This past week a patient commented, "I feel like my muscles are tightening up to prevent me from moving into certain positions."  I exclaimed, "You could not be more correct!"

This tight, inhibiting feeling is the effect of your body's own protective mechanisms. When your body (nervous system) senses joint instability and/or muscle inhibition, it will not go into certain ranges of motion - whether it is trunk rotation, hip or knee flexion, cervical rotation, or any combination of ranges healthy joints can attain - because it does not feel safe doing so. In addition, when instability and inhibition do exist, the brain recruits other working muscles to work extra hard (certain muscles get tight). 

This much is certain: restricted motion correlates with pain or injury. This is usually your body recognizing instability and making an effort to protect you. These protective mechanisms insure that we do not enter a range we cannot control. This protection comes from the body's nervous system feedback.

Whether due to an acute injury involving inflammation or improper biomechanics over time, the body will favor its positions of strength. That is, the body is a great compensator. The body will work most efficiently with what it has to work with. These compensations continued over time lead to repetitive stress injuries and further imbalances and mal-alignments.

Whatever the reason for the imbalance, recovering proper muscle activation, function, and balance can be achieved and can be experienced immediately. Then, through specific isometric and other forms of corrective exercise, proper muscle activation and firing sequences can be reinforced and maintained.

The end result is not only increased mobility (range of motion), but also stability throughout the newfound range. Take a second to reread the last sentence. It is an important point to consider, for you are only as good as the motion that you can control.

Too much sodium can increase your blood pressure as well as your risk of stroke. Fortunately, there are some simple solutions to help you control your intake.

The most effective and simple strategy is to cook food at home as often as possible. If you eat out frequently, you can bet that you are ingesting more sodium than you should. When cooking at home, include fresh vegetables, fruits, fresh meat, poultry, fish, and conservative amounts of grains.

If a recipe calls for salt, use it sparingly or better yet, skip it altogether. If you are not into the natural flavor of foods, maximize flavor with spices and other flavor-enhancers (flavored olive oil, herbs) instead. Using low-sodium and no-salt marinades is a smart way to infuse meats and fish with flavor without loading up on salt. Rinse and drain any canned foods to wash away some of the salty components in the packing juices. When cooking starches and grains, do not salt the water.

Another way to keep your sodium intake in check is to shop wisely. When in the market, search out sodium-free, low-sodium or no-salt convenience foods. Reading the Nutrition Facts Panel is an easy way to gauge the amount of sodium in the food you are buying.

According to the FDA, if a food item contains more than 20 percent daily value (DV) of a nutrient, then a serving of that food is considered to contain a high amount of that nutrient. Five percent DV is considered low. For sodium, 20 percent DV equals 460 mg of sodium, while 5 percent DV is 115 mg.

A third point to keep in mind regarding sodium intake is to watch out for "low-fat" foods. Lower-fat or fat-free products that are often purchased by individuals are oftentimes higher in sodium than their full-fat counterparts. When fat, a major flavor-enhancer, is removed, other ingredients such as sodium are often added to compensate. 

You want another way to help yourself? Beware of hidden ingredients. Deli meats, jarred condiments, cake mixes, flavored milks, and snack foods contain ingredients that add sodium. While some of these foods may not taste salty, there are many forms sodium can take which are often found within the nutritional profile of these foods and more.

They are: sodium benzoate (preservative), sodium bicarbonate (texture enhancer), sodium citrate (pH influencer), sodium hydroxide (pH influencer), sodium alginate (thickener), disodium inosinate (flavor enhancer), and disodium guanylate (flavor enhancer).

Lastly, here is an example of how the same legume can have vastly different sodium content depending on how it is packaged and prepared.

1- (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained = 815 mg sodium
1- can organic black beans, rinsed and drained = 420 mg sodium
1- can unsalted black beans, rinsed and drained = 90 mg

Joint pain is a primary, and of course well-known, consequence of arthritis. What may be less known is that arthritis is a constellation of conditions and actually refers to more than 100 different diseases affecting areas in and around joints. One thing that the estimated 46 million adults and 300,000 children affected by these conditions would agree on is that pain can be a relatively ongoing problem.

In the fight against arthritis, drugs are an all-too-common treatment option. While there is a time and place for drugs, why settle for them when they come with potential side effects and adverse reactions? There are several natural, nontoxic approaches to help ease arthritis pain.  Here are a few simple suggestions to consider.

• Omega-3 Fatty Acid supplement - Quality brand at moderate doses per day (3-6 grams / day) helps fight inflammation.
• Designs For Health Arthrosoothe - This super supplement contains MSM, NAC, Collagen II, Hyaluronic Acid, Glucosamine, and other natural anti-inflammatory ingredients.
• Healthy food choices - What you eat can play a role in reducing arthritis pain or doing just the opposite - making the pain even worse.
• Regular moderate exercise - Regular exercise helps strengthen the muscles around your joints. The type of arthritis and the joints involved will determine which exercises are ideal.
• Proper Body Mechanics - To minimize stress on your joints, it is important to ensure that biomechanics are as efficient as possible. This includes both soft tissue quality and proper joint movement, and of course good postural habits.