Category Archives: Health

improve athletic performance

How Can I Improve My Athletic Performance

Achieve Your Fitness Goals with the Right Plan and the Wellness Support Your Body Needs

As we settle into a new year, many of us are turning our attention toward our own wellness goals. While resolutions can seem cliché, this time of year encourages us to reflect on the current state of our health and fitness. Many of us want to get in shape, improve cardiovascular health, or simply improve upon our current levels of athletic performance. If you have your sights set on making this year your healthiest yet, you can do it with the right help. Here are just a few ideas to help you get started:

  • In conjunction with your larger aims, be sure to set small, achievable goals for yourself. Seeing those little victories along the way will help fuel your motivation, and serve as benchmarks for your progress.
  • Create a plan that uses concrete training principles to improve athletic performance. If you are asking yourself, “How can I improve my athletic performance?” find a training plan that applies to your sport of choice and level of fitness. For example, if you want to up your running game, many free apps are available that address concepts of speed, distance, or all-terrain training. Research is your best ally when it comes to creating a successful training plan.
  • Make sure to get a check-up with your healthcare provider. You want to get a good idea of your current level of health so you can incorporate any pressing issues into your training plan, or make adjustments as needed. You want to ensure that you are not ignoring nutrition or safety recommendations that will help keep your body safe.
  • Keep track of your progress and be sure to take notes on your workouts and nutrition. For example, if you have a bad day, be sure to document where or when you were struggling in your workouts so that you can identify and overcome obstacles.

What If I Hit a Wall in My Training?

As you progress, you may face many obstacles like soreness, stiffness, injury, or simply the feeling that something just isn’t working correctly. Even with modifications and stretching, you still feel like your body is not living up to the potential you know is in there. If this happens, it may be time to look at an alternative cause: problems with your fascial system.

Your fascia, or connective tissue, runs throughout your body and helps your bones, muscles, and organs work together. Occasionally, parts of your fascia become tough or fibrous, thereby pulling your body out of alignment and hampering your performance.

The good news is that these issues can be corrected through a series of deep tissue bodywork called Rolfing®. This practice corrects these aberrations, and restores range of motion and springiness to your movements. In fact, Rolfing is considered to be one of the essential tips to improve athletic performance by professional athletes and dancers. They often turn to Rolfing for rapid recovery from sports injury, improved flexibility, or better form and posture.

About Author: In our area, Certified Advanced Rolfer® Bob Alonzi helps people of all fitness levels achieve their goals and improve personal wellness. As you begin your own journey toward your healthiest year, consider adding Rolfing to your self-care plan. To learn more, or to schedule a consultation, contact Bob Alonzi’s practice today at 310-451-3250!

What You May Be Missing in Your Quest for Better Health

The Wellness Puzzle

So many Americans struggle with the feeling that their bodies just are not working as they should. From low energy levels, to stiffness and pain, they feel the effects that both physical and mental stresses have on their bodies. They want to regain a sense of vitality, so that they can enjoy their lives to the fullest, rather than feel like they are moving in slow motion. The health and wellness industry well knows this, which is why we see endless infomercials offering the latest supplements, hottest exercise programs, and more. They make millions of dollars selling “cure-alls,” while we continue to search for solutions to overcome these struggles.

If you feel like your body just isn’t fulfilling its potential, now is the time to discover how Rolfing® structural integration may provide that missing piece of your individual wellness puzzle.

Structural integration bodywork aims to address an integral part of your body that many of us never really know about: your fascial system. Your fascia is the network of connective tissue that runs throughout your body, bringing together all of the parts into one, functioning whole. However, sometimes, issues with your fascial system, such as parts that have become thickened or fibrous, end up pulling your entire body out of alignment. At first, you may not notice this issue, but over time, that stiffness, poor posture, and general sense of discomfort all start creeping in. Rolfing aims to correct these aberrations through deep tissue body work, which helps correct any fascial aberrations. As a result, Rolfing helps people improve posture and ease of movement while also reducing chronic pain and restoring a sense of vitality.

About Author: As a trusted structural integration practitioner, Certified Advanced Rolfer® Bob Alonzi believes that our own paths to personal wellness our as individualized as we are. However, he is also passionate about educating his clients on how their fascial systems contribute to their overall health. If you want to learn more about Rolfing, and how it can help you feel better, stronger, and more in tune with your body, contact his office at 310-451-3250 for an appointment.

When Your Work And Life Balance Is Off Kilter

You know the feeling. Stretched to the limit. Candle burning at both ends. When you’re at work you feel guilty staying late. And you try to get a few things done on the Internet to save you time at home. When you’re home you’re answering work e-mails and texting your boss. Work and home lines blur. You feel frazzled. Exhausted. And ineffectual at both home and work.

Let’s face it. In this economy it often seems necessary to go to work early and stay late. People take fewer vacations and don’t even use all the time they’re allotted. Meanwhile, their general well being suffers, to say nothing of their relationships. If this is how you feel, it’s time to step back and take inventory.

What can you do to recalibrate your work/life balance?

Step up your exercise routine. Chances are, you’ve let it lapse. You probably feel the only way you’ll get an extra hour here and there is to cut yoga class or skip your morning run. But, in fact, exercise can be the very boon you need to make you more productive. Research shows exercise can help you feel more alert and boost your energy level. It’s one of those things you don’t want to do when you’re dragging, but glad you did once you’ve done it. It also helps keep you healthy—you don’t have time to be sick!

Cut back on people and things that sap your energy. Do you really need to read everyone’s Facebook posts three times a day? And how about learning to say no to the colleague who corners you with boring stories in the lunchroom? Or the person who sucks you into needless drama that you’d be better off without? Perhaps you have a pile of papers on your desk that gets bigger every day. Make it a practice to handle each item only once—either take action or file it or throw it away. Think about how you spend your days. Are there other ways you can cut back on wasted time and energy?

Put relaxation into your schedule. Most people plan their days to include all the things they’re going to do. But don’t pack your days so tightly that you don’t have time for a little fun and relaxation. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time. But everyone can take ten minutes a day to meditate.  Or a 20-minute afternoon nap. And it wouldn’t kill you to leave the office early every so often. Or just sit at your desk for five minutes with your eyes closed while you take a few deep breaths. Or take 20 minutes for a yoga sun salutation. Or just simply go outside and enjoy the fresh air.

About Author: Nancy Travers is an Orange County Counseling professional. If you need safe, effective counseling services, please get in touch. You can reach her here: http://www.nancyscounselingcorner.com/contact-us.

A Basic Guide To Medicare Supplemental Insurance

What You Need To Know About Medicare Medigap Insurance

Medicare, on average, covered a little less than half of its enrollees’ health care costs, according to the most recent figures available. Thus, the need for a supplemental insurance policy, or Medigap coverage, as its known.

Medigap policies are sold by private insurance companies such as ours. They can help pay some of the health care costs that Medicare doesn’t cover, like copayments, coinsurance and deductibles. Some policies will also cover select services that Medicare won’t, including health care when you travel abroad. But Medigap does not cover long-term care, vision or dental care, hearing aids, eyeglasses or private nurses.

There are 10 standard Medigap policies, each of them named after a letter from the alphabet. Medigap A is considered the most basic policy. It extends complete coverage for Medicare Part A coinsurance and hospital costs, Medicare Part B coinsurance or copayments and Part A hospice care coinsurance or copayment.

There is no difference between Medigap policies among insurers. The plans’ details are dictated by the federal and state governments. The only difference is in the providers, which vary from insurer to insurer. To quickly and easily reference provider directories for each of the Medigap insurers visit our Doctor and Hospital Finder.

Once you’re enrolled, you pay us a monthly premium for your Medigap policy in addition to the monthly Part B premium that you pay to Medicare. (You must have Medicare Part A and Part B to register for Medigap coverage. If you receive benefits under the Medicare Advantage Plan, you need to end your coverage before your Medigap policy takes effect.) And any standardized Medigap policy is guaranteed to be renewed, regardless of any health issues, as long as the premium is paid according to schedule.

Medigap policies are only available to individuals, so you and your spouse will need to enroll separately.

For a free evaluation of which Medigap policy is the best fit for you, contact California Insurance Finder specializes in finding affordable medical health plans in California