DR. BETTIE- Hips Don’t Lie
Welcome to Dr. Bettie’s Corner, your local expert in nutrition, fitness, and health! This is a bimonthly forum where we attempt to address Woman-focused topics of interest. We welcome your suggestions & questions! Please contact us with yours. THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: HIPS DON’T LIE: Runners need strong hips for increased endurance and reduced knee pain Conventional wisdom once told us that when our knees started bothering us we should look to strengthen our quadriceps and other muscles directly surrounding the knees. While these muscles are certainly important, we now know that the hips play a crucial role in knee stability and overall core stability for runners. As such, we should be incorporating some hip strengthening exercises into our core routines at least 2-3 times a week to help improve hip strength and flexibility. The core muscles do not just include the abdominals. They also include the hips, lower back, and muscles surrounding the pelvis. Therefore, when we think “core strengthening exercises” we should remember to include these muscle groups as well to maintain a strong core. Here are a few hip exercises and stretches to incorporate into your core strengthening routines to help maintain hip stability. Clamshells: Lie on your side with your knees and feet together at a 90 degree angle. Keeping your feet together, slowly open and close your knees about 45 degrees (like a clam opening and closing!). This exercise is great for helping to tone the gluteus medius and hip rotator, which can help stabilize the knee while running. Be sure to repeat on both sides. Side-lying leg lifts: Similar to the clamshell exercise, lie on your side with your knees and feet together at a 90 degree angle. This time lift your knee and feet both up so that your top leg is parallel to the ground. You could also do side-lying leg lifts with both of your legs straight out. These leg lifts help strengthen your hip abductors, or outer hip muscles. Again, be sure to repeat on both sides. Inner-leg leg lifts: Lie on your left side. Bend your right leg and place your right foot flat on the floor in front of you. Lift your left leg off the floor 3-5 inches. Repeat several times and make sure you do both sides. This exercise helps work your inner hip and thigh muscles, or abductors. Pigeon Stretch: After working the hip area, you should always stretch. I love to do the pigeon pose and hold it for several minutes when time allows. You get into this pose by starting on all fours, bending your right knee, and bringing your right knee to your right wrist. Then lie down on top of your right leg and put your left leg straight out behind you. Your right leg should be under your chest, your forearms should be in front of you, and your hips should be square. You should feel a good stretch in your hip. Make sure to get the left side as well. Butterfly Stretch: Sit upright with your knees bent and the soles of your feet together. Lean forward to get a good stretch in your inner thighs. Incorporating these exercises and stretches into your core or strength training routine will help tone your hip muscles which will help stabilize your knees, reduce fatigue, and maintain good form while running. This in turn helps prevents injuries like runner’s knee and IT band syndrome. Keeping the muscles stretched will also help maintain a normal range of motion. As Coach G says, “The best way to arrive at...
Read MoreDR. BETTIE- YOUR DIET & YOUR HEART: Five Ways to Avoid Needing a Cardiologist
Welcome to Dr. Bettie’s Corner, your local expert in nutrition, fitness, and health! This is a bimonthly forum where we attempt to address Woman-focused topics of interest. We welcome your suggestions & questions! Please contact us with yours. THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: Your Diet & Your Heart: Five Ways to Avoid Needing a Cardiologist Let me first start this article by stating that I am certainly not opposed to seeing anyone in my clinic, despite the title. And I am in full support of routine doctor’s appointments that include preventive health. However, as a Cardiologist and Nutritionist, I embrace the opportunity to assist others in taking charge of their own wellness. In the spirit of getting you started in this direction, I would like to share a few easy tips that I have accumulated over my years of research and clinical experience. Do not focus on “fat” or “carbs” or “protein”… Focus on real food. These nutrient obsessions come and go. They are fun to study. They give scientists something to do (imagine how difficult it is to study dietary patterns rather than nutrients). Personally, I just love the Omega-3 kick. But this kind of focus is the wrong way to go about creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself, and I have seen nothing but marketing of over-processed food with inflated claims of wellness, beauty, and disease prevention as a result. Need more direction? Google resources for a “Mediterranean Diet” and start from there. Fresh, fresh, fresh. I am going to steal a line from one of my favorite local Cardiothoracic Surgeons: “If you catch it, shoot it, or pick it… It probably is a good choice.” Though he may have spent too much time in Alaska, I think this is a simple message with accurate direction. I might also add: “If you can’t grow it yourself, pick a CSA.” (And if you don’t know what that is, ask your neighbors.) Don’t forget the polyphenols (woo-hoo!). Okay, I said earlier that you should focus on food and not nutrients… And you can’t exactly catch, shoot or pick coffee, dark chocolate, red wine, green tea and the like. But these are still good things, and I have seen nothing but positive results including benefits on blood sugar levels and improvement of blood vessel function. Don’t worry, you don’t need to remember what this class of (micro)nutrients is called… And ya gotta live a little, anyway. Foods to NEVER eat? Yeah, sure, there are foods out there that your vasculature never needs to meet. But, seriously, you don’t need me to tell you that. Stay active & make a plan. It’s amazing how this works, but when you get yourself outside and moving, you tend to feel better and make better choices. And don’t make it hard on yourself; have your easy, healthy snacks available to you during the week (e.g. bowls of dry-roasted almonds, fresh juicy grapes, mozzarella cheese sticks, seasonal garden veggies washed & portable). This column is for informational purposes only. Use of this column is not intended to delay, replace or substitute for any professional advice, treatment or diagnosis. If you have specific concerns, you should consult with an appropriately trained and qualified specialist who can address your particular...
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