Never get sick again! | Health in your hands

Physiotherapist Denis Fortier has given himself a mission: to improve people’s quality of life by keeping them away from illness. With his 7^e practical Guide Never get sick again, he provides very concrete advice, because we have everything we need to take care of our health. We met him.

Denis Fortier is motivated more than ever. According to him, we can all be in better shape thanks to simple effective actions. He speaks with passion about his profession as a physiotherapist, which he has practiced for 30 years, and believes that with the poor state of our health system, people realize the importance of the role they can play in their well-being. The physiotherapist also makes numerous interventions on the radio, or on his YouTube channel where he has more than 750,000 subscribers, to talk in particular about the benefits of walking, the importance of sleep and a good diet.

“I feel a responsibility and it motivates me, because I know that I help people by being accessible and sharing my knowledge. We know that 70% of chronic diseases can be avoided if there is prevention, but we are very bad in Quebec at prevention. We have carried out campaigns against smoking, speeding and drunk driving, but why don’t we carry out campaigns to promote daily walking? To talk about overconsumption of salt, sugar, junk food? » he laments.

The author believes that there are several ways to do prevention. We can say, for example, that we all have the power to take care of our health and that we can build solid foundations ourselves to achieve this.

The importance of muscles

Denis Fortier proposes in his book an approach where he puts the muscle at the center of our concerns and presents a series of exercises which consist of improving and maintaining healthy mobility of the joints of the body (knee flexions, lateral movement of the legs, rotations of the wrists).

“Working your muscles is fundamental, it’s what makes our joints move. The muscle secretes hormones, I’ve been a physiotherapist for 30 years, but we didn’t know that when I started. Muscle produces myokines which provide immense benefits for brain and cardiovascular health in addition to anti-inflammatory action. Resistance exercises with elastic bands or dumbbells will contribute to better brain health, because it secretes myokines which go to the brain,” he explains. And this is why we must integrate physical activity into our lifestyle habits, by walking more often, cycling or taking the stairs.

“We know it, we repeat it again and again that 10,000 steps per day is good, but we don’t talk about the speed of the step which is nevertheless fundamental. Simply doing two minutes of sustained-intensity activity per day (sustained-intensity activity is when you’re out of breath) has benefits for cardiovascular health and the brain. This too must be repeated! When we go for a walk, we know that it feels good to go outside, to expose ourselves to the light of day (at least 60 minutes), it’s rare that we come back from our walk saying to ourselves that we didn’t like it. »

When it comes to exercises, he advises making choices based on our values ​​and abilities, but without feeling guilty. “It’s good to surround yourself with caring and inspiring people, to cook fresh produce with friends, to be indulgent towards yourself. It’s the little things that make the difference on a daily basis,” he believes.

“As a physiotherapist, I am always very touched to see, for example, an 80-year-old person who thought they would never be able to run again, but by participating in their rehabilitation, we see them running again. And this joy is so great that we tell ourselves that we must not give up, that it is possible to achieve it. »

Never get sick again!

Denis Fortier

Éditions Trécarré

310 pages