Protein is another nutritional foundation essential to building and maintaining muscle during every stage of life. Protein provides a number of benefits in the areas of weight management, immune support, and bone health. As you know it is always best to nourish your body with natural organic foods, but you may also benefit by adding a protein powder to your supplement routine. This is recommended especially for people who are on vegetarian diets, the elderly, and to those striving for maximum energy.

In order to keep your muscles strong, you must stress them by resistance training. Dumbbell weights or resistance bands are great ways to strengthen your muscles. Resistance bands are great because they are easy to travel with. Take them on your next business trip and you won't miss a workout wherever you are.

With today's technology there really is no good excuse not to stretch and exercise properly. You can check out exercise videos for free at the local library, rent them from video stores or access free information online. You can even purchase exercise, yoga and pilates programs to download onto your iPod.

Unless you live on an organic farm, most experts agree that we should take a daily supplement in order to ensure that our bodies are receiving the nutrients necessary to promote our optimum health. Multi-vitamin supplements help your body stay nourished to keep healthy and strong. One of my favorite products is the NutriWell Pack formulated by Biotics Research. Besides being a high quality blend of basic wellness nutrients formulated by scientists they are conveniently packaged in individual daypacks eliminating the need for multiple bottles and pill counting. Also they are easy to take with you on the go or on a trip.

If you are a gadget junkie, a professional athlete or just like to have the most advanced new technology, you'll want the Suunto t6. It is a wristwatch that calculates your heart rate, energy consumption, ventilation, oxygen consumption (VO2), respiratory rate, Training Effect and EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption). You can then wirelessly upload your data to your computer to track your progress. They even have programs that will correlate your data with sport specific training programs. They have programs for novices through professional athletes. You have to check this out, it's cutting edge technology that can help you get better results, faster.

Your feet are the base that your body stands on. If your feet are weak or have structural problems, this can lead to problems in your knees, hips and low back, and can even cause headaches. Many people wear orthotics because they are good for their feet, but orthotics are even more important for those who experience pain after extended walking or standing. The most popular brand of orthotics is Foot Levelers. Foot Levelers, Inc. has been in business for over 50 years. When ordering orthotics, a cast or mold will be made of each of your soles. Some doctors have started to use high tech digital scanners. At least 16 different measurements of your feet are taken to ensure that your feet, and therefore your foundation, are more firmly supported. Please note that the orthotics and insoles that you buy at your drug store are not the same as the high quality orthotics that you can have custom made, even though they look similar. Insoles may effectively reduce pressure by increasing the padding under your feet, but orthotics are customized and provide a foot-bed that is molded specifically for each of your feet based on their unique shape and size. Customized orthotics are also a worthy investment. Ask us whether we think you need orthotics or not.

Most men carry a wallet in their back pockets and in many cases it can be over a half an inch thick. Sitting on a half inch wedge for hours at a time over a period of years is one of the most overlooked causes of spinal misalignments and spinal pain including back pain, neck pain and even headaches. Our recommendation is to clean out your wallet and carry only what is really necessary. An innovative new product that has a unique patented designed and can reduce the size of your wallet by over 50% is called the TPK Back Saver Wallet, we like to think of it as The Wellness Wallet. Its unique thin design allows for it to be carried in your front pocket instead of your back pocket restoring the natural tripod effect of your spine when you are seated. You'll be amazed at what a difference it makes.

Most people spend approximately one-third of their entire life lying in bed. The quality of your mattress can make a huge difference between waking up feeling refreshed and waking up in pain. In fact, old worn-out mattresses are an extremely common contributor to chronic back and neck pain. Good health and sleep are closely linked. Just as we improve our eating habits for better health, we should also improve our sleep habits. Good sleep not only reduces back problems, it also helps to prepare us for a more productive day. If you think that your mattress may be past its prime, here are some tips to help you select the right mattress for you:

• There is no single mattress that works well for all people. Look for a mattress that is adjustable in firmness and support for you.

• Find a mattress that has proper support for good sleep posture. Good sleep posture is nearly the same as good standing posture, with the ear, shoulder, hip and ankle all in alignment. This will require different levels of support for different parts of the body.

• Mattress firmness and support are not the same. Mattress firmness describes comfort and conformability. Look for a mattress that is comfortable.

• Look for a mattress that manages temperature and moisture.

Another important wellness essential product is an ergonomically designed backpack. It is amazing how we can put thousands of pages of data onto a microchip smaller than the eye can see, yet kids are carrying backpacks that are heavier than ever filled with text books. Many schools are taking away kid's lockers making the problem even worse. Some kids carry backpacks with 40% of their body weight or more. You can see them walking to school leaning forward to offset the weight on their backs. Until schools figure out a way to make the loads lighter, we recommend that you get a backpack that is designed to help you stand up straighter. Our favorite is the AirPack Backpack designed by Core Products because of its patented shoulder straps and inflatable lumbar cushion which when properly adjusted redistributes the weight from the shoulders and upper back into the hips promoting a healthier upright standing posture.

A great way to both work on strengthening the core muscles that wrap around your waist and support your spine and improve your balance and coordination is with a new workout tool called a BOSU which stands for "both sides up." On one side it is a half of a balance ball on the other side it is a flat surface.

This is a great tool that allows you to complete a variety of different workouts. Inflatable discs or foam pads are another type of workout tool to exercise your nervous system and improve your balance and coordination. This is a great way to reduce your risk of injury as you age. Many age-related injuries are due to falls because of poor balance and coordination.