a doctorate degree in Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic West in San Jose, California.  He is an Internationally Certified N.O.T. Instructor (1 of 100 in North America) and also holds certifications in Endocranial Therapy (at the time of certification he was 1 of 9 in the world), Sacral Occipital Technique 1 and 2 and Applied Kinesiology.

For additional information regarding Groton Wellness’ services and philosophy, and to view a list of upcoming classes and events, please visit www.GrotonWellness.com

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