All posts tagged: Colorado

Dr. Kenney’s Friday 5 Spot

On Fridays I like to share some of the experiences I’ve had during the week with patients and in my personal life that I’ve found significant in some way.  I like to share them in hopes that you might find value in them and have something resonate with you in your life.  

As a chiropractor, are you for or against physical therapy?  I get this often and the answer is that I’m very much for it.  For whatever reason, people often think this must be a one or the other type thing, but it does not need to be.  As a chiropractor, I focus on correcting underlying structural issues with the spine to impact the nervous system in a positive way.  Physical therapy will focus more on stretching, strengthening, and rehabbing the musculature around it.  Adjustments will help PT because you’ll be able to get stronger around better spinal alignment thus enhancing the results.  Likewise, PT will help you hold your adjustments better as you address the musculature around the spine and maximize its ability to maintain proper position.  Both chiropractic and physical therapy are extremely valuable, and I’ve seen excellent results over the years separately and especially when combined.

A lesson from an unlikely source?  My 2-year-old son is a unique boy.  One of his trademarks when he doesn’t want your help or does not want to do something is to wave at you very pleasantly and say, “bye bye.”  He rarely can keep his pants or a diaper on so I’m not suggesting you follow all his advice but this one I like.  Too often in life we say yes to things we know won’t help us or serve us in the long run.  When we do this, it can add unnecessary stress and chaos to our lives.  We get overbooked, over-worked, and have less time to focus on our true priorities.  Rather than doing this time and again, we’d all be better off saying “bye bye” to some of these things.  As adults we often make things very complicated but sometimes going back to the simplicity of our childhood ways is just what we need.

Any advice on eating better?  One general thing I often recommend is to learn to cook about 6-10 relatively simple but healthy meals for yourself.  These need not be Gordon Ramsey level dishes, just things with healthy ingredients that you’ll enjoy eating.  In my experience, when people have access to healthy food, they’re more likely to eat it.  When healthy food is not readily available, this is often when people turn to fast food or less nutritious choices.  If cooking is not your thing, try to find takeout places that offer healthy options that you can take advantage of.  Examples of dishes I like to cook are chili, steaks, acai bowls, various chicken dishes, etc. and take out options I use regularly are Chipotle and Mod Market.

A great lesson from a patient?  A patient of mine has gotten involved in Jiu-jitsu for the first time and has been at it for two months.  She has been working hard but has taken her lumps as well.  Recently, she was unexpectedly awarded her first stripe.  She was thrilled to receive it and it was like fuel to her self-confidence, drive, and commitment. 

To me this reinforced 3 important lessons.  First, hard work always pays off and is always noticed eventually.  Second, you gain far more self-respect when you must struggle to earn something as opposed to when it’s just given to you.  Finally, we should all challenge ourselves more often to try something new that we’re not instantly or naturally good at.  Having the courage to try our hand at a new skill or new project is good for us – it keeps us humble, improves our focus and keeps us driven. 

Some quotes I love? 

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”

“We’re born with a killer instinct that you can’t just turn off and on like some radio.  We have to be in the middle of the action because we’re the warriors.  And without some challenge, some damn war to fight then the warrior may as well be dead.” – Apollo Creed

“In the beginning of change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned.  When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.” – Mark Twain

Want more?

• Don’t forget to follow Dr. Kenney on Instagram @Coloradochiropractor
• To see previous Friday 5 Spots, visit www.newbodychiro.com and go to “blog”
• Check us out on Facebook under New Body Chiropractic

Dr. Kenney’s Friday 5 Spot

I interact with hundreds of patients each week and get asked a lot of questions.  On Fridays I like to share some of the answers I give and hope it has value for you.

Anything good you’ve seen in all this mess over the past week?  There is always good, yes.  One of the things I believe strongly in is that every person must have a code that they live by.  Your code is your sense of morality, principles, and beliefs.  It is essentially what will guide every decision you make and will let you know instantly whether it’s right or wrong by how you feel afterwards.  If you can rest easy after a decision then you followed your code, if not then you haven’t. 

I saw a perfect example of this over the weekend when a white police officer found himself separated from his squad with an angry crowd closing in around him.  Instantly several black men came to his aid and locked arms, surrounding and protecting him.  I showed this to my sons and pointed out how amazing this was.  Those men were out there to express themselves over an injustice that had occurred.  But as mad as they must have been, their code would not allow them to have someone else that did not deserve to become victimized be allowed to come to harm in front of them whether he was a policeman or not.  I found this act to be of the highest character possible – making a selfless and moral decision though it was not a popular one in the highest stress situation imaginable.  It’s been a bad week, but those men are just one example of the good that we are capable of. 

Something you’ve enjoyed lately?  On Saturday night my family and I went out to a nice restaurant and enjoyed a great meal together for the first time since March. The restaurants in the area were all very busy and other than the wait staff wearing masks it all felt very normal.  After dinner we got ice cream and the kids played in a large park.  It was great to see so many people out and happy again.  My personal belief is that since the stated goals of the quarantine of slowing the spread of the virus and keeping hospitals from becoming overwhelmed have been achieved (whether due to quarantine or not); it’s time to re-open and return to normal.  Staying inside was never intended (or able) to cure the virus so I believe it’s time to get back out there for those that feel comfortable doing so.  I greatly enjoyed doing this myself and seeing so many others doing so as well.

Is there a simple workout you like?  Yes.  I often enjoy doing do what I call “on the minute” workouts.  Simply choose an exercise to complete (commonly I’ll use pushups, pull ups or air squats but it can be any exercise really) and select a number of repetitions that you’ll complete every minute for a specified period of time (I usually do 20-30 minutes).  Here’s how I’d do a squat workout for example:

For 30 minutes I will do 20 air squats on the minute.  So, if I start at 8am my first set of 20 reps might take me say 35 seconds. So, I’ll then I wait until it’s 8:01 and do my second set.  Then I wait until 8:02 for my next one and so on until I’ve completed 30 minutes.  I will often do this type of workout as sort of a “bonus” workout when I feel like moving around but not doing anything all that complex.  As an example, I did this work out a couple weeks ago as I watched the golf match with Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, etc.  Super simple and effective. 

Something I am encouraging people to do now?  We are living through a tough time and whether we want to believe it or not, it takes a toll on even the strongest of us mentally.  When you are burdened mentally one of the best things you can do to physiologically help yourself is to exercise.  I recommend that especially in these times you find some way to exercise daily.  It doesn’t have to be lengthy or complicated but give yourself that release by putting your body in motion.  This will help you improve your mindset, keep your energy high and allow you to deal with the current events better I promise.    

Some quotes I love? 

“People want to take your spot until the realize what it takes to play your position.”  – Ray “Cash” Care

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

Want more?

• Don’t forget to follow Dr. Kenney on Instagram @Coloradochiropractor
• To see previous Friday 5 Spots, visit www.newbodychiro.com and go to “blog”
• Check us out on Facebook under New Body Chiropractic

Dr. Kenney’s Friday 5 Spot

I interact with hundreds of patients each week (under normal circumstances, though less during the crisis obviously) and get asked a lot of questions.  On Fridays I like to share some of the answers I give and hope it has value for you.

Something cool that’s happened recently?  Before Easter I created a race for my sons and I that we ran while carrying the American flag.  I posted a picture and video on Instagram and tagged one of my favorite companies, Team Never Quit which is the company of Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell known for his experiences as described in his book “Lone Survivor.”  As I scrolled through Instagram the other day I was surprised to see that Team Never Quit had posted that picture of my boys and I while I held the American flag with the caption “Showing his boys what it means to be a patriot.”  This was cool to me because the caption accurately captured my sense of patriotism that I do try to teach my sons.  It was also fun to see how excited my sons were when they saw that our picture was on there.  From their reactions, I knew they were proud and that the caption meant a lot to them as well. 

Something I’m doing for exercise?  Since the age of 15, I have been working out at least several days per week with weights so I am badly missing the gym.  I have some assorted equipment at my house but nothing that I would consider heavy and certainly not enough to offer the variety I get from a gym.  What I began doing this week however was adding resistance bands onto the weights so that I’m lifting the actual weights plus the resistance the bands provide.  This has made a tremendous difference and I am able to do more exercises where it’s challenging to get 10-12 reps.  It has been a nice change of pace.

How does it feel to be re-opened?  Despite sending out about 20 emails and posts regarding this topic, people are still shocked when I tell them we have never closed due to the pandemic.  Many of the chiropractors in the state chose to close for their own reasons but the state never mandated doing so.  Our office remained open and observed a recommended reduction in office hours.  We’ve proudly helped hundreds of people that were in pain and needed help during this whole ordeal and are very proud we never shut our doors. 

Anything you’ve seen regarding COVID that gives you hope?  Yes!  I get exhausted watching news and listening to the situation get slanted in one way or another, so I rely on the data.  The data gives me hope and I take the time weekly to run numbers on my own based on the numbers provided to us by the CDC, state, etc. 

The data most significant to me are the number of fatalities within a state, county, country, etc. divided by the number of people within those areas.  So, for the state of Colorado (as of this writing) we have 987 deaths statewide within a population of 5.7 million (I rounded down about 500k from 2019 census) for a death rate of .02%.  Neighboring states are also similar:  Wyoming .001%, Utah .015%, Nebraska .004%, Oklahoma .02%, New Mexico .007%, Kansas .02%, and Arizona .005%.  These numbers can be further segmented among suspected versus confirmed cases, age, co-morbidities and more but for space reasons I’ll just leave it general.

So here is what I draw from this information that is so positive.  The numbers are very low and consistent among the states which demonstrates a trend which itself is positive and provides faith in the statistics.  Second, despite initial fears, the data does not point to a virus that cannot be controlled or that carries with it a high percentage death rate.  Viruses like SARS and Ebola carry death rates in the 30-40% range, and this has thankfully been proven to not be that.  We are well below a 1% death rate across the board.  I certainly wish no one had to deal with this and that no one had died but the stats do help put things into better perspective in my opinion.  I share these stats not because I have any agenda myself but because so often, I talk to people and their assumption of the numbers is so far off. 

Some quotes I love?  “Be nice until it’s time to not be nice.” – Patrick Swayze in Road House

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” – Martin Luther King

“Strength doesn’t just come from winning.  Your struggles develop your strength.  When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Gandhi

Want more?

• Don’t forget to follow Dr. Kenney on Instagram @Coloradochiropractor
• To see previous Friday 5 Spots, visit www.newbodychiro.com and go to “blog”
• Check us out on Facebook under New Body Chiropractic