When people want to start exercising more, one of the first muscles they want to work on is their chest. Most people have heard of large muscle pectoralis major but seem to forget about pectoralis minor. Both need to work together in order to function at their highest capacity.

The pectoralis major muscle is a large muscle in the upper chest, fanning across the chest from the shoulder to the breastbone. The two pectoralis major muscles, commonly referred to as the “pecs,” are the muscles that create the bulk of the chest. The pectorals are predominantly used to control the movement of the arm and also play a part in deep inhalation, pulling the ribcage to create room for the lungs to expand. Six separate sets of muscle fibers are identified within the pectoralis major muscle. This enables each portion of the pectoralis major muscle to be moved separately by the nervous system.

The pectoralis minor is a thin, flat muscle found...

September is officially here, and we all know what that means: school is back in session. For parents, this means taking your children to football, dance, cheerleading, swimming, piano lessons, tennis, tutors and much more. Your kids become overwhelmed with homework, reading, working on book reports, and studying for daunting tests. As a result, we are more vulnerable to stress and anxiety. Sometimes we need an extra boost, and luckily, L-Theanine can provide just that.

What is L-Theanine?

L-Theanine is a relaxing and non-dietary amino acid found pretty much exclusively in teas Camellia sinensis (mostly green and black tea) and is known to promote relaxation without sedation. The crucial difference seems to be not in whether the tea is green or black, but how young the tea leaves are at harvest. Theanine is found in highest concentrations in the buds and young leaves of the tea plant (1). It is available as a supplement that helps relieve anxiety. Theanine should be...

This weeks blog comes to us from guest contributor, Jan Leasure.  Currently Jan is a Senior Loan Officer in Libertyville, but previously was a teacher and nationally syndicated columnist for over 20 years.

Why was November chosen as “National Gratitude Month”? The obvious reason is because Thanksgiving happens in November and that gives everyone a reason to stop for a moment and visualize the things for which they are grateful.

When I was an English teacher, one of the things that I had my students do was keep a Gratitude Journal. Many students had a lot of ups and downs in their lives so sometimes writing down one thing was a struggle.  What we all learned from this exercise is that there were a lot of intangible things to be grateful for; love, friendship, a sunny day, trading lunches with your bestie, or the fact that Mrs. Leasure did not read your love note over the intercom!  What was the purpose of this exercise? We learned that although there...

The trapezius is one of the major muscles of the back and is responsible for moving, rotating, and stabilizing the scapula (shoulder blade) and extending the head at the neck. It is a wide, flat, superficial muscle that covers most of the upper back and the posterior of the neck. Like most other muscles, there are two trapezius muscles – a left and a right trapezius – that are symmetrical and meet at the vertebral column

The trapezius starts at the occipital bone and the spinous processes of the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. Then extends across the neck and back to insert via tendons on the clavicle, acromion, and spine of the scapula. The name trapezius is given to this muscle due to its roughly trapezoidal shape. The trapezius can be divided into three bands of muscle fibers that have distinct structures and functions within the muscle:

Upper Trapezius, Middle Trapezius and Lower Trapezius

 Upper Trapezius

This portion helps with elevating (shrugging) the...

Inflammation is a word that is used often, yet hard to define.  Most of us have a hard time separating inflammation from an ankle sprain vs. inflammation contributing to heart disease and arthritis.  In order to understand how to fight it, it’s important to understand how and why it occurs!

Inflammation is a very common and innate response to an injury, pain or stress.  It is part of our bodies natural defense system to prevent something worse and/or speed up healing time.

Acute inflammation is the first response to an injury or pathogen.  It’s acute because it should only last several days or less.

EXAMPLES OF WHAT CAN CAUSE THIS:

• Illness (virus, bacteria)
• Trauma (punch, kick, sprain)
• Burn
• Frostbite
• Allergic Reaction
• Stress

There are a lot of players involved in the inflammatory process, but the basics are: heat, redness, swelling, and pain.  These four eventually lead to loss of function as a way to prevent future injury. Acute...