My son was playing in his soccer game the other day, and we arrived a little bit early for his Team Mexico vs. Team Spain huge matchup (they’re 6 years old, and the league has decided to do World Cup teams this year, which is kinda neat!).

Well, I started getting the other kids a little bit warmed up ahead of time since we were still waiting on the coaches. I had asked another dad to help me get them ready and straighten out the goal. But he mentioned that it was difficult to even get out of the chair he was in because he had some issues with his hip where he felt some numbness going down the leg towards his toes.

Of course, being who I am, I pried a little bit and asked a few more questions…

Turns out, his issues seem to get more severe when he sits for long periods of time. Especially when he sits in those fold up type chairs that parents bring to sporting events. And, shockingly, guess what type of chair he was sitting in at the moment!

Oh geez. Come on. I realize sometimes things arent super convenient or easy, but PLEASE- if you don’t listen to anything I’m telling you- PLEASE stop doing something you KNOW is causing you pain. There are other types of chairs you could at least try if you know one type is bothering you.

This reminds me of people wearing flip flops when they have plantar fasciitis. But we’ll save that topic for another day…

So I ended up talking with him for a little bit and finding out that he most likely has Piriformis Syndrome. What’s that?

Well, the piriformis is a muscle that is located in the back of your hip. It attaches onto the front part of your tailbone and then onto the top of your thigh at your hip. It’s primarily responsible for rotating the hip.

Probably the most important part about the piriformis is that it is a small, short muscle, and when it gets tight (which is very often), it can pinch the Sciatic Nerve- this nerve is a group of nerves that runs from the lower spine and forms a bundle, travels DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH the piriformis muscle, and then travels down the leg all the way to the toes.

When the piriformis gets tight, it can pinch this sciatic nerve and send symptoms down the leg. Numbness, tingling, weakness, etc…

So if you’ve got:

• Pain in the buttock
• Numbness or tingling down the leg
• Increased pain after prolonged sitting
• Reduced range of motion in the hip joint

Then try doing these 3 simple steps to reduce the strain on the piriformis and improve your hip mobility to take stress off the sciatic nerve:

1) Hip extensions- your gluteus maximus is the big muscle that gets lengthened when you sit. When this happens, it causes the piriformis to become shortened and tightened. Strengthen that glute by doing hip extension exercises: Lie on your stomach, raise your affected leg up to the ceiling while keeping your knee straight, hold for a count of 3 and squeeze your butt while you do this. Then relax and let it back down. Do 10 repetitions.

2) Stretch the piriformis- the best stretch I recommend to accomplish this is to lie face up, bend your knees so your feet are flat on the floor. Whichever hip or leg is affected- cross it over the other so your ankle is resting on the opposite knee. Then reach and grab the other thigh or shin and pull it towards your chest. Hold for 45 seconds.

3) Lastly (and sometimes for some reason, this is the most difficult thing to do), but if you’re using one of those fold up chairs at the park- you’ve GOT to ditch it! Seriously. Stop. There are others that I prefer like the Tommy Bahama chairs that are closer to the ground. But the higher up ones where your butt sinks into them- they just cause all sorts of problems and strain on your low back. Throw them out now!

Try these things out if you think you may have Piriformis Syndrome, and you’ll soon feel that hip loosen up and the issues decrease. Stay healthy!

 

 

The gluteus maximus is THE most important muscle of the body. Well, the most important besides the heart. But other than that, this one is just SO important.

This is the main muscle that if you’re sitting down for a period of time- this is the one that needs to fire to get you to stand upright. If it’s not working properly, it leads to a whole slew of problems, most of which lead to low back pain…

Let’s look first at the anatomy of the glute max:

 

This muscle is the main butt muscle- it originates on the upper edge of the ilium and pelvis, goes along the sacrum (that triangular bone at the base of your spine), and then inserts onto the outer portion of the bone of the hip. Its primary motion is extension of the hip.

So it is the main muscle that allows you to stand from a seated position after you’ve been sitting for a long period of time.

If you’re someone who sits at a desk or on the couch watching TV- then it is CONSTANTLY being lengthened, and then it becomes weak. And it is SO IMPORTANT to keep this muscle strong and firing when you need it to!

The reason this muscle is so important is because it oftentimes is neurologically inhibited. What does this mean? It’s kinda like if you’ve seen those electrodes a physical therapist will put on your back. Or maybe you’ve seen the picture of the big guy with ripped abs with the electrodes on his stomach. There is a machine at the other end of the pads that fires an electric current through wires to the muscles to get those muscles to contract.

(As a side note, this doesn’t really work to get ripped abs…)

This is just like your brain and nervous system work- your brain is the machine that sends a message to the nerve in your leg (like the wires) to fire your butt muscle when you go to stand up. If that muscle isn’t getting the proper signal, we call that being “neurologically inhibited.”

Well, if it’s neurologically inhibited, you’re not going to use this muscle to its efficiency, and then the small, less efficient muscles of the low back have to kick in and work extra hard. So then they get super tight, pinch on your spine, and you get a whole slew of symptoms of pain, discomfort, and maybe even symptoms like pain or numbness and tingling going down the leg all the way to the toes.

So how do you correct this and strengthen your glutes? Sign in to the box below and get our 3 Tips To Strengthen Your Glutes!

 

So the other day, I took my girls to their softball hitting lesson- for those of you who don’t know, my 2 older girls are both pretty involved in softball. And I have the opportunity to be able to coach the younger of those 2.

Well, at their hitting lesson the other day, Coach Marc decided to get a little philosophical with them…

In between showing them techniques and drills they should be working on, he started talking about his busiest time of year. Wanna take a guess of when that is???

Stop and think for a minute and think of your best guess…

Well, his busiest day of the year is the day before tryouts for High School Softball.

Why do you think that is? Here’s why- everyone is a procrastinator! People are so busy playing, playing, playing all the time that they don’t take the steps necessary on a DAILY BASIS to help plan for the future.

Do you really think not going to lessons for a long time, and then planning on getting one in at the 11th hour is going to make you a great player?

What about school work? What about becoming a great golfer? What about your career? What about life in general???

Not to get too religious on you here, because I don’t know what your beliefs are. But what if you were a jerk your whole life? You stole, you cheated, you were completely unethical. But then on your death bed you started trying to make up for lost time.

You start thinking of all you should’ve done. How you SHOULD’VE acted. That type of thinking is probably not going to take you to the promised land…

The same is true of anything- a great golfer practices every day, working hard to build that foundation so they are prepared to win a tournament when the opportunity presents itself. A great leader prepares every day through their actions. Then when the time comes, they are prepared to lead their team, their army, to victory.

The same is true of your health. You don’t want to smoke your whole life, eat junk food, move and lift things poorly, sit around on the couch, and then BEGIN to choose healthy habits in your 80’s!

You’ve got to take care of yourself NOW!

That’s why I’ve created my 6 week “Eliminate Your Back Pain For Good” program.

 

 

This is the only program designed by a musculoskeletal specialist, that offers you a step by step progression of simple exercises combined with tips on how to avoid beating yourself up on a daily basis with your typical day to day actions.

Because the truth is- all the perfect exercises in the world won’t help you if you’re still not taking care of yourself.

Here’s an example of what I mean- if you’re someone who suffers from excessive bruising, and you heard somewhere that vitamin C helps with bruising, so you go out and buy a bunch of vitamin C. But you try taking it for a while and notice that you still keep bruising.

But what if these bruises were happening because you were walking around the streets and starting arguments with people by being highly insulting to them to the point that random strangers would get so mad that they would punch you and beat you up?

Would you imagine the vitamin C would be very helpful to stop the bruising? Of course not! You’d be crazy to think that.

Well, a lot of the movements you do on a daily basis, when done improperly, can beat up your back and neck because they’re putting so much stress on these areas.

But imagine if you were able to perform your regular daily activities in a manner where they weren’t so stressful on your back and neck- activities like doing the dishes, vacuuming, bending and lifting…

Stop getting punched in the face with these things- doing the dishes is miserable enough as it is. No need to make it hurt your spine at the same time!

With this program you’ll not only learn how to do these regular daily activities properly so they don’t continue to harm your joints and spine, we also cover some super foods that you can easily add into your diet to help decrease inflammation! All these things combined will get you where you need to be.

If you really want to…

• Get pain free and love every minute of it
• Go back to doing the things you used to enjoy doing, and do them with improved performance
• Pick up a new hobby- what have you always wanted to do but have been limited physically?
• Experience renewed energy and wake up invigorated in the morning after a good night’s sleep
• Be admired by your friends for the improved quality of your life!

…Then the “Eliminate Your Back Pain For Good” program is for you.

Imagine what this could do for you? Really imagine- you’re out to lunch with your friends and they are seeing a new level of energy in you! They see it in the way you walk, the way you move, the increased confidence they can see in you…

You’re able to be more active and not have to worry about a certain activity putting you out of commission again.

I’m not saying you’ll never get hurt again. That would be impossible to guarantee. You never know what kind of surprises could pop up at you. But I am saying that you no longer have to live in fear. You can do the activities you enjoy, and you can have the confidence that you are now stronger and if you DO get hurt, you’ll be able to heal more quickly and continue to be active.

An injury that maybe took you 3-4 weeks to heal, now only takes a couple days. And it wasn’t as severe as the flare ups you used to have, either!

Just think, you could enjoy a pain free life like these people:

“I was having trouble walking, and definitely not able to do any kind of exercise at the gym. I had gained quite a bit of weight and was feeling depressed because of it. I had tried everything- physical therapy, acupuncture, medications- they just made me feel tired and depressed. Once I discovered the simple, easy to get started techniques from Dr. V, I’m now pain free and I even started training dogs and was able to do my very first dog show!”
-Christine P, New York

“I couldn’t even tie my shoes in the morning my pain and stiffness was so bad. But after just a couple weeks of these new exercises in the Eliminate Your Back Pain For Good program, I was able to wear shoes with laces again and not be so sore all the time. Now I use these same exercises to help my own clients!”
                                                                                                                                      -Chris T, Personal Trainer, Connecticut

 

All of this program is normally valued at $249. But stay with me because I have a much better deal for you today.

Just for being a preferred subscriber, I’d like to give you 2 bonuses when you take action right now.

Bonus #1 valued at $99- my ebook, “The 9 Things Everybody Ought to Know to Eliminate Back Pain- for Good!”

This can be used in conjunction with the 6 week Eliminate Your Back Pain For Good program, and it also includes additional subjects. You’re going to discover how other factors affect your spine and cause increased pain. This includes:

• Proper shoe selection and how proper posture starts from the ground up
• Your adrenal glands and how you can reduce stress
• Foam rolling techniques designed to relieve tension in the common muscles who are culprits of tension and pain

Plus, Bonus #2!

Today only, you will also receive a special limited-time bonus valued at $39. You will get access to my Exercise Accountability Journal.

This will help you track your progress and see my organized method of keeping record of your work. It will keep you on pace and help make the exercises a habit. You’ll also be proud of yourself when you see how well you’re progressing. You can push yourself and see your improvement.

This, combined with the 9 Things Ebook will surely help you break through the barriers that have been holding you back from living pain free.

Here is my promise to you. If you go through the Eliminate Your Back Pain For Good program and honestly feel I’ve wasted your time or you weren’t able to find any value, send me an email and I’ll gladly refund you. No questions asked, no hard feelings.

And you know what- I have several people who are very gung ho and want to get started right away and get maximum results. And get them fast. So for you today, I’ve decided to throw in another SECRET BONUS. This is my Expert Video and Photo Movement Analysis, and it’s valued at $150.

For my special subscribers who want to get started right away, I’m including this individualized approach where I will assess your function in performing important movements. You’ll be able to send me a video of yourself walking and performing a squat, and a view of your posture.

And this will allow me to take a look and pinpoint the 3 or 4 exercises SPECIFIC FOR YOU. This will help to maximize your gains and speed up results. But I obviously can’t do this for everyone, it would just be too much of my time. But for those of you who respond today, I can offer you this one time offer if you choose to get started right away.

When you sign up for the Eliminate Your Back Pain for Good program, you will get detailed instructions on how to shoot this video and send it over to me. It’s really easy to do right from your smart phone.

So here’s what you’ll get in addition to the Video Access:

• Eliminate Your Back Pain For Good Video Access ($249)
• Bonus #1 – The 9 Things You Ought to Know to Eliminate Your Back Pain- For Good ebook   ($99)
• Bonus #2 – Exercise Accountability Journal ($39)
• Secret Bonus – Expert Video & Photo Movement Analysis ($150)

($537 Total Value)

Add it all together, and the value is quite overwhelming… Over $537, and even at that price this is a total bargain.

But don’t worry, you’re not going to have to pay $537 today.

Today, for my preferred subscribers, your price is just $97.

 

Just click the Add to Cart button right now and you’ll get the complete system and all the bonuses for just $97.

Once you do that, you’ll be taken to our 100% secure checkout page.

Once you’ve completed your transaction, you’ll receive the entire program, and you’ll receive the bonuses along with instructions on how to shoot your video for the expert analysis.

Once again, just click the add to cart button below, and let’s get you chipping away at your Pain Free Future!

Well, this week, the kids went back to school here in Southern California. I wasn’t sure if I would be happy about this or not.

On the one hand, it would be nice to get them back on a routine (and out of the house for a bit), but on the other hand- dragging them out of bed in the morning and rushing to get them out the door is just never fun…

So this year, my oldest started Middle School- 6th grade! This is the year I hear it’s just awful where the kids start to get mean. In high school, they’re a little older and they learn that being mean just isn’t that fun. But middle school- these kids are ruthless!

My wife ended up taking them all to school- dropped off the 2 younger ones at 1st grade and 5th grade (big girl on campus!), and that was all really cute and fun. Then it was a short hike to the dreaded middle school campus!

All the peaches and rainbows were gone there… No parents, no excitement, no smiles. Just a whole lot of chaos. Confused, awkward kids running all different directions, a huge mob of them. Deanne had to ditch the stroller and just carry our little one because there was no room for her to get by with all the craziness.

She got separated from our 6th grader, then was able to catch up with her again. She then realized she really wasn’t welcome, said a quick goodbye, and walked back home. Her heart just sunk.

She watched our daughter roll her backpack away toward her first period class. Our big girl was growing up. Where did the time go?

Pretty soon she’ll be in high school, then college. It’s all happening so fast…

I couldn’t wait to get home that night and ask how things went. I found out the younger 2 kiddos did great, they loved their teachers, and they were totally excited. My oldest just looked funny. I could tell something was wrong.

She was confused, school wasn’t fun anymore. She had 6 classes, 6 different teachers- she couldn’t even remember what all of them looked like! And she had a stomach ache because of all the stress and overwhelm, and she was afraid she had an assignment due for science the next day but couldn’t remember what!

And one more thing she mentioned- she had so many books to carry for all her classes now, but “Thank goodness I have a backpack on wheels or my back would be killing me too!”

Ahhh- daddy’s little girl…

In all the worry and all the stress, she still appreciated her dad!

You see, in case you don’t know- it’s not all that cool in middle school to use one of these roller backpacks. And I remember growing up, it wasn’t even cool to wear a regular backpack on both shoulders!

Even though wearing it lopsided causes all sorts of problems and crooked spines- that’s just Back Pain Prevention 101!

Well, after rolling her eyes at the store when I forced her to get her backpack on wheels instead of her cool, trendy, flashy pack- she actually appreciated my advice now.

And I want you to know that if you are carrying any purse on your shoulder, you better make sure it’s a light one! And at the very least you should be carrying it with the strap over your head on one side, rather than just at your side and over that same side shoulder- placing it over the head will at least help to distribute the weight a little more evenly.

But if you have any kind of carrying case or bag, you should REALLY try to make the switch and get one on wheels. Here’s a pic of me with mine right now:

I love it! Sure, people ask me if I’m heading off to the airport to catch a plane, but it sure does save all that repetitive stress on my neck and shoulders…

So head out and make changes like this. You may even have been using a purse or carrying a bag for years and things are fine, but at some point things will give out. And you’ll wish you took preventive measures years ago. It’s just like exercising to stay healthy- don’t wait to start when you get the news that it’s too late! Start now and help yourself out 5, 10, even 50 years from now.

Take care, stay healthy, and keep making good choices!

See ya next time.

-Dr. V

I made it!

This weekend was pretty intense- I went with a group and backpacked into the Eastern Sierra Mountains, up and over a 12,000 foot high pass, and down into the valley below.

We hiked in 10 miles the first day. That was just grueling…

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous, though, so it was SOOO worth it- here’s a picture of me at the peak- surprisingly, I was happy up the top. It wasn’t until later that night where the altitude started to hit me and I just wanted to crawl up into a ball and go home…

I had such a bad headache that night, even though I was drinking tons of water and taking lots of supplements to combat the effects from altitude sickness.

We saw rivers and streams, lakes, deer, marmots, and we were able to avoid the bears! The ranger said there was a lot of bear activity up there recently, so that left my wife and kids a bit nervous back at home. Especially since I had zero cell phone coverage while I was up there, so there was no way to contact me…

We really roughed it on the trip- dehydrated food from packets, protein bars, etc- anything that was light, easy to carry, and filled with calories to make up for all the mileage we were putting on during the day.

 

And here’s the view from my campsite on night 2:

That was a sunset view from Friday night, and then my sunrise view Saturday morning.

The fish were jumping all over that lake. And boy were the mosquitoes abundant! That was how the ranger described the mosquito population to us ahead of time, and he wasn’t kidding- plus, that was the first time I’ve ever heard the word “abundant” used for something that wasn’t a good thing!

Well, the flipside of all this beautiful scenery and great exercise and activity is that I sure am sore today! My neck and back sure took a beating from sleeping on the ground with no pillow and sitting around the campfire on any rock or fallen over tree we could find.

So what did I do the second I got back to the hotel at the base of the mountain?

Well, first I took a shower…

And then I went out for a real meal (and no, it wasn’t the healthiest choice- anything that wasn’t dehydrated or needed to be prepared by sitting in boiled water just looked SOOO delicious!).

But after that, I went back to the hotel room and sat down on my trusty foam roller. Ahhh… Lying on that and rolling it across my shoulder blades and into my upper back and down on my glutes. It wasn’t tough to find a sore spot back there!

Because this has already helped me feel so much better, it made me think about YOU also needing one of our most popular products we carry.

So, while supplies last, I’ve decided to offer you $10 off our foam rollers- you can purchase up to 3 at a time.

After trying out several different types and styles, these are the best foam rollers I’ve seen- they’re nice and firm, and they’re really able to get in there on some of those tight spots (unlike some of the types I’ve seen out there that really don’t do a good job because they’re either too flimsy, or they’re too pokey and end up hurting you).

These rollers work perfectly, and if you’re someone who is too sensitive to pressure, all you have to do is put a towel over them to soften the amount of pressure on you.

So, to take advantage of my $10 off special, just click here and enter the promo code ROLLAWAY, and we’ll ship out your new foam roller right away.

Have a great day, and enjoy all this oxygen that’s available to you- I sure am loving how it’s so abundant down here!

-Dr. V