To read eight simple tips on helping your back, see Susie's Stay Fit column.

  For more on how to avoid and reduce back pain, watch the Stay Fit video. In three video segments, you’ll learn healthy postures and six exercises and stretches that can help make back pain a thing of the past.   Back pain is no fun. More than 80 percent of adults have had back issues. Often due to tight muscles, arthritis, or disc issues, back discomfort can be relieved with the right exercises and stretches. Maintaining good posture throughout the day is also important. To protect your back, take heed of these 8 tips: 1). Avoid rounding your back or hunching your shoulders when you sit. …

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We all can make our heart healthier. It takes a little discipline, but brings a lot of pleasure to how we feel. Our Body Mass Index (BMI) is one way to determine whether or not we are overweight. Healthy weight reduces our risk of serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. According to the American Heart Association, those with large waists have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.This means waists greater than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men. It is helpful to know your BMI because it is the proportion of your weight…

Also Read: 5 Fitness Myths Debunked: Know the truth about what will keep you fit for life. Columnist Susie Duttge debunks the fitness myths most of us take as the truth.  

Fact or Fiction? Lots of health and fitness fads come and go. Some of them are worth following. Others form misconceptions. If you like to stay fit, here are five myths you should know. 1). Myth: Eating late at night causes gain weight. Fact: Body weight is dependent on how many calories and what type of calories you eat, not when you eat them. Even if you go straight to bed after a late night snack, that snack won’t stick to your middle as long as you’ve been active enough that day and stay active the next day to burn the sum total of the calories that you recently have consumed. It comes …

Hopefully, a warming trend is in the offing to spur a comfortable long distant walkoutdoors. It's time to exercise your body. If you've spent a lot of time on the couch this winter, try starting the new season with an easy 20-minute walk. If you've been active throughout the cold months, which means walking at least a mile at a stretch two to three times per week, and you really want to tone your gluts and thighs and burn some calories, put on your walking shoes for a 45 - 60 minute cruise through the neighborhood, around the beach or at the beautiful, local Middlefork Savanna.Turn it into a …

Spring is finally here! And it's brought with it great running weather, not too hot or too cold.  It’s perfect for a refreshing, mind-clearing jog. Little known unless you've experienced it, running is a mind-body experience. The rhythm of your feet and the depth of your breath can bring you to a meditative-like state. No phone rings; there's no work to do; in fact, no one asks anything of you. A run diffuses daily stresses like not much else can. Does this feeling happen overnight? Probably not. Usually the first two or three months of running are more about getting your body used to the new…

So how are you doing with your New Year’s resolution to exercise regularly and lose a few pounds? Truth is, resolutions rarely do the trick. Just because the calendar and your conscience tell you it’s time to revitalize your goals doesn’t make it an equation for success. So forget your resolution (you probably have already—it’s March!) and get motivated to get healthy with these 10 practical reasons to rev up your inner motor and produce a little sweat. Exercise helps inhibit fat growth around the midsection. This fat contributes to diabetes and heart disease. Exercise helps tone muscle and …

Do you want to lose the extra pounds you have around your middle? How about doing it without feeling hungry or deprived? Here are seven suggestions to lose that extra weight without losing all those great flavors you love.  1)    Eat food you like. But think smart as you eat. Calories add up this way:            Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories           Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories          Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories          Alcohol: 1 gram = 7 calories   If you eat more calories than you burn during your day, you will gain weight. Calories you eat that you don’t burn or store in your …

Female athletes are more susceptible to knee injuries than male athletes, especially tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) statistics over the last two decades proves this point; female ACL injuries are nearly 4 times as often in basketball, 3 times as often in gymnastics, and nearly 2.5 times as often in soccer. Why is this? And, what can you do to prevent injury while you stay in shape?  Here are the answers. ACL: What it Does The ACL protects against hyperextension and excessive rotation of the knee. The anterior cruciate …

Text by Susie Duttge Video by Bruce Himmelblau How do we get and keep a firm tummy over the holidays when we're faced with many hard to resist high-calorie, high-fat meals — not to mention the cookies and candies that always seem to be sitting out at the office? It's possible to taste and to still look trim. Here's how: Eat smaller amounts of food throughout the day rather than huge meals. You'll be able to use more of the calories you eat. Unused, excess calories are stored in the body as fat. Our bodies need some stored fat, but the bulges and extra inches from fat are unnecessary and …

My name is Susie Duttge. Welcome to this monthly Patch health and fitness column called "Stay Fit." I hope to provide you with great-to-know tips for staying active, strong and injury free. I am the founder of Fit For Life Rehab and Fitness Clinic in Lake Bluff. I help people stay fit, heal from existing injuries, become better athletes, prevent injury, and live more comfortably with chronic issues such as arthritis, Parkinson's disease and fibromyalsia. I hope to pass on the knowledge I've gained from 26 years in the health and fitness field. Whether you want to improve your golf score, …