McKinney Chiropractor;
Best 3 Minute Exercise Routine
“I don’t have time…”
Something I hear from patients often is “I don’t have time for…”. This video does a great job of showing that it doesn’t always take a long time to reap the benefits of movement. This is the best, quick exercise that can be done multiple times a day in spurts of about 3-4 minutes! We can all find 5-minute breaks throughout our day. My goal in showing you this is to help eliminate the excuses we create to keep ourselves from being healthy. Our bodies are required to move, and if we don’t, we are killing ourselves slowly. While quick bursts of exercise like this can help in a multitude of ways, this one focuses on our blood vessels and how Nitric oxide can aid in keeping them healthy and opened. Try this Best 3 Minute Exercise and enjoy the benefits!
Nitric Oxide
Nitric Oxide (NO) is a free radical that our body creates and stores mostly in the thin layer of our blood vessels called the endothelium. It is created by converting one of our amino acids, L-Arginine, to another, L-Citrulline. Where free radicals can be harmful to us in very large amounts, they also play a vital role in our ability to maintain balance and homeostasis.
One effect it has on the body is to dilate (widen) your blood vessels to allow more blood through and lessen the constrictions that take place. When the vessels become dilated, the pressure exerted on the walls is lessened which is why you see vasodilators used to lower blood pressure. This vasodilation also aids the blood in delivering oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Wider vessels means more blood can get through. This increase in oxygen and nutrients can help cut down on some muscle soreness following exercise as oxygen is required for the muscles to loosen their contractions.
Another positive effect is the increased insulin sensitivity that occurs in your liver and peripheral body. Type 2 diabetes comes from our body’s adaptation to stressful habits (our nutrition, stress, and lack of movement) in the form of insulin resistance. Insulin is used by a cell to bring free glucose from the blood into the cells. A double-blinded study compared diet and placebo to diet and L-arginine, the precursor of NO, and found a 36% increase in blood flow through the arm due to the vasodilation as well as a 34% increase of the body’s ability to dispose of glucose. The article went on to say that blood pressure decreased by 14 and endogenous or self-made glucose production went down by 14%. The body made use of the glucose available rather than creating more in an already elevated situation.
Essentially, increase your NO by exercising and lower your blood pressure, increase blood flow, and increase insulin sensitivity.
PierMarco Piatti, MD1, Lucilla D. Monti, MD2, et al. “Long-Term Oral l-Arginine Administration Improves Peripheral and Hepatic Insulin Sensitivity in Type 2 Diabetic Patients.” Diabetes Care 2001 May; 24(5): 875-880
Our Chiropractic team in McKinney, located near the corner of Eldorado Pkwy. and Ridge Rd., take a natural approach to getting rid of soreness caused by low back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, etc. Through Chiropractic adjustments, proper exercise and education, we teach our patients the best ways to relieve pain without medicine. Follow along with Dr. Bryan Stephens in this 3 Minute Exercise video to help increase oxygen to the muscles and improve blood flow.