Four Lessons about Health and Wellness for High School Students

The life of a high school student today can be quite stressful. In addition to the demands of rigorous coursework they take during the day, many students participate in extra-curricular activities like music, athletics, performing arts, etc. On top of all that, many students hold part-time jobs and are active members of their church community.  High school students are at the stage in their life when they are trying to figure out who they are and who they want to become. Many students are also plagued with performing for the “imaginary audience” they believe is always watching them, whether that be in person or through social media. 

So, how can we help our students become better, healthier versions of themselves? We can teach them lifelong strategies that will improve their self-awareness, self-esteem, and overall well-being.

Here are four lessons that will benefit high school students today:

1. Fitness goes far past the court, track, or field.

Nearly 8 million high school students participate in high school athletics today. That is a wonderful thing! Athletics teach things like persistence, hard work, grit, team work, among many other things. Students work hard attending practices, lifting weights, and watching film for a variety of different athletics. Student-athletes will push themselves hard during a season to pull off as many wins as they can. While this is all great, it is important for students to learn that fitness goes beyond any court, field, swimming pool, or track. The key to a healthy life is to incorporate a variety of different exercises into your lifestyle. A person should do cardio, strength training, flexibility training, etc. This should all be happening on their own time, even on the off-season, and especially after they graduate high school and are on their own. Exercise is so good for the body in so many ways. It improves physical health, mental health, and research has found it can add years to your life. It is hard for students to feel motivated to exercise when they do not have a coach telling them what to do or a team to work out with. Many injuries we treat at the clinic are from over-use, or students who do not incorporate a variety of different exercises into their routine. It is important to teach teens the benefits of doing a variety of exercises on their own---exercises they can continue once they graduate. 

2. Food is fuel.

High school students today also need to learn that food is fuel. Adolescent teens, especially active ones, have high metabolisms. It seems as though they can eat a pizza and a huge chocolate shake and metabolize it quickly. While this is true in most cases, that type of eating is actually harming students. Many students suffer from fatigue, stress, acne, and illnesses in addition to a host of other issues. The majority of these issues can be resolved simply by changing what they eat. Just because a high school student has a higher metabolism does not mean they should eat whatever junk they want. Students should stick to whole foods and avoid processed foods. They need to drink lots of water, especially if they are an athlete. Teaching these healthy eating habits now will carry over to when they are out on their own. 

3. Think before you act.

High school students are at the stage in their life where they do not always think before they act. This is no fault of theirs. Their prefrontal cortex (the part of their brain that controls reasoning) is not fully developed until they turn 25. Adolescent teens tend to act off impulse, instant gratification, and peer pressure. Again, this is no fault of theirs--it is how their brain functions. In order to help them with this, students need to practice making slow decisions and thinking before they act. Students need to learn self-regulation. Taking the time to make thoughtful decisions as opposed to acting on impulse will help students overall mental and physical well-being. 

4. Turn your phone off.

One of the most important lessons a student can learn is how to turn off their phones. While phones and all the apps that come with them are beneficial in many ways, students need to learn how to communicate without them. The imaginary audience they believe follows them impacts their self-esteem, self-concept, and their stress levels. In addition to that, learning how to communicate face-to-face is a skill they need to learn before entering the “real world” after high school. Teach students to turn their phones off during times they need to focus, times they need to communicate face-to-face with people, and especially before they go to sleep at night. 

What Makes it "Cold and Flu Season"?

We are exposed to germs, pathogens, and viruses all year, so what makes the winter months seemingly worse when it comes to “cold and flu” season?

We are exposed to these “germs” year-round, they do not suddenly become more present during the winter months. However, there are definitely circumstances during the winter months that make us, especially the very young and the elderly, more susceptible to getting the cold and flu. We are more susceptible to cold and flu bugs because our defenses are lower during the winter months.

Think about how you spend your time during these colder months. While these months are cozy, they tend to keep us indoors by the fireplace watching movies. As a result, we get less fresh air in our lungs. Not only do we not go outside as much, but we do not open up our houses. We do not get nearly as much (if any) vitamin D from the sun because we are not outside. We get less exercise because we are not outside on walks, working in our yards, or running around chasing our kids and grandkids. The air in our houses during these months tends to be recirculated heat that dries out our mucous membranes that protect our sinuses from infection.

In addition to simply staying indoors more, we also tend to eat less fresh produce and instead turn to processed “comfort food” in the winter months. We also get to enjoy holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas which bring an overconsumption of sugar during the winter months.

The good news is that there are things we can do to beef up our immune system during these winter months. You cannot really pump yourself full of herbs or supplements to keep illness away. Your immune system and your health stems largely from what you eat, how much exercise you get, and how much time you spend outside. Our suggestions for you to help improve your immune system this winter are to do the following:

Spend more time outside…even in the cold. Fresh air and vitamin D do wonders for your immune system.

Cook your own organic, whole foods, and avoid processed, boxed, or sugary foods. Every bite you take is either fueling the illness or fighting it.

Make an effort to exercise more. Making an effort to exercise will beef up your immune system while also providing your natural endorphins that fight the “winter blues.”

Run a humidifier in your house during times when your heat is constantly on.

Eat mineral rich bone broth and increase the amount of concentrated vitamin D you take in orally.

There is no “magic” shot or supplement that will keep you free from illness this winter. Your best defense is to fuel your body with healthy foods, frequent exercise, and fresh air during the months when we are more susceptible to cold and flu bugs.

How Chiropractic Can Help Babies and Children

There is so much that goes into raising a healthy child. Babies and children go through an incredible amount of physical, cognitive, and social/emotional changes as they develop over the years. Many people might not realize that the spine is the first thing that is developed in the womb, and as a result, it controls the entire nervous system. Making sure your child’s spinal cord is properly aligned and healthy can benefit your child in many ways.

Chiropractic can help your child before they are even born. There are many benefits to getting chiropractic care during pregnancy. In addition to relieving back pain that often comes with carrying a baby, chiropractic adjustments can help achieve optimal alignment and stability in the pelvis and uterus. This can help with round ligament pain and uterine torsion while making more room for the baby to move around and get in the optimal position for labor and delivery.

After a little one arrives, chiropractic care can also help with a variety of things. Being born is the most traumatic event our bodies will likely go through, and seeking out chiropractic care soon after delivery can help the baby restore optimal spinal and nervous system function. Think of how much stress a baby’s head, spine, and body go through as they travel through the birth canal. Chiropractic care can help relieve some of the stress from that experience.

In addition to this, chiropractic care can help with colic, difficulty breastfeeding, reflux, stiffness, constipation or gas pains, in addition to a wide variety of other issues newborns may face. Dr. Redenius uses gentle adjusting techniques to treat subluxations that may be hindering your child from optimal health.

As a child grows and develops, chiropractic care can help with ear infections, congestion, difficulty sleeping, balance/coordination, hyperactivity, bedwetting, anxiety, headaches or migraines, sports performance, as well as many other issues. Chiropractic care can also simply help improve posture and overall health. 

Many parents do not realize that chiropractic can help alleviate or resolve more issues than simple back pain. Supporting the delicate fibers of your child’s nervous system through chiropractic care can help ensure proper growth and development, healing, immune function, digestion, and healthy living. 

Function over Fitness

“Functional Fitness” has become a buzzword in gyms and fitness centers lately, and it is for good reason. Functional fitness means to train your body to handle real life situations or to simply improve how your body functions on a daily basis.

When the winter months roll around, we tend to get lots of new members at the fitness center hoping to exercise off the holiday pounds that are put on by the pies, turkey and mashed potatoes we tend to over-indulge in. While this is good practice in theory, it is important to remember that the fitness center can be utilized by all ages year-round, and it can be used for far more benefits than exercising off the extra piece of dessert you ate at Thanksgiving.

Think of the body as a machine — a very high maintenance machine. Our bodies require more maintenance than any machine, like a car or tractor. When we take care of our cars, for example, we change the oil, rotate the tires or fill it up with good fuel. Even more so, our bodies require this type of preventative maintenance to run smoothly. Working on our functional fitness combined with fueling our bodies with good food will undoubtedly improve the quality of life we experience.

Working to improve your functional fitness means exercising in a way that prepares you to lift a toddler out of a carseat, or simply go on a walk around the block. Take a bent-over row, for example. A bent-over row builds muscles in your arms, shoulders and back. This same motion occurs when a mechanic bends over to adjust something in the engine, or a nurse bends over to transfer a patient to a new bed. These types of exercises will undoubtedly carry over into your normal life--regardless of how old you are or what your profession is. 

We built the fitness center to promote overall health and wellness for our community members, as we see people every day that struggle with different pains that have been plaguing them for years. Many of these ailments could be resolved with weekly exercise. Think of how many people could avoid a surgery like a rotator cuff surgery if they had spent the years prior doing exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff muscle.

Yes, the fitness center is there to promote weight loss and provide community members with a way to exercise year-round, but it is also there to improve our bodies function through regular exercise. Any research study will tell you that regular exercise improves your mood, is good for your bones and muscles, increases your energy, decreases your risk for chronic disease and can help reduce pain. Improving muscle tone and losing weight are often secondary benefits to seeking out improved functional fitness. 

Lake City 24 Hour Fitness is for community members of all ages. There are weights, cable machines, cardio machines, a NuStep and many other options for people of all ages and ability levels. There are no contracts, and there’s even a senior citizen discount. Take a chance at improving your functional fitness today by seeing what regular exercise can do for you and your quality of life.