The Difference Between Good Health and Exceptional Health

Why do Chiropractors always want me to do these silly exercises? They don't really do anything.....do they? This is a question that I had years ago when I first went through chiropractic care prior to learning about corrective care. While in that particular office I wasn't given personalized exercises. Instead, I was handed a whole booklet of generic exercises without any instruction on which ones to do or how to do them. So what did I do? Simple, I didn't do them and didn't think twice about it.

So how about these exercises that I'm doing now that I'm under corrective care? That's a great question and I'm going to answer it with my own personal story.

I started corrective care with Dr. Jay almost 4 years ago now and it has been an amazing journey. In my first 3 months of care, coming in 3x per week, Dr J only adjusted my neck. Three months into my care I was amazed!! From only an upper cervical adjustment my forward head posture was gone, my hips were no longer all twisted up and my shoulders were now exactly were they were supposed to be!! How could that happen from only "cracking" my neck?

So, Getting regular adjustments every week gave me great results. My body responded very well and my health went to an even higher level. But what was it that took me to an exceptional level? It was the "Spinal Reconstructive Exercise Program," aka doing the exercises the Doctor prescribed. As a result of adding this one simple thing into my daily routine my spine went back exactly to where it should be, with only one side effect I was aware of.....NO MORE ALLERGIES!!

I've told lots of you this story because it is amazing how the body can heal and restore to "normal" function. Now I want to get to the real part of this story, the part I think is really important to hear. Following what the Doctor told me to do got me the results I was here to get, no question about it. However, after I had the results I wanted, I stopped doing my exercises and I lost the curve in my spine again even though I was still getting adjusted!! Did you catch that? Doing the exercises and getting adjusted is together what it takes to get full correction. It is also what is essential to keep your correction.

The message I want to get across is to stick with the exercise routine the Doctor gives because it is absolutely imperative if you want to go from good health to exceptional health.

Step by Step to go from Sedentary to Running

I was checking out www.mercola.com and found this great Step by Step action plan to take you from sedentary to running. My advice to you if you're wanting to start running is to get a really good pair of running shoes and follow the plan even if you think you can do more. I'm the worst at this because sometimes I think I'm superman and don't need to build my body up.

When I was first introduced to running I did a group run for 1 hour which because of my fitness level I thought was easy, so I did it again the next day and again the next, then I could hardly walk for 2 months because my knees were so badly beaten up.

This myth that running will ruin your knees Is False. There are many other factors that contribute to knee issues, nutrition for example. For me in this case, it was going from never running to all of a sudden running lots when even though I was physically in awesome shape, my body still wasn't used to that repeated impact. The moral of this story is to follow the plan because it will ease your body into running without any damaging effects.


Step 1: Start walking. Try walking just 3 times the first week, and four times the second. The first week, you only need to do 20-25 minutes. Increase to 25-30 minutes the second week. After this, you can graduate to the next step, but if you’d like to stay in this step for a week or two longer, that’s OK. If you stay longer, walk 4 times the third week, 30-35 minutes each time. The fourth week, stay at 4 times, but increase to 35-40 minutes.

Step 2: Start run/walking. Do this step very gradually, just a little more each time. For this step, you’ll continue to exercise 4 times a week. Warm up by walking for 10 minutes. Then do a very, very easy run/walk routine: jog lightly for 1 minute (or 30 seconds if that seems too hard), then walk for 2 minutes. Repeat these intervals for 10-15 minutes, then do a 10-minute walking cool down. Do this step for two weeks, or longer if you like.

Step 3: Lengthen the running. Once you’re comfortable running for a minute at a time, you’re ready to start running a little longer. Continue to exercise 4 times per week. Increase your running to 1 minute 30 seconds, with an equal walking (1:30 running, 1:30 walking) for 15 minutes. Do this a couple times or more, then increase running to two minutes, with walking for 1 minute. Do this a few times or more, then increase to running 2:30, walking 30 seconds to a minute. If any of these increases feels too hard, feel free to go back a step until you’re comfortable increasing. Don’t rush it. You should stay in this step for 2-3 weeks or more.

Step 4: Follow the Rule of 9. Once you start Step 3 above, you’re basically running with short walk breaks. This can seem difficult, but it’ll get easier. Commit to doing 9 running workouts in Step 3; after that, it will get easier. The first 9 running workouts can be difficult, but after that, it almost always gets better and more enjoyable. Don’t quit before the 9 running workouts!

You’re now a runner! You might be walking a little during your runs, but there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, feel free to keep doing walk breaks as you work on your running endurance. Some runners have been known to do a marathon with walk breaks, running 10 minutes and walking 1 minute. That’s completely fine. Eventually you probably won’t need the walk breaks, but no need to rush.

Step 5: Take your running to new levels. In this step, you want to continue taking your running to new levels. There are a number of ways to do this:

• Gradually increase your running until you can do 30-40 minutes of running at a time, 4 days a week..
• Sign up for a 5K. If you can run for 30-40 minutes, you can complete a 5K.
• Once you have increased your running to 30-40 minutes at a time, designate one run a week as your “long run”. Try to increase this by 5 minutes each week, until you can do an hour or more.
• Once you’ve got endurance, you can add some hills to your program. Add hills gradually, by finding a more hilly course, and eventually adding hill repeats.
• After hills, do a little speed workout once a week. Do intervals of a couple of minutes of medium-hard running, with a couple minutes of easy running. Make these speed workouts shorter than your normal runs; if you run for 40 minutes, do 25-30 minutes for your speed workouts. Be sure to warm up and cool down with easy running for 10 minutes.
• Run with a group, or run alone. Don’t always run alone or with a partner. Mix things up.
• Find new routes. Don’t always run the same routes. Try running on a track, in a different neighborhood, on a treadmill, on trails.
• After you’ve done a few 5Ks, sign up for a 10K. Then a half marathon. Then a marathon. But do one step at a time.

Most of all, enjoy your runs!