Welcome Fall: A Season for Changes

The Healthy View

After an exciting September, which saw the Sport Medicine Clinic return to their home base on the 36^th floor of the TD Tower, we’re ready to fully embrace the start of fall. We’ve welcomed new team members, meaning our offerings have expanded, and have been able to bring our rehab patients into the Adelaide and Toronto Athletic Clubs to help enhance their healing.

If you’re looking to end your 2021 in the best shape possible, it’s time to book an appointment at the Adelaide Health Clinic or Sport Medicine Clinic.

Introducing Dr. Tanner

Dr. Tanner is an award-winning Naturopathic Doctor with a mission to bring movement back to medicine. However, in order to move more, we must first feel better. As an active mom and marathon runner, it is vital to create a balance that gives us the tools to do what we love. Dr. Tanner has spent over 15 years helping patients just like you design their health. By working with Dr. Tanner, you will learn how to support gut health, build energy reserves, balance hormones, and take home the tools you need to live larger. You are a key player in your protocol and you deserve the kind of medicine that inspires you to perform. When we feel stronger inside, we can change our world!

Dr. Tanner will be available at both the Sport Medicine Clinic and Adelaide Health Clinic to better offer you the support you need. Contact the Sport Medicine Clinic and Adelaide Health Clinic to book an appointment today. If you'd like to welcome Dr. Tanner, you can send her a message here.

All About Vaccines

There is no topic that has been debated and discussed more in the last year than vaccines. For some, it can be challenging to know how to speak to those who are not vaccinated. Instead of taking the confrontational approach, try some of the steps that Dr. Tim outlines below.

Not Sure How to Speak to the Unvaccinated?

Hearing that a trusted friend or family member received a vaccine is the most powerful intervention and influence for some people who are still unsure about COVID-19 vaccination. If the opportunity arises, consider asking those close to you if they got their vaccine. If you are comfortable doing so, you could also share your own experience. Taking the time to have these conversations will help increase the number of Ontarians who are vaccinated and limit the effects of the fourth wave this fall, one person at a time. 

Having these conversations is completely voluntary and you may use this framework for these conversations: 

Ask: “Have you had a chance to get the COVID-19 vaccine yet?” 

Share: “I got the vaccine. I helped my friends and family to get it, too.” Listen to the individual’s concerns, share your personal experience with vaccination, your knowledge about the vaccines, and your optimism for the future once more of us are vaccinated. If you are comfortable doing so, you may also consider telling the person why you think vaccination is a good decision for them. 

Connect: “This is where you can get a vaccine.” You may opt to learn where vaccines are being offered locally (for example, pharmacy, family doctors, mass clinics, and pop-up clinics) and point them there. 

The most commonly stated reason for not taking the vaccine is, “I’m not comfortable that it’s so new.” This is also the most common misconception and here is an analogy to help explain the truth about the vaccines: Consider our Olympic gold medal win by our Women’s National Soccer Team (or any other new major sporting achievement). While it is new in its official sense, the skills required by these athletes and the knowledge acquired by their coaches and training staff were developed over many, many years. Similarly, the vaccine technologies that got us to this crucially successful point have been in development for many, many years.

In any case, don’t be shy. The more we address the elephant in the room, the more we can tame the savage beast that is vaccine hesitancy.

Dr. Tim Rindlisbacher    Sports Medicine Physician    Sport Medicine Clinic & Adelaide Health Clinic    416-367-5200    Email him

Foundational Movements Need Constant Practice

It's been an awesome September being back teaching fitness and yoga classes at the Toronto Athletic Club and the Adelaide Club. I really missed teaching classes and it's so wonderful to be back doing something I love to do; 21 years of being in fitness and I still love it!

For me, because of my physical education background, leading a group class means delivering an experience in education. During a cycling class, I'm teaching some exercise physiology while sweating it out with you to some awesome tunes. For yoga, we're working on breathing, being mindful, and attuning to our bodies, all while moving through postures. With strength, weights, or circuit style class, we are teaching 8 basic human movements: squat, lunge, hinge, plank, push, pull, rotation, and reverse plank. Each instructor will have a creative way of putting you through these movements and combining them for varying amounts of effort.

We're happy to welcome everyone to any class. For the strength, weights, or circuit classes, it is in your own best interest to gain the ability to squat, lunge, hinge, plank, push, pull, rotate, and reverse plank, as it will optimize the benefit of the classes and prevent injury. If we see any difficulty in performing these basic movements, we do our best to help you learn them and when that is not possible in the class setting, we recommend that you work with a personal trainer for a few sessions. If you have any pain or more severe limitation, we may recommend you book an appointment at our Clinics to address your condition.

The purpose of working with a trainer and/or clinician is to learn these foundational movements correctly, so you develop more ideal movement patterns, which is to your benefit for improved posture, ease of movement, and improvement in body composition. Yes, you read that correctly - improvement in body composition. It was only when I doggedly persisted in improving my squat range of motion that I finally developed some abs. It took me 20 years to get an acceptable squat and it sure has been worthwhile!

Think of coming to a class as constantly practicing and improving your squat, lunge, hinge, plank, push, pull, rotation, and reverse plank. That is our goal as instructors and trainers, to help you work smarter, not harder. And best of all, you will naturally work harder with better form!

Vivian Law    Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture    Adelaide Health Clinic    416-367-5200    Email her