The Secret to Relieving Muscle Pain

Good day,

Pam Kats is a personal training client of mine and also a massage Therapist (MT) . She is not just an MT she is the President of the Massage Therapist’s Association of Alberta so I am pretty sure she knows her stuff. 

Have you ever wondered if massage is for you well keep reading...

Massage Therapy can help you train harder, lift heavier, run faster, recover more quickly and stick to your training program.  Many athletes, both professional and recreational use Massage Therapy to improve the benefits of their training programs.  Massage assists in preventing injury and boosts mental and physical well –being.  The addition of Massage Therapy to a training program can improve any athlete’s ability to complete quality workouts and to recover faster.  And the best part about it is that massage feels great! 

Massage Therapy is the systematic approach to assessment and treatment of the body’s soft tissue for a positive and therapeutic effect.  When applied judiciously, Massage Therapy can have many positive effects on the body and mind.  Massage decreases heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels and increases circulation.  The mechanical pressure of massage helps the body’s tissues receive nutrients readily and flushes waste products from the tissue more effectively.  This results in a decrease in pain and an improvement in flexibility and range of motion.  Massage can have a therapeutic effect psychologically as well.  Massage patients have a reduced rate of anxiety and feel a sense of well-being and relaxation after a treatment.  Massage improves self-esteem and body awareness and this increases the likely hood of nailing your workouts and sticking to a healthy lifestyle.  These types of benefits mean professional athletes to beginners, just at the start of their fitness journey, will benefit from adding Massage Therapy to their training programs!

Fascia is the connective tissue that wraps our bones, organs, muscles and connects and shapes our bodies.   Adhesions can form in and between the layers of fascia and in muscles as a result of exercise, injury, poor posture habits and muscle imbalances.  These adhesions can be painful as well as cause a decrease in range of motion and flexibility and increases the potential for injury.  Massage and stretching are beneficial in manually breaking up adhesions and regular massage treatments will decrease adhesion formation therefore preventing injury and decreasing recovery time.

Finding a Massage Therapist who understands your needs as an athlete is essential.  Ideally, a Massage Therapist will be familiar and have experience treating athletes and will consider your health, previous injuries or conditions and use assessment to help tailor the massage treatment to your specific requirements and training goals.  In some provinces in Canada (British Columbia, Ontario, Newfoundland/ Labrador), Massage Therapy is regulated by government legislation.  This means the public is protected when they seek Massage Therapy from a Registered Massage Therapist (R.M.T).  However, this is not the case in Alberta.  Alberta Massage Therapists are not currently regulated by government legislation although there are provincial associations that help Massage Therapists self-regulate.  Look for Massage Therapists that adhere to entry-to-practice standards, scope of practice, standards of practice  and a Code of Ethics, and interview your potential Massage Therapist.  Any Massage Therapist you visit should be comfortable telling you about their education and experience background, should carry Professional Malpractice and General Liability insurance, should operate in a clean and accessible location and most of all be comfortable and familiar with your sport or injury so that you are receiving the best massage for you!

Stretching and using a foam roller between Massage Therapy visits is a perfect way to decrease pain, improve function and flexibility and will help you get the full benefit of your training program.  Using a foam roller can improve local circulation, lengthen and stretch tissue and decrease the formation of adhesions.  Foam rollers are inexpensive and with a bit of experimentation you can target just about any muscle group.

Some tips before beginning:

·         Warm up.  This can be light exercise, a warm shower or bath or a locally applied heat like a heating pad.
·         Keep your first few foam roller sessions short.  15 minutes is a good start.
·         Rest a day between sessions.
·         Drink plenty of water after a session, just as you would after massage.

·         After a few weeks you can increase your session time and frequency if you choose.

·         If you have a painful area, for example your IT band on the right is bothering you – start on the other limb first.  (Starting on the unaffected side increases circulation and decreases pain to the affected side.)

·         Start on the largest muscles and move out towards the smaller ones.

·         After using the foam roller spend a few minutes stretching the areas you have rolled.

·         Avoid rolling on bony areas.

·         Do not use a foam roller without your physician's approval if you have any heart or vascular illness or a chronic pain condition.

Try these rolling the following areas on the foam roller.  Start by warming up then place your body on the roller and slowly roll up and down (for about 10-15 seconds) along the muscle group you are targeting. If you find a particularly tight area, pause on that spot. Putting pressure on a tight area can help release the tissue.

Low Back – Place the foam roller perpendicular to your body and lie onto the roller so that it is positioned just above your waist.  Bend your knees and roll your low back.  You can shift your body very slightly to the side to target more specific tissue.

Gluts – Place the foam roller perpendicular to your body and sit on the roller.  With your hands on the floor behind the roller and your knees bent, shift slightly to one side, and straighten that knee.  The other knee remains bent.  Shift your body weight so that you are rolling the entire glut.

Piriformis - Place the foam roller perpendicular to your body and sit on the roller.  With your knees bent and your hands on the floor behind the foam roller, cross one ankle over the other bent knee.  Shift your body weight slightly to crossed leg side and roll out the piriformis and other lateral hip rotators.

Hamstrings - Place the foam roller perpendicular to your body and sit on the roller.  Place your hands on the floor behind the roller and bend your knees.  Straighten one knee and roll that hamstring from the top to just above your knee.  You can stack your legs to add more pressure.

Iliotibial Band (ITB, side of your thigh) - Place the foam roller perpendicular to your body and lie on the roller so that your IT band is in contact with the roller.  Keep other knee bent and the foot crossed over the leg you are rolling.  Use your elbow to support your upper body.  Roll from top of your thigh to the top of the knee.  Angle your body slightly back (hamstring) or forward (quadriceps) to target muscles attaching to the IT band.  You can stack your legs for more pressure.  This area can be tender! Try pressure without movement in very sensitive areas.

Quadriceps - Place the foam roller perpendicular to your body and lie face down on the roller so that the front of your thighs are on the roller.  Support your upper body on your elbows and roll from the tops of your knees to the tops of your thighs.  Try shifting your weight to either side to target more specific tissue.

Adductors (Inner thigh) – Lie on your stomach on the floor with the roller parallel beside you.  Bend your knee and hip to place your inner thigh in the foam roller.  Support your upper body on the floor and roll your inner thigh from hip to just above the knee.

Calves – Sit on the floor with the foam roller perpendicular to your body and just under your ankles.  Bend one knee.  Support your upper body weight on your hands and roll the roller from just below your knee to your Achilles tendon.  Stack your legs for more pressure.

Always remember to warm up or use heat first.  You can modify by using a towel over the foam roller to add padding, or use your roller against the wall while standing instead of laying on it.  Static pressure will cause less discomfort than rolling along the length of muscle.  Always stretch the muscles after you have rolled.  Rest is an important part of any training program and by adding Massage Therapy, regular stretching and foam roller sessions to your rest days you will feel great while you train hard and reach goals.

Happy Training!

Pamela Kats is a Massage Therapist with 16 years’ experience and is providing Massage Therapy at Bridlewood Massage and Family Wellness.  She is a former Massage Therapy instructor, current President for Massage Therapist’s Association of Alberta, a mother of two, and a recreational runner for 12 years (5km, 10km and 21km distances).

How Do I turn My Firggin Brain Off?

If you are anything like me there are times in the day when you literally LIVE in your mind. Where you just CANNOT turn your brain off. In the the book Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle he talks about being in the now and experiencing life to the fullest in the present moment.
Ok, that's great but how the heck do I turn my brain off long enough to do this? Try the method outline below and see if it helps. I have used it and have had great results.

Rhythmic Breathing, by Curt Town, RMT.

Rhythmic breathing is a great way to calm the body and mind. It can be utilized for creating a very deep
state of relaxation. It can also become a meditation in and of itself, wherein the counting provides the mind
with a focus while at the same time creating the means for creating a sense of stillness and deep
relaxation.

It can also be used as a moving meditation. For example, while walking or driving to a meeting that you are
feeling some stress or anxiety about, In this case, it can create a greater sense of calm and centering,
helping you to be ‘grounded’, more in your body, and less in the fears of the mind.

Key Pointers and Tips:

- There are 4 phases to each breath cycle (one cycle is one complete breath):
One cycle consists of, 1) Inhale, 2) Pause between inhale and exhale, 3) Exhale, 4) Pause between exhale and next inhale - Each phase is the same duration.
- The pause phases are relaxed, like suspending/pausing the inhale or exhale as if you are about to continue the same phase. For example, when inhaling then pausing, just stop the inhale as if you are going to continue to inhale, so that the chest is held expanded but relaxed. Not with tension like trying to hold a breath, or bearing down while on the toilet.
- If at any time during a pause or exhale there is the need to take in air before completing the cycle, then
use a shorter duration until the body relaxes into it more.
- Start with a short duration initially. As the cycles progress, and the breathing feels easy, lengthen the
duration. I like to progress with increases in increments of a count of 3. For example, when first sitting
down, if I’m already relaxed and my heartbeat is at resting rate, I’ll start with a count of 6. When it feels
right, I’ll increase to a count of 9, and so on. If I’ve just sat down after being active, I might start initially with
a duration of 3 until I know I’m not going to gasp on the exhale.
- Using the heart beat is my favourite means for the tempo because even if I use the same duration/count
throughout the entire sitting, as I become more relaxed, the heart beat slows and the length of time is extended.
- One nice way to occupy a busy, easily distracted mind is to use a relaxing piece of music with a slow,
easy tempo for the counting process. If using rhythmic breathing as a means of clearing and ‘stilling’ the
mind before meditating, use such a piece of music that’s at the end of a CD, or, the player is set to play
only that one song, so that when the music ends, the CD stops, and there’s no distraction from entering the
meditation.
- In the case of a using rhythmic breathing while walking, you would need to use a very brief duration for
the count. I use the pace of the footsteps as the tempo, and usually use a count of 2 steps [right-left,
inhale; right-left, pause; right-left, exhale; right-left, pause].
- The length of the sitting is as long as you like. In my original practice, I would make a commitment to do
the exercise for at least 15 minutes, or the length of a long relaxing piece of music. The phase durations
would lengthen the more practiced I became.

As a note of encouragement and a testimonial for what is possible: Years ago, when I began a regular
practice of rhythmic breathing, over the period of a couple of years, I progressively increased the duration
by increments of 3 counts after each 3 to 6 breath cycles (3, 6, 9, 12…) so that eventually I was able to use
a duration of 21 counts for each phase using my heartbeat as the tempo (that means 4 phases at 21 counts
= 84 counts per one breath cycle; almost 2 minutes per breath cycle). On one occasion, I used rhythmic
breathing to achieve consciously lowering my heartbeat to 24 beats per minute. Negative emotional stress
was not an issue at that moment.

Cheers,

Bouncelife

The Top Secret To Putting On Muscle...

At Bounce we are usually talking about weight loss but today I want to talk about weight gain which can be just as difficult.

Guaranteed, if you're not growing, then you're just not really eating enough.

Eating sufficient food for most people can end up being challenging. You're on the move, or your stomach simply cannot take the volume.

Let alone if you're working in a hard labour job, your system is simply burning off the calories you're taking in..

You require calories, that's the truth. If this is you, utilizing a weight gainer is often a key piece of your muscle gaining strategy.

1000+ Calories in 3 Minutes <===== Click Here

They contain Protein, Carbs and Fats to assist get your calories consumed OVER and ABOVE what you're burning.

I recommend throwing in one shake a day to START for your first week. If you are not gaining, then up to 2 a day. Preferably consume them in between a meal, or post workout.

If you would like to ADD even MORE calories easily into you shake. Try adding Homogenized Milk and All

All-natural Peanut Butter.

You can boost it up another 500 Calories making use of this easy tip !

In order to grow you need to take in more calorie than you burn. Just make sure they are quality calories and not laden with fat.

Cheers,

Bouncelife

Cleansing the Spirit

Good morning,

A client and I were having an awesome conversation about some of the books we have read. We were talking specifically about Mitch Albom, the way he writes and the way that his books resonate with us.
I was saying how I need to read books again and again to make sure I stay on my "path" and how easily I forget some of the lessons.
My client L.L. said that people are always talking about doing a "cleanse" in the physical or nutritional sense. He then coined this phrase which I REALLY liked "reading and rereading certain types of books is like doing a "Spiritual Cleanse". Friggin awesome!

So I though I would give you a quick list of some of the books that I have read and that I continue to re-read on an ongoing basis to "Cleanse" my spirit in an attempt to stay on my path and let go of the fear of living my life to the fullest.

• Power of Now 
• A New Earth
• Conversations with God Books 1-3
• Tuesdays With Morrie
• the 5 People You Meet In Heaven
• The Saint The Surfer and The CEO
•  Purple Cow

These are a few of my Fav's. Pick one up today! Hopefully you find one of these books gives your Spirit the "cleanse" you are seeking.

Cheers,

Bouncelife