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Did you know that May was National Bike Month? Although May is coming to a close, outdoor biking season is just beginning as the weather warms up and dries out.  Rather you ride indoors or out, cycling is a great form of exercise and a lot of fun! The bike was first created in Paris, France with a gain in popularity in the early 1800's. It quickly became as American as apple pie and baseball. It's funny to think that when kids starting wanting to ride bikes, parents were concerned that it was bad for the family. They felt it allowed too much independence and separation from each other and that it seemed physically dangerous. Like many new inventions do, it became more and more accepted and then celebrated. Now it's hard to go anywhere around town or in a gym without seeing someone on a bike and for good reason! In 1903 the Tour De France race started, giving riders a treacherous track through rain, wind, cobble stone, steep climbs and dangerous descents through ...

April is stress awareness month. Common Effects of Stress A lot of common symptoms that are blamed on illness, such as headaches, insomnia, and fatigue, are actually caused by stress. It is important to be aware of how stress is effecting your health, because left unchecked it can lead to worse problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes according to the Mayo Clinic. Our mood and behavior can also be negatively effected by stress. Anxiety, restlessness, lack of motivation, irritability and sadness just to name a few, can make life miserable. Act Now to Manage Stress Now that you know how bad stress can be to your health and overall wellness, it's time to reap the benefits of managing your stress by setting up your strategic plan for success! Exercise regularly : 30-60 mins of physical activity everyday will help you mentally and physically handle stressful situations. It can literally change the chemistry in your brain to make you feel ...

Ouch! The dynamic and forceful twists and turns of tennis unfortunately can lead to many risks of injury. Knees, lower back and shoulders are most prone to muscle strains for tennis players. Keeping an eye on proper form can greatly reduce problems in these areas. Understanding the causes of this can help develop strategies to improve functional movements that help reduce painful injuries and keep you on the court! Know the Source If you're having pain in your shoulders, the problem might actually originate with your hips. The legs pivot in the hip sockets, allowing the spine and shoulders to rotate and the arms to swing during the back-swing and the follow-through.  For a more powerful hit, tennis players often jump during the swing, which intensifies the stress on the body.  Ample ability to rotate the hips is fundamental to proper form for many tennis moves. If the hips are overly tight and not freely moving in full range of motion, other areas of the body compensat...

When pain is felt between the shoulder blades, it would be assumed that there is a problem somewhere in that area, but it could actually be coming from your neck area. Knowing where the pain originates from can help in formulating a treatment plan to alleviate discomfort. Better yet, knowing how the problem started, can help the pain from developing to begin with. Nerves: The Struggle is Real Pain is caused by the nerves becoming entrapped within tight muscles. The area around the neck and shoulders is especially prone to entrapment due to the crowded nerves that run from the neck area down into the scapular (shoulder) area. They twist and turn in tight spaces around and through muscles that run along your spine from the base of your skull down into your shoulder area.  When the muscles become tight and inflamed they further compress and crowd the nerves. That causes the nerves to become grumpy. The grumpiness runs all the way down to the muscles between your shoulder blades. ...