10 Simple Stretches To Do At Your Desk infographic

Maybe you should skip that stretch....

What?!?! But I've been told I should stretch before I work out to avoid injury and warm up. New research from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research says that an active and dynamic warm up is preferred to a passive stretch before activity. Read the abstract here.

So what is an active dynamic warm up? It is any warm up that combines cardiovascular challenge and active movements that open up the joints and actively stretches your muscle tissue, but does not hold you in a static stretch.

Passive stretching can lead to instability in your joints increasing your chance for injury.

The other benefit to an active dynamic warm up is that it keeps your mind more present in your activity and therefore your body. Passive stretching can allow your mind to wander, ultimately allowing you to disconnect with your body before an event; possibly missing some warning signs of weakness or potential injury. Keep in mind that active dynamic exercises are also designed to:

• Open up your joints
• Actively stretch muscle tissue
• Increase cardiovascular activity, making it easier to transition into your training, race or activity
• Actively increase flexibility

Why is this you ask? Why doesn't stretching before activity benefit the body? Well, although conclusive research hasn't been done, there are some possible explanations. One is a more relaxed muscle tendon that is not able to contract the muscle they way it needs to in order to fire correctly for activity. The other is that a stretched muscle offers less joint stability. We all lose strength when our joints are unstable.

Try these 5 active dynamic warm up exercises before your next swim, bike or run and see how your body responds. It is best to start with smaller, less intense movements and gradually move into more challenging warm up exercises.

Arm Circles

• Standing with your arms extended at your sides, parallel to the ground, like a capital letter "T" Start with your palms facing up and do small circles forward and backward. Do as many as you can for 30 seconds each way. Repeat with palms down. 
• Warms up; shoulders, lats, biceps, triceps

Knee Hugger

• You are going to walk forward; with each step you take first bring the knee up to your chest, hug it in close and then step forward. Make sure to keep your core engaged. Take 15 - 30 steps with each leg. 
• Warms up; hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings

Butt Kicks

• In a slow jog bring your heel to your to your butt, essentially kicking your own butt with each step. Kick 15 - 30 times with each leg. 
• Warms up; quads, hamstrings, glutes

Walking Lunge w/ Twist

• Starting with your dominate leg, take a wide step forward while lunging keeping the back knee off of the ground. While in your lunge, gently twist to the right and left. Stand up, bringing the back leg to the front leg and repeat on the other side. Do 15 - 20 lunges on each side
• Warms up; obliques, low back, hip flexors, quads, hamstrings, core

Bear Crawl

• Bending over, place your hands and feet on the ground. Crawl using the opposite hand and foot, mimicking a bear. Crawl for 10 yards turn around and crawl back to your starting place.
• Warms up; shoulders, core, back, glutes, quads, hamstrings, lower legs (pretty much everything!!)

Active Dynamic warm ups should change your overall endurance and performance levels. Therapeutic Massage is beneficial to create flexibility in the muscle tissue keeping you flexible but strong. Too much flexibility and you lose stability, to much stability and not enough flexibility can lead to injury. It's about finding the balance to keep you working at your peak level. 

Cycling Muscle Groups; Hamstrings vs. Quads

As the weather warms up our inclination to be active outdoors also increases. This time of year we see many clients come in with new aches and pains as they begin their summer activities. Today we're going to talk about cycling.

The diagram below breaks down the pedaling cycle. The left side of the diagram below shows the placement of the foot as it moves the pedal. The right side of the diagram illustrates the muscles used in the pedaling cycle.


 

Cycling Muscle Groups infographic

As with all activities it is important to determine not just that there is pain, but when the pain is present. For a cyclist determining that there is pain in the hamstrings during the recovery phase of the stroke gives their massage therapist a lot of information as to what is happening (or not happening) during their ride. 

As an athlete, knowing the muscles used in each phase can help you determine possible weakness in the body and give you insight to know what muscle groups you can focus on in cross training. 

Most often the quads become stronger and more developed than the hamstrings. The quads are a larger muscle group and often get used more than their counterparts on the back side of the body. Positioning of your bike seat can also lead to a preference of quads over hamstrings.

Do you find yourself complaining of tight hamstrings, the large muscle group on the back of the upper leg? Are they the first ones to fatigue on a long ride? Many people confuse tight hamstrings with strong hamstrings. Usually the opposite is true, tight hamstrings are often weak hamstrings. The quads pull so tight due to the overuse that the hamstrings pull tight to counter the downward pull of the quadriceps. 

Think of a rubber band that has been pulled tight for a long period of time. In position it feels tight, and therefore strong. Return this rubber band to a normal position and you will see that there is no strength to it at all. This is what is happening to your hamstrings when the quads are over worked and overused. 

How do you know if your hamstrings are imbalanced? A trained body worker (massage therapist, physical therapist, etc.) will assess your pelvic tilt. An anterior, or forward, pelvic tilt can be a result of short, tight quads and long, weak hamstrings. A posterior, or backwards, pelvic tilt can be the effect of hamstrings that are stronger or have more tension than the quadriceps. 

That's great....now what do you do? Cross training, working with a personal trainer or physical therapist is a great way to correct strength imbalance. Making sure your bike has been professionally fitted to your body is also important. 

Massage is a great and very necessary component to getting the quads to lengthen so that the hamstrings can be positioned correctly and give you the true strength they can provide. Strength is one component, but won't do much if you are not working with the soft tissue (muscle) to address tension, trigger points, adhesions or myofascial imbalances. 

Massage also aids in the rest and recover phase of training, giving you more bang for your buck. Cyclists that receive regular massage will tell you that they are able to train longer and harder when they get massage. Your massage therapist will be able to address areas of tension before they become an injury. Allowing you to enjoy a longer training season with less chance of season ending injury. 

Discover Massage works with you to address postural dysfunctions that can create pain and weakness as well as educate you about you body and it's health.  Our therapists dedicated to helping you life your best life. As an athlete or weekend rider; someone who rides for fun or rides for sport, we are here to help you feel the best so that you can do the things you love. 

Breakfast Smoothie

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Studies show that when we make poor food choices in the morning, we are more likely to make poor food choices throughout the day. Smoothies are a great, quick way to get some great nutrition in you and set you up for food success throughout your day! Grab a handful of nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, etc.) on your way out the door and you've got a balanced meal in hand!

Green Monster Smoothie

• 1/2 can coconut milk
• handful of fresh spinach
• 2 oranges, peeled
• frozen fruit

In a blender puree coconut milk and spinach. Add oranges and frozen fruit. Taa-daa! Breakfast is served. Enjoy! 

Chunky Butternut Squash Soup

Tis the season of soups, chili's and other warm, comfort food. Here's an easy one that is super satisfying and a bit different than your traditional pureed butternut squash soup.

• 1 Large Onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 4-6 carrots, quartered
• 6-8 celery stalks, chopped 
• 1 bunch, spinach, kale or chard, de-stem kale or chard and chop into bit sized pieces
• 1 Large Butternut Squash, baked until soft (425 for 30-45 mins.) then cubed
• 8-10 cups of vegetable broth**

Directions:

1. In large stock pot, saute onion in butter until translucent
2. Add Garlic, Carrots, Celery. Cook until carrots and celery begin to soften a bit. 
3. Add greens (spinach, kale or chard) and butternut squash. 
4. Add vegetable broth. 
5. Serve warm.

**Collect all of your vegetable scraps (onions, carrots, zucchini, garlic, etc.) in a bowl in the fridge. When you have enough scraps put into a pot of water (15-20 cups) and let cook. Add salt, pepper, bay leaves and other spices to taste. Reduce to half of original amount and Ta-daaaa....homemade veg stock for "free"!


I added some fresh basil to this tonight as well. Have fun and experiment with other spices. Leave a comment and let me know how it turned out!

Your posture and it's harmful effects on productivity

So yesterday, we mentioned that the diaphragm was your main breathing muscle. It does not act alone. There are many other muscles that assist in the breathing process. More importantly, when these muscles are compromised through stress, strain or poor posture, they can impair our ability to breathe and limit the benefits of our breath.

You know where you are tight, areas in your neck and back that your carry your stress. Have you ever thought that besides being annoying and painful this tension that you carry around could be having effects on your ability to breathe and get oxygen to your body? It's true. Lack of oxygen can produce fatigue, brain fog, and inability to remember details. It's often why when people start stretching, doing yoga, getting massage or seeing a chiropractor that they report increased energy as one of the first benefits they notice. All because they are getting more oxygen in their bodies!

Muscles in the neck help to lift the rib cage allowing for expansion that is necessary to bring oxygen into the body to feed your muscles, digestive organs and most importantly your brain. When the muscles in your neck are tight (you know that block of concrete that is sitting on your shoulder....) they can't lift the rib cage the way they are supposed to and you are not able to get the oxygen into your body that you need.

Muscles in your back allow for the ribcage to expand out and back also contributing to a full breath. It is very common to have tight muscles in the back, especially between the shoulder blades. When these muscles are tight we tend to depend on the muscles in our neck to lift the rib cage. Watch yourself breathe in the mirror...do your shoulders lift as you inhale? If your shoulders are doing most of the work, the muscles in your back are probably tight, restricting expansion through the back of the ribcage.

These tight muscles also create poor posture. Poor posture impairs your ability to breath. As muscles in the front of your neck gets tight they pull your head forward, making it difficult to pull the clavicle and ribcage up for full lung expansion.

Sitting at a computer, desk or driving for long periods of time shorten the muscles in the chest. These shortened muscles compress the ribcage and pull the shoulders in and forward. It's like having a weight on your chest all day long. You wouldn't put a bag of rocks on your chest and expect to breath, but that is exactly what poor posture can do.

Using the breathing techniques we've talked about the last couple of days can help relax tight muscles. Improving posture and your productivity. Tomorrow will be our last post on breathing (for now...) we'll talk about how to improve your breath and posture through simple self-care techniques. Until then, you know what to do...just keep breathing :)

What your breath is trying to tell you

Hopefully, you've been trying to use one of the breathing techniques that we posted on Monday. Okay, so your breathing, now what? Your breath can tell you a lot about where you are at and what you need. As you take time for focused breathing 5 minutes each day, using even breath, focused exhale breathing or restrained breath; also use this time to check in with your body to listen to the messages it is sending.

Go ahead....take 5 or 6 deep breaths in and out, in and out. What do you feel?Does your breath feel tight and constricted? Do you feel pain anywhere? Can you get a full breath in? Does your mind race to all the other things you "should" be doing? Just observe what you are feeling, don't judge it, it is information nothing more. It is not good or bad, just communication from your body about what you need.

Let's look at some areas of focus while breathing and then what you can do about the messages your body is telling you.

1. Thoracic expansion - This is the expansion you feel in your ribcage as you breath. As you inhale, focus on feeling the front, back and both sides of your rib cage expand. This can be hard, most of us want to lift our shoulders up to gain expansion. Keep the shoulders relaxed and focus on expanding the rib cage as much as you can in all directions.
2. Abdominal breathing - The diaphragm is your main breathing muscle. Imagine a drum head, separating the ribcage from your digestive organs. As you inhale and expand the rib cage, the diaphragm drops down, gently pushing on the digestive organs. (This is why it is hard to breath after a big meal!!) If you are a chest breather, meaning only your chest and shoulders move when you are breathing, lie on your back with a pillow or small book on your abdomen. As you breathe, watch the object move up as you inhale and down as you exhale. Combine abdominal breathing with thoracic expansion to get the most from your breath

Alright, so you are expanding your rib cage, your abdomen is gently moving out and in with each inhale and exhale. Now, close your eyes and scan your body.

Keep breathing as you check in with your feet, your legs, hips.

What feels tight? Does your inhale increase tension?

Do you feel the tension release on an exhale?

Move into the belly and low back?

Does it feel "stuck" anywhere?

Move into your chest and shoulders?

How about your upper back and neck?

Pay attention to those areas that feel tight or stuck. Sometimes focused breathing can bring up emotions. Sometimes we get frustrated, angry or sad and we don't know why. Focused breathing can help to clarify what it is truly bothering us.

Breathing is also a great way to relieve tension and pain. As you notice areas that are stuck, hold your attention there as you breathe. Feel tension increase slightly as you inhale and feel the tension melt as you exhale. It make take 8-10 breaths or more to feel an area relax so stick with it.

This is also a great breathing exercise to do before you go to bed. Lying in bed, connect with your breath and scan your body from any tension you are holding. Release it and your on your way to a night of deep, restful sleep.

Set time aside in your day to breathe for 5 minutes. Intentional breathing can improve energy levels, brain fog, mental fatigue, digestion and your ability to manage stress. You could take 5 minutes in your car before or after work, at the end of your lunch break, just after waking or just before bed. It doesn't matter when or where, all that matters is that you make time to do it. Breath and watch how it improves your life.

Tomorrow we'll look at the muscles involved with breathing and Friday how to improve your posture and breath through simple self-care techniques. In the meantime...just keep breathing :)