‘Prehabilitation’

2014/10/02 9:40 PM / Leave a comment

Prehabilitation is becoming a more widely accepted process before hip and knee surgery. It is defined as exercise and strength training designed to strengthen the body before surgery so the body is better able to tolerate the stress of the procedure and its post operative effects.

The gentle, low impact/high resistance exercises that Original SANDDUNE offers with its capacity of developing the lower body’s “balance strength“, and core’s strength, lends itself to this type of therapy. We are Sharing a posting about the benefits of “Prehabilitation” before surgery.

‘Prehabilitation‘ prepares patients for hip and knee surgery

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-10-prehabilitation-patients-hip-knee-surgery.html

Your Internal GPS

2014/08/19 7:58 AM / Leave a comment

Experiencing weight bearing activity on a compliant surface such as the Original SANDDUNE™, engages use of proprioception otherwise known as your internal GPS. Exercise on this apparatus safely recruits muscle fiber without the traditional tearing that occurs on hard surfaces. This is why we suggest padding for at least 2 weeks to become acquainted with the Original SANDDUNE™’s unconventional surface.

This regimen is Jenn Hoage 11-2013 Riverside Diabetes Walk a great alternative to letting the body rest after following the workout/fitness pattern of high intensity workout training without loosing the strength and stamina gained in the high intensity workouts.

Original SANDDUNE™ is also an alternative to beginning a regimen that can be part of addressing neuropathy, common in many with diabetes. It is easy on the feet facilitating and encouraging exercise.

Padding is simply walking but keeping your feet in continual contact with the surface. This is suggested for EVERYONE, including high functioning athletic types. Resist the temptation to jog. Why? Because you are retraining every muscle
and joint in your body including long and short muscles closest to the bone.

This is “mindful” centering with the somatasensory body (whole body meaning bottom of foot to brain) – a new way of educating and retraining the foundation of your physical body (neuro pathways) using Original SANDDUNE#™.

Simply holding on to a bar and learning to stand on one leg with your other foot raised slightly above the pad after you have centered yourself or just standing and learning to create small dime size circles clock-wise and counter-clockwise under your foot, noticing how the sensation moves up your legs into the trunk and into the hip sockets, will help you begin to retrain your foundation.

Learning the subtleties of how the body aligns and connects through the resistance option of both uphill and downhill positions teaches postural integrity. The uphill slope is higher and simulates walking uphill. The downhill slope is lower and simulates walking downhill.

Beginning these exercises slowly and building speed and momentum may not feel like much to start, but the results will definitely make themselves known or felt in a relatively short time as the muscle activation becomes stronger and the movement easier. Once you step off and resume walking on a normal surface, you will begin to notice subtle changes in your posture.

This is your new way of educating and retraining the foundation of your core balance, strength and coordination.

Retweet From @ Super Fit Senior

2014/07/11 12:02 PM / 1 Comment on Retweet From @ Super Fit Senior

Can regular exercise really cut the risk of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s?

http://nyti.ms/1z6AtGZ

Roll Down Stretch with Small Hand Held Exercise Ball

Lunge SANDDUNE style

Elbow Plank

Standing Big Toe Hold

Seated Big Toe Hold

Pilates Single Leg Stretch on Original SANDDUNE

Step Up Rear Lunge

Kettlebell workout on Original SANDDUNE

The Brain’s job and Neuroplasticity

2014/05/30 8:34 AM / Leave a comment

The brain’s job is to learn and when occupied in an inner awareness or mindful undertaking, like meditation, its capacities grow because you need to pay attention/focus for the brain to learn the activity.

In yoga, for example, when you first begin, one must move slowly and mindfully to understand what is happening when learning a new motor skill.
The focus on and practice of these new activities causes the brain to adapt, and to create new motor and sensory-motor maps for the task at hand.
This is known as “neuroplasticity.”

Science has shown that this phenomenon of the brain called “neuroplasticity,” enables it to create its own re-organization and produce new neurons. Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita, American neuroscientist and Moshe’ Feldenkrais, a Ukrainian born physicist/mechanical engineer, are responsible for coining the term and introducing this to the world of science.

The premise of the Original SANDDUNE™ addresses:

neuromuscular disorders
performance acceleration
weight control
balance issues

In the realm of sports, it has been used by dancers, professional, amateur, and “school based” teams, and medically by physical/occupational therapists for injury and post surgery rehabilitation.

Your Internal GPS

Experiencing weight bearing activity on a compliant surface such as the Original SANDDUNE, engages use of proprioception otherwise known as your internal GPS. Exercise on this apparatus safely recruits muscle fiber without the traditional tearing that occurs on hard surfaces. This is why we suggest padding for at least 2 weeks to become acquainted with the Original SANDDUNE™’s unconventional surface.

Padding is simply walking but keeping your feet in constant contact with the surface. This is suggested for EVERYONE, including high-functioning athletic types. Resist the temptation to jog. Why? Because you are retraining every muscle CAM05362 and joint in your body including long and short muscles closest to the bone.

This is “mindful” centering of the somatosensory body (in this case determining the exact location of sensations on your body) – is a new way of educating and retraining the foundation of your physical body (neuropathways) using the SANDDUNE™.

Simply holding on to a bar and learning to stand on one leg with your other foot raised slightly above the pad after you have centered yourself or just standing and learning to create small dime size circles clock-wise and counter-clockwise under your foot, noticing how the sensation moves up your legs into the trunk and into the hip sockets, will help you begin to retrain your foundation.

Learning the subtleties of how the body aligns and connects through the resistance option of both uphill and downhill positions teaches postural integrity. The uphill slope is higher and simulates walking uphill. The downhill slope is lower and simulates walking downhill.

Beginning these exercises slowly and building speed and momentum may not feel like much to start, but the results will definitely make themselves known or felt in a relatively short time as the muscle activation becomes stronger and the movement easier.

Once you step off and resume walking on a normal surface, you will begin to notice subtle changes in your posture. This is your new way of educating and retraining the foundation of your core balance, strength, and coordination.

Why do I keep falling?

2014/01/20 2:40 PM / Leave a comment

As we become more aware of fall prevention across the country and around the globe, it has become apparent that once someone has fallen, more specifically in the 50+ age group, the fear of falling increases and walking properly becomes an issue.

Sometimes the resulting fear of taking another spill can create what I call the “ground watch” posture. We have all seen or know someone with the stooped or slouched upper body, the gaze fixed on the ground, and their arms barely swinging if they are not using a cane or walker. It makes it tough to walk when the knees hardly bend enough to lift feet clear of the ground or thinking that shuffling feet anchored to the ground will prevent a fall. In short this means their mechanism for reacting to shifts in walking surfaces is not used and is now severely diminished.

One may not realize that they are not lifting their feet off the ground when walking nor properly using their upper body when turning around to look behind themselves or to the side for fear they might trip. Poor reaction time makes them at risk for falling.

All of these newly developed “habits” make falling more probable which may be why so many seniors begin to fall more often. This gradually acquired way of walking becomes the “norm” instead of the natural activity of an “active,” upright upper body with swing arms that engage the hips as they work to lift the knees giving us our wonderful mechanics of walking or running. Get to a balance class and learn to use your body again!

Exercise in the pool is a great way to begin, too, since you are building your body by doing resistance training with water! How many people do not pass driving tests because they depend on the rear view mirror to tell them what is behind or beside them and will not turn and look when changing lanes?

Exercise on the Original SANDDUNE™ will help you restore diminished leg and core strength whether due to chronic illness like diabetic neuropathy, Parkinson’s or MS, stroke recovery, surgery (ie…hip or knee replacement) or a sedentary lifestyle. It provides a comforting and enjoyable way to get back on the fitness bandwagon!

Flow into your Fitness

2013/11/27 10:25 PM / Leave a comment

The Original SANDDUNE™, a unique aerobic/anaerobic compliant device invented for interval training to keep performance level from losing momentum during off weather or injury downtime.

Being able to excel on off days or rehab muscles and joints when the impact of the ground is over exhausting, SANDDUNE™ Cross Training excels in keeping your current level of fitness.

Increase Cardio, while Reduce or Build

Strengthen Muscular-skeletal, Body’s Core Muscles
Build Stamina, Endurance and Agility
Develops greater Dynamic Balance
Aids in Rehabilitation practices

The device allows the body to train:

up-hill, down-hill,
sitting, standing, leaning,
stretching, walking or running;

Similar to aqua-jogging, or plyometrics in the water, it offers therapeutic options easy on the joints.

“Flow” ~Artwork Courtesy of Kirk Wassell

Working on the SANDDUNE will allow one to learn how to:

Stand at the Center of Gravity with the core engaged, knees soft, back erect, belly button back and gaze straightforward.
Learn Feet and Foundation sense in the feet through learning to work the whole foot as weight shifts “around the clock.”
Develop and understand proprioception (the ability to sense the position, location, orientation and movement of the body and its parts) on an uneven, moving surface as all of the parts of the body are taught to work together. IE…learning to “marry” the trunk and the lower body for greater flexibility in movement and walking.