Balance and Canes and Walkers, Oh My!!!!

2015/10/15 7:01 PM / Leave a comment

I feel unsure of my balance and need a walker or a cane for support right now. My friends tell me that I shuffle my feet. How can Original SANDDUNE™ help me? Working out on Original SANDDUNE™ both strengthens and conditions the muscles and the joints of the lower body because it engages them more fully in the process of walking and movement. It connects the muscles of your abdominal core, hip chamber and psoas muscle which is weak in many people who have reduced or stopped their physical activity and lost the ability to lift their legs properly when walking, thus shuffling their feet.

Neuropathy, Toes and Original SANDDUNE™

Stretching and Walking on Original SANDDUNE™

If you are having this problem you may also have issues with your feet and experience neuropathy as a result. The unique surface and flexibility of the SANDDUNE™, allows you to exercise your toes, foot and ankle, individually and collectively. This means your foot is “relearning” how to work together as a unit. Your anchor system to the ground is stronger and has better circulation and range of movement. You “relearn” to look up and look “ahead” to what is coming instead of down in anticipation of falling.

Labor Day 2014 – Original SANDDUNE Celebrates Caregivers

2014/08/31 12:07 AM / Leave a comment

Rehabilitation

Caregivers need to keep their Fitness and Vitality in check!

As more and more Baby Boomer age, their adult children are shouldering caregiving for parents, children and grandchildren simultaneously. As a result many tend to forget to take care of themselves. This holds true for Boomers opting to stay at home preferring care from family, usually the spouse who juggles responsibilities with the adult children.

Fitness and healthy eating become a thing of the past. Oftentimes it is the caregiver that everyone depends on who turns into the patient, becoming incapacitated and unable to care for anyone.

Pad & Short Burst Cardio

Original SANDDUNE™ provides a viable answer for many caregivers who are “home bound” and or juggling time between “generational” needs/demands with little backup support more often than not. It creates discipline and provides that valuable time for focus on fitness at home in a time frame that works even if flexibility is part of the equation. Its there, ready for action.

Senior Citizens

With assistance, the gentle low impact exercise that SANDDUNE™ offers, makes it a Fall Prevention exercise alternative to discuss with the doctor or physical therapist for the parents who are frustrated with reduced physical activity and mobility due to weight gain, surgery, illness or injury inclusive of diabetic neuropathy, Parkinson’s, aching knees, or drop foot.

Fun on the SANDDUNE

The unique benefit of Original SANDDUNE™ is created by its ability to provide “mirror” muscle resistance by simulating walking through loose sand at the beach and the light weight, portability and “squishy” surface make it fun and easy for grandkids to use.

Fitness & Train Low Workout

Begin your simulated “beach workout at home” today. Start slow with padding for 15 minutes twice a day and build from there to maintain or begin building that healthy lifestyle of core balance, muscle strength, fitness, vitality, eating and a brighter outlook on Life with Original SANDDUNE™.

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.

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!