Thoughts from a trip through Ecuador and Peru, from July 9 to September 17 2012 spanning the Amazon to the Andes partly covered on a tandem bicycle.
So far on this trip in Ecuador and Peru, the exercise surface has been the determining factor in our workouts (or absence therof). Sure I could lie down in pile of fresh manure and go through the Sahrmann lower abs progression, or attempt a plyometric workout barefoot on a woodpile but the consequences of these […]
While on a riverboat from Iquitos to Pucallpa in Peru I noticed a man rythmically waving a branch with leaves against the bare shoulder of another man. I could tell the action was curative in intent but figured it must rely heavily on the placebo affect. After all, how could just brushing a leaf on […]
First I want to apologize for any typographical errors. The internet connection is so slow here in Aguatyia, Peru that selecting a word and modifying it takes well over 6 seconds. The keyboard is so filled with dust that keys often fail to respond or fail to recoil after being pressed. As physical therapists we […]
Jessica and I spent a week chugging up the Ucayali on a riverboat. We shared the voyage with a few hundred locals all jammed in with us on the same deck. No walls, no hallways, just hammocks packed together so close they were touching. People sleeping on the floor under the hammocks, and parrots and […]
On a ten day canoe trip in the Amazons (down the Napo river from Nuevo Rocafuerte, Ecuador to Masan, Peru) I met countless locals in dugout canoes and was struck by their horrible posture. Horrible, that is for the men, many of whom were so flexed in the spine as to appear like armadillos from […]
One occupational risk factor for back and neck pain is working on an awkward and mentally demanding manual task while sitting. Dentists are confronted with this challenge daily, and unfortunately often suffer as a result. Such a challenge is not new to mankind though and has been around long before root canal procedures and ipads. […]
The city of Tena in Ecuador is an entry point to the Amazon jungle. I have seen no consistent differences from typcial western posture. I had two opportunites to see how people live outside the farm. First I met a Huarani elder (probably in his late 60s) who came to Gareno Lodge in the jungle. […]
What does any 16 month old have in common with a man smoking in the streets of Beijing? Hint: It’s not their lungs, It’s the deep squat. The deep squat describes a position in which one is resting in full flexion of the hips, knees ankles with the feet on the ground. The deep squat […]
Posture Movement Pain 