While everyone may not share the same definition of “healthy”, the BC government is in talks about unveiling a “Carrot Rewards” program that aims to do exactly that, and reward people accordingly. The plan adds millions of dollars to the BC health budget to fund a fitness initiative to rewards residents for making healthy decisions such as joining fitness classes and eating healthy foods with reward points. The idea is that these reward points can be redeemed for some type of gift that will hopefully encourage residents to be more active and eat healthier… And in turn, spend less time in doctor’s offices and hospitals with costly medical bills.
Personally, I think this is a great idea, with high obesity rates going hand-in-hand with increased risk of costly long-term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Improving the health of our population means the government saves a significant amount of money on healthcare, which is already an astronomical 17 billion dollars of our provincial budget.

This initiative is with a similar mindset of some private health insurance companies in the United States that provide a partial reimbursement for gym memberships to encourage a more active/healthy lifestyle, thus potentially reducing the individual’s risk of costly health conditions as a result of inactivity – meaning less cost to the insurance company and better health for the resident… Win-win deal.

 

Edit: The program is active! Check out https://www.healthyfamiliesbc.ca/carrot-rewards for more information and to download your appropriate app to get started!

The idea that ‘sitting is bad for your health’ may not be much of a surprise to most of us, but a new study from Australia is showing that even getting regular exercise every day might not do much to improve your risk of serious health problems such as heart disease, respiratory problems or even cancer.

The consensus is that even if you’re spending 30 minutes of your day exercising, that hardly puts a dent into the other 23.5 hours of your day that you spent mostly sitting. Although the solution of not sitting is easier said than done, past studies have shown that even taking short frequent breaks is an effective strategy to offset the physical changes that take place when sitting for long periods. Consider that what you are really trying to do, is to bring more movement into your day – being in the office, in one spot isn’t much better than being parked in front of your TV or than driving for a long period of time.

So what does this mean for you? Instead of sitting for a long period, take a small 10-20 second break every half hour to stand, take a few steps, stretch back while reaching your arms overhead, and breathe deeply. These stretches and movements will help to break the cycle of sitting or simply not moving and will help improve the blood flow throughout your body to keep your muscles and tissues healthy.

More info here: Pain Science

Golf is a sport that (to the untrained eye) looks like it should be easy, but in execution is a very complex beast. When you’re swinging a driver over 160kph to hit a ~4cm golf ball, the smallest change in your wrist, elbow, shoulders, hip, and even ankles can have an enormous effect on your ability to hit the ball well. But what if you don’t have the mobility in your body to have an efficient golf swing in the first place? Your body will compensate by taking any movement it can find – sometimes resulting in harmful swing patterns – that can affect your body’s health. This is where your TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) certified Chiropractor can help!
While you don’t need a “textbook” swing to hit the ball well, it is important to have the joint flexibility and stability to move your body and golf club into the path you’re trying to achieve or being coached to achieve. The TPI physical screen is a powerful tool to assess your body and pinpoint exactly where your weaknesses are, how you stack up against professionals and how these results might affect your golf swing. From that point, it’s a matter of giving you the treatment you need to resolve any joint restrictions or muscle tightness and the appropriate exercises to improve any stability issues you have.
Allowing your body to have the proper range of motion gives you the flexibility you need to adjust your swing to best suit your needs.

Using my knowledge about the human body, how it works, and the demands from golf, I can help you build a solid foundation on which to build a great swing and lessen your chance of getting hurt while having fun. I can also work with your swing coach to get more information regarding your swing habits and let your coach know the limitations we have found and are working to improve.

By Paul Dhaliwal

© 2021 · Pacific Health and Sports Therapy

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