Squatting for health

Squat For Health

When you think of squatting, you may imagine a muscular gym enthusiast holding a massive barbell on his back, with enormous amounts of weight at either side. But squatting doesn’t have to be over-the-top to be effective, nor is it only something bodybuilders should do. In fact, due to the immense physical benefits of squatting, we should all strive, regardless of fitness level or ability, to incorporate this motion into our daily lives.

The squat activates some of the most neglected, and most important muscles such as your glutes, hamstrings, and quads. These muscles are integral for maintaining and improving basic functions like getting out of your car, rising from a chair, or walking up the stairs. In a Brazilian study of over 2,000 people, squatting was shown to increase life expectancy after the age of 65. It is also the position most women in the world assume while giving birth (outside of North America), as it effectively opens up the pelvis. Squatting has also been known to relieve constipation and hemorrhoids by relaxing the pelvic floor, both of which have become endemic in our modern culture.

To understand what a squat is foundationally, let’s break it up into two movements: the hip hinge and the knee bend. To hinge at your hips, stand tall with your feet shoulder width apart and lean your torso forward, keeping your back straight. You will find that your hips naturally move backwards. Return to standing. Next, bend at your knees. You may only be able to perform a slight bend—that is perfectly okay. Do what you can and come back up. Use support if needed, and repeat the movements until they feel comfortable. When you feel ready, combine the movements together. Keep in mind that it is the descending motion that the most crucial element of the squat, so perform this part of the motion with utmost concentration.

If you experience difficulty performing these movements, you can request that your Registered Massage Therapist demonstrate them for you, as well as observe you while you attempt the movement. There can be many reasons why a person may find the squat challenging, and a skilled therapist can help to pinpoint the restrictions. Treatments can be focused on lengthening the affected muscles and increasing joint range of motion to help you improve your squat.

If you don’t use it, you lose it, and we want to see you living with full function so that you may live your best life, achieving all you set out to do. Squat daily and reap the benefits!

Maureen, RMT

Simplified Caesar Salad Dressing

Salad season is on the way!

Here are some reasons why you should ditch the bottled dressings and spend an extra 5 minutes making your own:

• They are full of artificial flavours

• They contain unnecessary sugars (like high-fructose corn syrup…who needs that on a salad… or ever?)

• Bottled dressings are also made with tons of preservatives to prolong their shelf life … ever wonder why they don’t expire for 2 years?

• These types of dressings are also loaded with trans-fat (the bad kind of fat!)

All that being said, there are some bottled dressings you can buy with some clean ingredients and lower on the preservative side (these can be pretty pricey for a bottle though). The bigger picture here is that if you are making a dressing from scratch it’s going to 1. Taste better not only because its super fresh but also because you made it yourself (isn’t that always the way!) 2.  You don’t have to have 10 bottles of half used dressing in your fridge for years and years and years…you get the point. If you make your own, you can make as much as you need and there is no waste! 3. You can control the ingredients you put in your dressing, if there are any dietary restrictions or allergies this is the perfect way to know exactly what you are getting!

 The recipe for this salad dressing is a Caesar style dressing, its light, healthy and full of flavour!

 Caesar Salad Dressing:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 clove of Garlic

2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tablespoon Tamari (or coconut aminos)

1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp Dijon Mustard (I like to use an organic brand and make sure it is free of canola oil)

Sea Salt & Pepper to taste!

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a food processor, blend until smooth. You can also use an immersion blender or even a regular blender! If you don’t have any of those, make sure the garlic is minced well and whisk all ingredients together and let stand for a few minutes before using to make sure all the flavours come together.

Enjoy & happy BBQ’ing!

Like this dressing? Check out our “Perfect summer dip” recipe by clicking HERE.