What is Active Release Technique (ART)?

Active Release Technique (ART) is a highly specialized manual therapy used to treat soft tissue restrictions in the body.

These restrictions can develop in:

• Muscles
• Tendons
• Ligaments
• Fascia
• Nerves

They often result from overuse, repetitive strain, trauma, or poor movement patterns.

ART combines precise hands-on pressure with specific patient movements to help break down adhesions and restore normal tissue function.

Benefits of Active Release Technique (ART) include:

• Reduced muscle tightness
• Decreased pain
• Improved range of motion
• Better movement efficiency
• Enhanced overall function

Lower Extremity Conditions Treated with ART

Lower extremity ART techniques are highly effective for addressing a wide variety of conditions affecting the feet, ankles, knees, hips, and surrounding structures.

Common conditions include:

Foot & Ankle:

• Plantar fasciitis
• Metatarsalgia
• Achilles tendinitis

Knee:

• Patellofemoral pain syndrome (runner’s knee / jumper’s knee)
• Meniscal irritation or dysfunction
• Ligament sprains

Hip & Thigh:

• Hip bursitis
• Arthritis-related soft tissue restriction
• Quadriceps, hamstring, groin (adductor), and calf strains

Nerve-Related Pain:

• Sciatic nerve irritation
• Sciatica and related low back pain patterns
• By improving soft tissue mobility and reducing nerve tension, ART helps restore proper biomechanics and reduce compensatory strain throughout the body.

ART for Athletic Performance and Injury Prevention

While ART is widely used for injury rehabilitation, it is also highly effective for performance optimization.

Athletes and active individuals often use ART to:

• Improve movement efficiency
• Prevent overuse injuries
• Enhance recovery time
• Optimize training performance

Sports that benefit from Active Release Technique (ART) include:

• Running
• Cycling
• Skating
• Field and court sports
• Any activity involving repetitive lower-body movement

Combining ART with Chiropractic Care

When Active Release Technique (ART) is combined with chiropractic adjustments, the results can be especially powerful.

• Chiropractic care restores proper joint alignment and mobility
• ART addresses surrounding soft tissue restrictions

Together, they create a comprehensive approach that supports:

• Pain reduction
• Improved mobility
• Faster recovery
• Long-term injury prevention
• Enhanced athletic performance

Final Thoughts

The ART Lower Extremity Level 1 seminar in Montreal provided an opportunity to advance clinical skills and deepen understanding of how targeted soft tissue treatment can significantly improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Geron Cowherd, DC, continues to integrate these evidence-informed techniques into care, helping patients recover faster and move better.

If you are dealing with pain, stiffness, or a sports-related injury, you can book an appointment here: Online Booking

If you’d like to learn more about how ART can help, we encourage you to read more on the official ART website: ART Treatment for Patients or ask Dr. Cowherd at your next visit!

The post Dr. Geron Cowherd, DC, Teaches Active Release Technique (ART) Lower Extremity Seminar in Montreal first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

Katrina has been with us since February 2025. She has been a wonderful addition to our chiropractic team. Katrina has a Master’s degree in Kinesiology. Her background includes working with seniors, adults, children, and athletes. Her clinical experience ranges from sports, workplace, and motor vehicle accident injuries to heart, stroke, and multiple sclerosis patients.

Katrina offers Active Exercise Rehabilitation to our patients at Lake Street Chiropractic. She works with Dr. Geron, co-creating exercise programs that are personalized to each patient’s needs and concerns. Active exercise is like the “glue” that holds all of the hard work Dr. Geron does together.

If you haven’t had the chance to meet her yet, you’re missing out! Katrina brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to the role, supporting our clients through their rehabilitation journey with care, commitment, and professionalism.

Thank you for being a part of the Lake Street Chiropractic team, Katrina!

If active exercise isn’t part of your health and wellness regimen, ask Dr. Geron how we can get you started today. Call us at 905-641-0400. 

The post Introducing Katrina, Our Rehab Facilitator first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

The post Shovel Light, Shovel Right! first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

Call the office to reserve your seat!

https://www.metagenics.com/detox

The post NEW YEAR DETOX WITH CLEAR CHANGE first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

Dr. Geron has recently returned from Cairns, a city in Queensland, Australia, where he participated in the IRONMAN 70.3. The course featured a memorable swim in the warm waters of Tropical North Queensland (2km), followed by bicycling up what is arguably the most scenic coastal roads in Australia towards Port Douglas (90km). The race finished with a run along the Cairns boardwalk, finally finishing in the heart of the city of Cairns (21km).

What an experience!

We would have been proud of him simply for participating, particularly since he was recovering from a torn hamstring in April, but he also finished as 14th in his age category out of 58 people!

Times:

2km swim: 35:17
90km bike: 2:37:42
21.1km run: 1:57:49
Total race time: 5:26:31

Dr. Geron has qualified for the 70.3 Half Ironman taking place in Chattanooga, Tennessee on September 10th, 2017. We wish him good training and a healthy hamstring as he continues his training in preparation for Tennessee!

See you in Chattanooga, Tennessee on September 10th for the 70.3 Half Ironman! In the meantime, along with lots of training, Dr. Geron is reinvigorated and looking forward to spending a great summer with all of his clients. See you soon!

The post Dr. Geron is back from the IRONMAN 70.3 in Cairns, Australia! first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

Elaine came to our clinic after a Multi fractured right elbow injury with pins and wires (December 2016) Injured right shoulder, forearm, hand  & wrist. She was completely immobilized on her right arm.

Elaine’s success story today!! I quote: ” After seeing Dr. Cowherd for 4 months and receiving Active Release Treatments,my arm recovery has been absolutely miraculous!….Now I am at 90-95% recovery!! I am so grateful to Dr. Cowherd and his staff for their amazing assistance in my healing recovery!. with thanks–Elaine Tanner OC” The Mighty Mouse!

The post Success Story!! Active Release Technique, ART! first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

Swedish meatballs now “OK”

Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News Editor

Sweden has become the first Western nation to develop national dietary guidelines that reject the popular low-fat diet dogma in favor of  low-carb high-fat nutrition advice.

The switch in dietary advice followed the publication of a two-year study by the independent Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment. The committee reviewed 16,000 studies published through May 31, 2013.

Swedish doctor, Andreas Eenfeldt, who runs the most popular health blog in Scandinavia (DietDoctor.com) published some of the highlights of this study in English:

Health markers will improve on a low-carbohydrate diet:

…a greater increase in HDL cholesterol (“the good cholesterol”) without having any adverse affects on LDL cholesterol (“the bad cholesterol”). This applies to both the moderate low-carbohydrate intake of less than 40 percent of the total energy intake, as well as to the stricter low-carbohydrate diet, where carbohydrate intake is less than 20 percent of the total energy intake. In addition, the stricter low-carbohydrate diet will lead to improved glucose levels for individuals with obesity and diabetes, and to marginally decreased levels of triglycerides.” (Source.)

Dr. Eenfeldt also translated an article from a local Swedish newspaper covering the committee’s findings:

Butter, olive oil, heavy cream, and bacon are not harmful foods. Quite the opposite. Fat is the best thing for those who want to lose weight. And there are no connections between a high fat intake and cardiovascular disease.

On Monday, SBU, the Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment, dropped a bombshell. After a two-year long inquiry, reviewing 16,000 studies, the report “Dietary Treatment for Obesity” upends the conventional dietary guidelines for obese or diabetic people.

For a long time, the health care system has given the public advice to avoid fat, saturated fat in particular, and calories. A low-carb diet (LCHF – Low Carb High Fat, is actually a Swedish “invention”) has been dismissed as harmful, a humbug and as being a fad diet lacking any scientific basis.

Instead, the health care system has urged diabetics to eat a lot of fruit (=sugar) and low-fat products with considerable amounts of sugar or artificial sweeteners, the latter a dangerous trigger for the sugar-addicted person.

This report turns the current concepts upside down and advocates a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet, as the most effective weapon against obesity.

The expert committee consisted of ten physicians, and several of them were skeptics to low-carbohydrate diets at the beginning of the investigation. (Source.)

One of the committee members was Prof. Fredrik Nyström, from Linköping, Sweden – a long-time critic of the low-fat diet and a proponent of the benefits of saturated fat, from sources such as butter, full fat cream, and bacon. Some quotes from Prof. Nyström translated into English from Dr. Eenfeldt:

“I’ve been working with this for so long. It feels great to have this scientific report, and that the skepticism towards low-carb diets among my colleagues has disappeared during the course of the work. When all recent scientific studies are lined up the result is indisputable: our deep-seated fear of fat is completely unfounded. You don’t get fat from fatty foods, just as you don’t get atherosclerosis from calcium or turn green from green vegetables.”

Nyström has long advocated a greatly reduced intake of carbohydrate-rich foods high in sugar and starch, in order to achieve healthy levels of insulin, blood lipids and the good cholesterol. This means doing away with sugar, potatoes, pasta, rice, wheat flour, bread, and embracing olive oil, nuts, butter, full fat cream, oily fish and fattier meat cuts. “If you eat potatoes you might as well eat candy. Potatoes contain glucose units in a chain, which is converted to sugar in the GI tract. Such a diet causes blood sugar, and then the hormone insulin, to skyrocket.”

There are many mantras we have been taught to accept as truths:

“Calories are calories, no matter where they come from.”

“It’s all about the balance between calories in and calories out.”

“People are fat because they don’t move enough.”

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”

“Of course these are not true. This kind of nonsense has people with weight problems feeling bad about themselves. As if it were all about their inferior character. For many people a greater intake of fat means that you’ll feel satiated, stay so longer, and have less of a need to eat every five minutes. On the other hand, you won’t feel satiated after drinking a Coke, or after eating almost fat free, low-fat fruit yogurt loaded with sugar. Sure, exercise is great in many ways, but what really affects weight is diet.” (Source.)

Will the USDA Now Revise Their Guidelines?

The scientific literature implicating the dangers of refined carbohydrates and the benefits of healthy fats has been around for decades now. One probable reason why this study was done in Sweden is that a lot of people were obvious already following such a diet. Currently in Sweden, it is estimated that only 14 percent of the population are obese compared with one-third in the USA.

So will the U.S. follow suit and explore revising USDA dietary guidelines? Not likely.

As I have recently pointed out in an article published YOU the Taxpayer are Funding the Agri Business Takeover of our Food Supply, the USDA nutritional guidelines favor the heavily subsidized crops of wheat, soy, and corn. The political forces are just too strong in the U.S. right now to allow any dietary advice that would cut into corporate profits and their production of cheap food to dominate world food supplies.

This dietary advice of a low-carb high-fat diet has been around since the 1920s, when the ketogenic diet was developed at John Hopkins Hospital to cure epilepsy in children who did not respond to drugs. With the advent of the USDA diet guidelines, starting with the McGovern Report in the 1970s, fat was condemned and the low-fat diet advice was promoted through the healthcare system.

In 2002, science journalist Gary Taubes began writing on the dangers of the high-carbohydrate diet and benefits of a high-fat diet, and his work was published in both the N.Y. Times and Time Magazine. His article  title was “What If It Were All a Big Fat Lie!”

With mainstream media now covering the truth about the fallacies of the low-fat diet in the early 2000s, Dr. Atkins and his low-carb high-fat diet, which had been around for many years, gained a huge following. Various forms of the low-carb high-fat diet exist today in the U.S., but they are still considered “fringe” and “extreme.” The low-carb high-fat diet is routinely attacked by the government and medical system, even as pharmaceutical companies rush to make patented drugs that mimic the ketone effects of the diet, particularly in cancer treatment, the largest market share for pharmaceutical companies.

So, while Sweden has taken a huge step forward in following a commission who looked at over 16,000 studies and confirmed science that has been around for many years, don’t expect the U.S. government to do anything similar anytime soon. It is up to you to do your own research to understand the REAL facts about a healthy diet.

Sweden Becomes First Western Nation to Reject Low-fat Diet Dogma in Favor of Low-carb High-fat Nutrition

The post Great article to read! first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

This Monday’s workshop is about nutrition and the  role ketosis plays in your better health!

Call the office to reserve your seat! 905-641-0400

The post Monday Night Workshop first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

The post Weekend Yoga Show first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.

An experienced and effective chiropractor can help you to restore your physical health and wellbeing. Having a good partnership with your chiropractor is at the core of the healing process. It’s important that you choose the right person for the job to get your body back to its optimal state. Look for these qualities in an outstanding chiropractor:

• Extensive experience
• Well established, reputable, and respected in the community
• Custom designs wellness program for your unique needs
• Knowledgeable, friendly, and courteous
• Has an open communication style and happy to answer questions
• Listens to the patient’s complete explanation of symptoms and treatment concerns or preferences
• Demonstrates respect and genuine concern for patient health
• Shows a commitment to overall health and exceptional client care

Dr. Cowherd uses a “whole person approach”. This approach to wellness means looking for underlying causes of any disturbance or disruption (which may or may not be causing symptoms at the time) and make whatever interventions and lifestyle adjustments that would optimize the conditions for normal function. Using this unique approach, Dr. Cowherd is able to help you to accelerate and/or maintain your journey to good health.

It’s also beneficial to look for a chiropractic clinic that offers a wide variety of specialization and services including:

• Massage therapy
• Orthotics
• ART® Active Release Techniques
• Acupuncture
• Nutritional counseling
• Sports and Auto Injury Rehab

Lake St. Chiropractic offers all of these services in St. Catharines.

Custom Designed Wellness Program

Each individual is unique. Our body, mobility, and ability vary from one person to the next. That’s why it’s important when seeking out a great chiropractor in St. Catharines to put emphasis on their willingness to personalize a program based on each client’s needs.

Dr. Cowherd asks for your input before offering you a regimen or program. Your first consultation should contain a two way dialogue where you share information about your needs, and he shares information about solutions based on those needs.

The journey to health recovery starts with a positive mindset. By committing to the restorative process, you’ll see better results that are built to last.

The post What to Look for in a Chiropractor first appeared on Lake Street Chiropractic | St. Catharines Chiropractor.