Have Presidents’ Day off? Healthy ways to spend it – HuffPost Healthy Living Healthy recipes from the Web’s top food bloggers – Shape 20 mindful, inspiring quotes to keep life in perspective – Mind Body Green How Smash star Katharine McPhee stays energized and in shape – Self Boost your metabolism with this strengthening superset workout – Fitness 4 exercises to end back pain for good – Prevention Drink diet soda? You’re putting yourself at risk for heart disease – Blisstree Yoga shouldn’t hurt: best practices when on the mat – Yoga Journal

One moment of overextending yourself can lead to years of physical therapy and doctors visits to help keep your sports-related back pain at bay. Trainers and physical therapists constantly remind us to keep the abs engaged when completing any exercise, but to really strengthen your entire trunk, you must work it beyond the gym. Since most of us sit at a desk most hours of our waking day, our abs have become very lazy. We evolved to be on the move with an engaged core supporting every step. Keeping your abdominals pulled in and up makes a kind of natural corset instantly lifting you up, creating traction (or space) between the vertebrae of the low spine. By consciously pulling your muscles toward your spine, your trunk has the mobility, strength, and support needed to safely and (hopefully) painlessly accomplish any physical task, whether it’s lifting a leg, reaching for the floor, or rising from a chair. Many people think engaging your abs means clamping down tight in the torso, but that might aggravate the pain more. Click here to learn how to safely engage all your ab muscles.

A sacroiliac (SI) joint injection – also called a sacroiliac joint block – is primarily used either to diagnose or treat low back pain and/or sciatica symptoms associated with sacroiliac joint dysfunction. read more

A muscle relaxant and back pain reliever has been mislabelled and could pose a serious risk to children, says Health Canada. The product is being recalled.

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OnSugar blogger Coach Lark Says encourages his pregnant clients to exercise while pregnant – safely, of course. He shares a few tips on how to exercise when pregnant below. Here are some of the best reasons to exercise when you are pregnant, which I have gathered from a variety of sources. Better psychological wellbeing Reduced incidence of gestational diabetes Decreased incidence of preclampsia Reduced lower back pain Improved weight management Improved fetal development Easier or shorter labor Decreased risk of premature labor Greatly reduced incidence of abdominal surgery during delivery Of course, it’s important to modify your workout to accommodate and support the pregnancy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t work out as hard. Maintaining the workout intensity you had going into your pregnancy is exactly what you want to do. It’s not time to start a new program. It is time to work the core in three planes of motion to strengthen the abdominals for pushing during labor. When I work with expecting moms at my training facility at the Bentley Reserve in downtown San Francisco, I advise them according to the following parameters. Read his tips after the break.

Whether it’s allergies or a nasty cold, being congested sucks. It’s hard to breathe, the sinus pressure is painful, and it can even affect your hearing. Blowing your nose offers some relief, but in cases where you’re really stuffed up, it can be pretty futile. OTC medicines help dry out mucus but leave users feeling loopy, sleepy, and spaced out. What’s left to do? The next time you’re feeling all stuffed up, try one of these natural remedies - you’ll be breathing free and clear! Steam it out : Whether it’s a steam room, hot shower, or a makeshift steam bath over a bowl of hot water, steam helps to loosen mucus and relieve congestion from your nose and chest. Intensify the benefits with the addition of eucalyptus oil, a natural decongestant . Whatever method you use, slowly breathe in the steam for about five minutes and then try blowing your nose and/or coughing. This is usually enough time to break up and loosen the mucus in the body. To aid with sleep, use a humidifier; it helps add moisture to the air , which will thin out mucus in your nasal passages. Grab a neti pot : It might sound a little uncomfortable, but using a neti pot does wonders for relieving nasal congestion and pain – just ask any ear, nose, or throat doctor. Neti pots (in combination with a DIY saline solution) help end nasal congestion by thinning out mucus and built-up crusting in the nose; think of it as a form of nasal irrigation. Still not convinced? Check out these neti pot tips for beginners . Get on the mat : From back pain to stress, yoga has the power to lessen the symptoms of a host of ailments - including congestion. This mini yoga sequence helps to open up the chest and get blood flowing. Soon enough, congestion will be cleared and that sinus headache gone! Eat and drink the right foods : When it comes to relieving congestion, there are some eating dos and don’ts. Do arm yourself with hot liquids like broth and herbal tea; hot liquid combined with steam helps thin out and loosen mucus . Don’t load up on dairy products; casein, the protein present in dairy, has been shown to increase mucus levels in a small section of the population.

When the sciatic nerve is irritated by a contraction of the piriformis muscle, it is called piriformis syndrome. The symptoms caused by piriformis syndrome are similar to many spinal conditions that also affect the sciatic nerve and cause radiating leg pain ( sciatica ). Most treatments deal with reducing the tightness in this muscle to remove pressure on the sciatic nerve. read more

Whiplash is an injury to the cervical region of the spine when a great force causes the neck to go beyond its normal range of motion. The spinal vertebrae, ligaments, and muscles may be injured by this force, causing neck pain, headaches, neck stiffness , and/or cognitive difficulties such as dizziness or trouble concentrating. These symptoms may appear immediately or after a few days. read more

Spondylosis is a term used to describe degeneration in the spine. Two specific conditions may develop from this degeneration – degenerative disc disease and spinal osteoarthritis – depending on if the degeneration occurs in the discs or in the facet joints, respectively. The development of bone spurs may also occur as part of the degeneration of the spine with spondylosis and with either of the degenerative conditions. read more