Episode 93: It's All About The Core - with Occupational Therapist Jennifer Fitzgerald

People on a journey to be healthy and fit often know what they need to do, but for all sorts of reasons they don’t do it. Even those of us who are health professionals fall victim to the many barriers thrown in our path. That is where my accountability groups come into the picture. Each participant receives support and encouragement from the other members and in return, they give their support and insight back to the group. This is both inspiring and motivating for everyone involved.

Today I am going to interview a regular member of my monthly groups, who just happens to be an Occupational Therapist (OT). Jennifer Fitzgerald chose to become an OT rather than a physical therapist (PT) because she is a wholistic person who likes to look at a whole person vs one body part or symptom. She works with body mechanics and functional fitness to get to a root cause and help people learn and improve life skills from feeding and dressing yourself to walking, running or even how you play golf.

Body mechanics involve exercises designed to improve posture, coordination, and stamina. Functional fitness or movement is exercise that trains your muscles to work together and prepare them for daily tasks by simulating common movements you might do at home, at work or in sports. While using various muscles in the upper and lower body at the same time, functional fitness exercises also emphasizes core stability which is a building block of a healthy body. Proper body alignment gives you core strength and you need core strength to have proper body alignment.

Jennifer has worked in every aspect of OT from neonatology to death and dying. She has a degree in General Rehab, a Massage Therapy License and a master’s degree in OT. She is passionate about helping people. Currently her main focus is with kids but being a military spouse with 5 moves in 10 years she has worked with every age in many different settings.

In today’s interview she answers questions and describes the “physiological why” behind her answers.

Thoughts about “virtual school”.

Whether you choose on site or virtual school the issue is not the Corona Virus, it is screen time. In virtual school everything is done looking at a screen on an electronic device. Too much screen time is not good for anyone but especially for those whose brains are still developing. The obvious fact is that if a child is sitting in front of a screen, they are not getting the exercise their body needs. What is not so obvious is what the constant screen time is doing to their brains. The picture on a screen is made up of millions of pixels moving at lightening speed. If you hold your phone camera up to a tv or computer screen you can see the wavering pixels. The brain is processing the pixels at the speed it is receiving them. Kids become accustomed to processing fast moving things so when a teacher stands in front of them, they are bored and lose interest. They crave the fast pace because it is what they are used to. Much of that processing activity occurs in the frontal lobe of the brain which is the behavior center. This could cause unwanted behavior problems. Kids under age 2 shouldn’t be watching screens at all and everyone else should take breaks and get outside, get silly, get fresh air, do brain exercises. Any movement is better than continued staring at a screen.

Should middle school kids be lifting weights?

Before the age of 15 kids shouldn’t be lifting weights heavier than their body. The growth plates in their body can be compressed and damaged. It is okay to use resistance bands and lighter weights. 10 to 12-year -olds in the weight room don’t know where their body is in space (proprioception) so they could throw out a hip or get a back or shoulder injury. If they are taught the correct body m