Massage Warsaw- Massage Therapy – Warsaw Acupuncture

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  • Hamstring Stretch

    The hamstrings are very involved in lower back pain as they help to control the curvature of the lower spine and the tilt of the pelvis.  Stretching the hamstring can help to relieve lower back pain.  I have included two videos here that show different approaches to stretching the hamstring:

     

    Guidelines for performing the stretches:

    1. Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
    2. Do the exercises slowly and gently.
    3. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
    4. Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
    5. You should feel a gentle stretching sensation, but you should not feel any pain during the exercises. Be especially careful of any sharp or pinching pain. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
    6. If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
    7. Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
    8. Hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds each time.
    9. Receiving massage or acupuncture treatments as part of your rehabilitation can improve your recovery.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Seated Gluteus Maximus Stretch

    This video shows how to stretch the gluteus maximus muscle.  The gluteus maximus muscle is very involved in hip pain and low back pain.  This stretch can help to resolve tightness or pain in those areas.  The beauty of this approach to stretching is that it can easily be done at the office and help to manage low back pain that flares up at work.

    Guidelines for performing the stretches:

    1. Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
    2. Do the exercises slowly and gently.
    3. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
    4. Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
    5. You should feel a gentle stretching sensation, but you should not feel any pain during the exercises. Be especially careful of any sharp or pinching pain. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
    6. If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
    7. Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
    8. Hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds each time.
    9. Receiving massage or acupuncture treatments as part of your rehabilitation can improve your recovery.

     

  • Hip Flexor Stretch

    Here is a video that shows the basics of how to stretch out your hip flexor muscles (psoas major and iliacus).  These muscles are very involved with groin pain, low back pain, and hip pain.

    Guidelines for performing the stretches:

    1. Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
    2. Do the exercises slowly and gently.
    3. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
    4. Tilt your pelvis posteriorly to get a better stretch.  This can be done by moving your pubic bone forward and up toward the ceiling.  This move serves to flatten the lower back.
    5. Remember to keep your shoulders and back straight .  Do not lean forward as this is cheating.
    6. Hold onto something to stabilize yourself.
    7. Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
    8. You should feel a gentle stretching sensation, but you should not feel any pain during the exercises. Be especially careful of any sharp  pain. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
    9. If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
    10. Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
    11. Hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds each time.
    12. Receiving massage or acupuncture treatments as part of your rehabilitation can improve your recovery.

     

  • Kalidasa’s “Salutation to the Dawn”

    A beautiful, inspirational poem by India’s Kalidasa:

    Salutation to the Dawn

    Look to this day!
    For it is life, the very life of life.
    In its brief course
    Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:

    The bliss of growth
    The glory of action
    The splendour of beauty

    For yesterday is but a dream
    And tomorrow only a vision
    But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
    And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

    Look well, therefore to this day!
    Such is the salutation to the dawn.

    – Kalidasa, Indian Poet

  • Shin Splints

    The curse of all runners, shin splints can ruin a perfectly good run.  Shin splints describe a pain in the front of the shin that you might feel while running or playing sports. Shin splints are often caused by a muscle imbalance where the posterior calf muscles are very strong and short causing the front tibialis anterior muscle to be become overburdened and painful.   Basically, the back muscles of the shin or tibia are strong and are overpowering the front muscles of the shin.

    If you are prone to shin splints, there are a few simple exercises that can help you by strengthening the tibialis anterior muscle so that it becomes strong enough to withstand the constant force of the posterior calf muscles. The other half of the equation involves stretching out the calf muscles so they don’t pull on the tibialis anterior muscle as much.

    The first exercise to strengthen tibialis anterior is very simple and can be done while you are sitting at work. It involves sitting on a chair and tapping your toes. You will never find a simpler exercise to do, but don’t let it fool you. You will feel the burn very quickly.

     

     

    Here is another easy one to strengthen tibialis anterior:

     

    Remember that strengthening the front is not enough.  If you really want to improve you need to also stretch the back.    This next video shows two stretches for the calf muscles.  The first exercise stretches the gastrocnemius muscle and the second stretches the soleus muscle.

  • Alcohol and Exercise

    The following article by Selene Yeager appeared in Women’s Health Mag:

     

    Alcohol in your system is detrimental to any kind of fitness activity (except maybe on the dance floor). Here’s how booze wreaks havoc on your regimen.

    1. Slower Recovery
    Hard workouts drain the glycogen stores (carbs stored in the liver and muscles) and leave your muscle tissue in need of repair. “Pouring alcohol into your system as soon as you finish stalls the recovery process,” says Tavis Piattoly, R.D. High levels of alcohol displace the carbs, leaving your stores still 50 percent lower than normal even eight hours later, according to one study. Sip or snack on a combo of muscle-repairing protein and carbs (think low-fat chocolate milk or peanut butter on whole-wheat crackers) before tipping back.

    2. Packed-On Fat
    When booze is on board, your body, besides having to deal with the surplus of calories, prioritizes metabolizing the alcohol over burning fat and carbs. Alcohol also breaks down amino acids and stores them as fat. “For some reason this process is most pronounced in the thighs and glutes,” says Piattoly. “Excessive alcohol consumption really chews up muscle in those areas.” It also increases levels of cortisol (a stress hormone), which further encourages fat storage, particularly in your midsection.

    3. Disrupted Sleep
    Boozing also blows your muscle recovery and performance by sapping your sleep. In a study of 93 men and women, researchers found that alcohol decreased sleep duration and increased wakefulness (particularly in the second half of the night), especially in women, whose sleep time was decreased by more than 30 minutes over the night. “Disrupting the sleep cycle can reduce your human growth hormone output—which builds muscle—by as much as 70 percent,” says Piattoly.

    4. Depleted Water and Nutrients
    Alcohol irritates the stomach lining, which can reduce your capacity to absorb nutrients (the reason you have an upset stomach after a few too many), says Brian R. Christie, Ph.D.—not to mention that alcohol makes you pee. For every gram of ethanol you suck down, you pump out 10 milliliters of urine (that’s about 9.5 ounces for two beers). As little as 2 percent dehydration hurts endurance performance. And by the way, you can’t rehydrate with a dehydrating drink (e.g., beer).