This multi-flavonoid compound helps in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and in the reduction of high blood pressure. Cassiolamine helps to maintain healthy blood vessels by reducing the adhesion (stickiness) of blood platelets, which promotes healthy blood flow. This important ingredient also serves as an anti-oxidant, which helps to maintain a healthy heart and improved immune system. What this natural legume-based extract is mostly known for is its powerful lipase-inhibiting features, which results in the prevention of fat absorption and an effective carbohydrate blocker.

Marc Quesnel, Valentus
www.experiencevalentus.com/healthyweight

Strengthening your bones is as important as strengthening your muscle. Exercise is essential to keeping your bones strong. It might seem like bone is solid, unchanging tissue, it constantly goes through remodeling, breaking down, as our body uses calcium, and building up. Once women hit menopause and estrogen levels plummet, the risk of osteoporosis skyrockets. That risk can be mitigated with calcium-rich foods and regular exercise. What is the best exercise for helping prevent osteoporosis? Exercises such as jogging or jumping rope force you to work against gravity and involve impact with the ground. We traditionally think of these high-impact activities as the best prevention against osteoporosis but strength training is also effective. Both activities put stress on the bone and create micro-trauma, which triggers bone remodeling and repair. Just as muscle gets stronger when it bears weight, so does bone. The Curves Circuit does double duty against osteoporosis because it includes both strength training exercises and cardio.

Curves International, 2016
www.curves.com

Tight hamstrings require regular stretching. But what is the best way to do this? Should I point my feet or bend my feet when I stretch my hamstring muscles? Either way is correct, depending on what you want to accomplish. A traditional sports stretch typically isolates the muscle and stretches it. When stretching the hamstring this way you would point your toes (like a ballerina) to elongate or relax your hamstring muscles. But in daily living activities the hamstrings do not operate in isolation. The hamstrings are often stretched with a series of soft tissues stretching from the back of the neck and along the back of the body and legs to the feet. To increase the ease of these functional activities (like getting into your car or even regular walking) when you stretch your hamstrings, you should flex your feet, as in point them up. Remember regular stretching helps to prevent injury!

Doug Christie
www.dougchristiephysiotherapy.com

Have you ever had shoulder pain? Did you know that the shoulder is the second most pain-affected joint in the body? Some common predisposing factors are age, gender, work conditions and repetitive postures/activities that compromise the rotator cuff tendons/muscles. Some of these factors we can’t change, but many can be modified. The shoulder can be physically readied with proper stretches and strengthening exercise as a prevention tactic. Here are a few things you can do to avoid being a shoulder statistic: Stretch your pecs. Tight chest muscles encourage a round shoulder posture and that compromises the rotator cuff tendons. Stand on a small step stool to reduce overhead reaching. Optimize your computer work station. Do not sleep with your elbow tucked under your head. Play a variety of sports so your body is not subject to the same challenge over and over. Prevention is always a better option than treatment!

Doug Christie, Doug Christie Physiotherapy and Associates

www.dougchristiephysiotherapy.com

Both fruits have been shown to reduce the risk of stroke. Researchers estimate that if every adult over age 50 ate an apple a day, there would be 8,500 fewer strokes and heart attacks every year. One medium apple has 95 calories and 4 grams of fiber. Half the vitamin C content is in the skin, so don’t peel it! And yes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away because its vitamin C may boost the body’s resistance to germs and viruses. One medium orange has 60 calories and 3 grams of fiber. It supplies 120% of your daily-recommended intake of vitamin C. While you’ll probably want to peel it before eating, you can add the orange layer of the peel (zest) minus the white part, to stews, roast poultry, or yogurt for a rich, citrusy taste and a dose of phenolic acids, powerful antioxidants also found in apples.

www.curves.com