Dr. Ben Kim's blog

After badly dislocating my left shoulder while playing basketball during my first year of university, I began experimenting with a variety of strength-training techniques for my shoulders. Over the course of several years, I tried numerous routines that called for dozens of exercises with free weights and machines. Read more

Let’s begin our look at how to stay healthy while spending hours at a desk by addressing your foundation. Unless you have a health condition that makes it difficult to sit for a long period of time, your foundation while working at a desk is likely your pelvis, which serves as a base for your spinal column, which in turn provides protective housing for your nervous system, which serves as the primary highway of information traffic that allows you to do and feel all that you do. Read more

Part one of this series on Tips For Staying Healthy With A Desk Job described the essentials of taking care of your physical health with specific exercises and being mindful of how you use your body throughout the day. Read more

Far healthier than almost any energy bar that you can buy in a store, these energy balls are full of vitamins, minerals, and natural compounds that are perfect for providing a quick boost of energy.

Because these energy balls are made out of fiber-rich whole foods, eating just one or two can be surprisingly filling - quite the contrast when you consider that most folks have no trouble eating half a dozen or more mini-donuts in one sitting. Read more

Originally published about four years ago when our boys were 5 and 3.

One of the great joys of my life these days is getting to hear original thoughts that come rolling out of our boys.

A personal favorite came about when our older son, Joshua, asked about the origin of his belly button. After going through my anatomy atlas and discussing the roles of the umbilical cord and placenta, Margaret asked, "So why do you have a belly button?" To which Joshua's immediate reply was: "Because you cut the hose off!" Read more

Talk about a voice that can take you places. Please do your soul a favour and enjoy this one while seated or lying down, eyes closed, and with the best quality earphones you have access to. I have to believe that even the weariest of souls will find this divine. Thank you Sara Bareilles. Read more

Back when our firstborn, Joshua, was about six months old and had trouble getting to sleep without one of us holding him, we resorted to the universal remedy of strapping him into his car seat and going for a long drive. Read more

If you've been following our site for a while now, you likely know how much I value using a foam roller to keep muscles and ligaments healthy and well perfused with blood. In my experience, having a foam roller is almost as good as having your own personal massage therapist. You can use a roller to apply therapeutic massage to just about any muscle group. And if you combine foam rolling with stretching all of your major muscle groups, you can expect to be highly flexible and decrease risk of injuries that come about from "brittle" muscles and ligaments that are congested with waste materials and lacking optimal blood flow. Read more