How to turn your bedroom into a bat cave for quality sleeping:
1. Do not have night lights in the bedroom.
2. Cover up any appliances emitting light such as alarm clocks or cell phones.
3. Minimize time spent in front of a laptop, smart phone, T.V. or other sources of bright light within at least an hour of going to bed.
4. Personally, I think it’s unromantic and downright trashy to have a T.V. in the bedroom. You’ll be tempted to stay up and watch T.V. which will increase cortisol levels, decrease sleep quality and you could be spending quality time with your significant other instead.
5. Put a night light in the bathroom if it is in close proximity to the bedroom. This will allow you to perform your duties in the bathroom and not expose yourself to brighter light or affect the other person in the bedroom.
6. Purchase black out curtains or some type of shade that completely blocks out all outside light.
Shift work and bat caving your room.
Recently I had a registered nurse consult me about her adrenal fatigue . One of the first things I suggested she change was her bedroom lighting conditions. She would get home at 11:00pm and fall asleep at 2am, then get poor quality sleep after the sun came up around 6:30am. This is actually not her fault, but she can control her environment.
How does light disturb sleep?
According to an article in PubMed:
“The circadian timekeeping system also ensures that circadian rhythms are appropriately synchronized to the external physical environment and work and social schedules. Circadian misalignment is the basis for all circadian rhythm sleep disorders. These disorders are often associated with impairments of cognitive performance that can have adverse effects on school and work performance, overall quality of life, and safety.”
If your work and social schedule do not match the rhythms of the sun (light is the prime factor influencing the circadian rhythm), you will have to artificially create your own environment to get the quality of sleep you need.
If you have lower back pain, the best way to get out of a chair may not be intuitive. Before I wrote this blog, I was curious to see what information in the world wide web was out there on the topic. Unfortunately, many of the common recommendations out there on the web are perfect examples of what not to do.
To find out, I simply plugged in the key words “how to get out of a chair safely”. Several sites came up which were articles by various professionals, and to my surprise many of them had similar faulty instructions. Unfortunately, most of the getting out of the chair techniques and instructions were simply incorrect or downright dangerous.
The first link in my key word search that came up was written by a osteopathic doctor. The instructions of this link are numbered below. I must say that the recommendations were so appalling it inspired me to create a video (which you will see further down the article) on how to properly get out of a chair with low back pain.
Below are the instructions from the osteopath I found that I do not recommend:
Move your bottom to the edge of the chair.
Place both feet firmly and flat on the floor.
Place both hands on the arm rests of the chair. If there are no arm rests, then place both hands on the edge of the chair.
Lean forward so that your nose is over your toes.
Push down through your arms as you help unload your weight off the chair.
As you are pushing down through your arms, begin straightening your legs.
Let go of the chair and finish straightening your legs.
Stand up nice and straight.
In the video below I will demonstrate how to properly get out of a chair when you are experiencing low back pain. In some individuals with conditions such as severe spinal stenosis or spondylolisthesis may need a more customized approach. However, for the vast majority experiencing low back pain, this technique below is effective.
Not mentioned in the above video is what to do if you are attempting to rise out of a chair with arm supports. When rising from a chair with arm supports you’ll need to slide forward closer to the edge of the seat pan to clear the thighs. If not, the arm supports will block the thighs, lower legs and feet from being able to spread apart.
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There are several variations of the squat pattern, but can you guess which one creates the greatest amount of activity in the gluteal muscles? Hands down, the sumo squat will activate glute muscles more than any other squat due to the mechanics of the lift. Using a wider stance squat opens up the hips and allows a greater depth to be achieved.
According to the EMG studies, during a standing squat, the greatest activity occurs within the glutes at angles greater than ninety degrees in the knee joints. Most of the U.S. population does not have the hip flexibility to squat below ninety degrees, which results in muscle imbalances often leading to low back pain or knee pain.
Many of our clients whom are just beginning an exercise program are coming in with what’s called a crossed-pelvis syndrome. That syndrome means the glutes are inhibited during squatting patterns (1). The sumo squat can help reverse this syndrome, but it is not enough to get rid of it.
A comprehensive program to specifically retrain/reactivate the glutes should be implemented by a fitness professional in order to completely reverse crossed-pelvis syndrome.
What are some of the contraindications of the sumo squat?
In order to properly perform a sumo squat (or deadlift) you will need a fair amount of flexibility in the adductor muscle group as well as good hip flexion range of motion. If you do not have the required amount of flexibility while performing the lift, medial knee pain or injury becomes likely. Other structures such as the ankles, hips and lower back are highly subject to injury without being qualified by a professional to perform the sumo style lift.
What makes the sumo squat worth mastering?
If you are able to master this lift, your risk of back injury goes down in a big way. If you look at the sumo wrestler on the right in the image above, you’ll note how upright his torso is. This wrestler does have a little advantage with the rope as a heel lift, but I bet you he has the ability to squat almost as vertical without the rope. Since the position of the torso is more upright in a sumo squat, the transmission of forces running through the lumbar spine is greatly reduced.
I am not suggesting that other traditional forms of parallel squats with feet shoulder with apart are bad, but they can be for some. The concept of keeping a vertical torso when squatting with heavier loads becomes an even greater consideration with those who have shorter legs and longer torsos. Thus, men have a much greater risk of low back injury by default (genetically having longer torsos) when performing a feet parallel-shoulder-width squat.
Mastering a sumo squat enables you to get closer to the object you are lifting. In contrast, lifting the same object with a traditional back loaded squat equates to a much longer lever arm, thereby creating a mechanical disadvantage. Developing strength in a sumo squat pattern will result in you being able to lift heavy objects in real life more safely. To watch a video of how to perform a sumo style squat/dead-lift click here.
Sources:
(1) Stuart McGill: Low Back Disorders Second Edition (p.177)
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