stretching

The alarm rings. You tell yourself, "Five more minutes ... " when suddenly, you realize you've used that same excuse five times already. You're late! You leap out of bed like a cat with its tail on fire and ouch, you hear an odd snap somewhere between your head and shoulder. The sudden jerky movement would have triggered a neck sprain that you'd have to live with for the next Read more...

Years of sitting at a desk all day, everyday will take its toll. Experts say even with a work station that supports good posture, sitting too long isn't good for anyone's body. "Don't do it," says physical therapist and yoga teacher Patti Lentz. "It's not how well you sit; it's that sitting in a chair all the time is not good for anyone's back. We (humans) are not designed Read more...

Although flexibility is a necessary component of a good overall fitness program, it is usually one of the most neglected areas of a workout. We know it is important to exercise on a regular basis, but it is just as important to stretch the muscles before and after working out. Range of motion varies from person to person and can be affected by age, gender and exercise habits. Flexibility may Read more...

Two seemingly contradictory aspects of American life have contributed to an increase in knee problems: an increasing number of participants in recreational sports and an increase in obesity. "We see knee injuries all day long," says Sandy L. Gibson, a physical therapist at St. Luke's Hospital's Sportswise program in the Kansas City area. The two primary strategies to prevent Read more...

By Michael O'Reilly, M.D. ThirdAge Women's Health Expert If you're anything like me, you want to get to the gym, change your clothes, exercise and go home. I am not a gym socialite and can't stand those who are. I just want to do my cardiovascular and weight training in the least amount of time possible -- with the least pain and the most gain. Up to now, my routine has included the obligatory Read more...

In an episode of the 1970s TV show "Welcome Back, Kotter," Gabe Kotter gets out of bed in the morning and elicits a moan that sounds something like two moose in the throes of a domestic dispute. With a look of pure terror on his face, Kotter frets, "That's my father's noise. I'm making my father's noise." These days we ThirdAgers probably make a lot of our parents' Read more...