Passive Stretching the whole side from shoulder to knee :) such a nice feeling.
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Crescent Moon, Passive Stretch of IT Band,TFL plus up the QL, Lats.,Erector Spinae and Obliques.12/7/2015 Passive Stretching the whole side from shoulder to knee :) such a nice feeling.Another favourite stretch. Best time to do this stretch is at the end of the day when you are in bed. Lay flat on your back. Keep your pelvis anchored in place and just move your legs and upper torso in the same direction. Now lay there in the crescent moon curve and just feel the stretch down the side of your hip and up the waist. If you want to feel the stretch farther up place your arm over your head on the side being stretched.
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Passive Stretch. No balance or force required by any other muscle group.Gravity and the weight of the body is creating the force. The whole body is positioned to allow muscles to be relaxed and the area that needs to be stretched is getting a stretch to eventually join the relaxation of the rest of the body.
The above pictures demonstrate a neck stretch. Can you tell which side of her neck is tighter? A great time to do this stretch is when you wake in the morning and hit the snooze button. Place your self into a face down position with the shoulders supported and the head just nicely turned to the side. Just like doing a shoulder check if you where driving a car. When the alarm goes off again in nine minutes stretch the other side. kimdeering.com/blog Massage Magazine in June printed an article by Kami Hall Carrillo, L.M.T., "11 Tips to Better Posture". Two simple tips of the eleven that I practise are hold/pull the stomach muscles in and turn the palms forward when standing or turn palms up when sitting. These two moves will open up the chest and roll the shoulders back allowing you to stop that rounded posture and allow you to take a deeper breath when the chest is not collapsed.
The worst and best transformation I have seen was a young man that had spent his school days with his shoulders rolled forward creating a collapsed chest. Everyone knows a person like that. Grew faster than the rest of the class and didn't like being the tall guy. As a confident man he wanted to stand tall with his chest open. He also found it was difficult to work with weights for chest building exercises. The years of habitual curling the body had caused chronically short chest muscles. We worked together to open up the chest by massaging to lengthen out the shortened muscles. Three mildly painful therapeutic sessions and he was on his way to better posture and greater strength from muscles that had been given back their full length. Correcting bad posture takes time and practice. Massage will support the muscles release of the chronic held tension that are supporting the bad posture allowing a transition into a natural healthy posture. kimdeering.com/blog http://www.massagemag.com/11-tips-to-better-posture-11193/?utm_source=Massage+Magazine&utm_campaign=fb59699490-July+eNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_16e004de85-fb59699490-101350645 The stretch I am referring to is the deep side bend that can be done standing or sitting. I like sitting so that I won't accidentally lose my balance and I can let the other muscles relax and just focus on the side that is being stretched. When I sit to stretch I can hang on to the chair I am sitting in.
1. Sit in chair with out armrests is best 2. Raise arm over head 3. Lean in the direction opposite to the arm that is raised 4. Go as far as you can comfortably. 5. Hold the stretch and breath 6. Breath 3 times and feel your side from your shoulder to your hip open up 7. Come gently back up right and lower your arm 8. Repeat the stretch for the other side and repeat this side and the other side again. Why I think of this as a forgotten stretch is from the patients I see every day. When I massage the back and notice the tension of the Erector Spinae Group of muscles next to the spine and move onto the areas following the line of the ribs, Quadratus Lumborum (the lower back), Obliques (abdominal waist muscles) - The muscle tension tells me and the discussion tells me that the stretch that would help has been forgotten or maybe never learned. Most of our stretch education is usually from way back when- maybe high school, maybe from videos with some terrible examples being way back in the 80's when the bouncing stretch was popular but a bounce is not a stretch at all. A move that is done repeatedly with action and force is an exercise to build a muscle, not a stretch to assist the muscle to lengthen back out releasing the fluids and tension that is holding and shortening the muscle. After doing the side bending stretchs move into the stretch for the lower back, mid-back/rhomboids and hip. kimdeering.com You have slipped and almost fallen but you completely stayed on your feet making a stellar recovery to regain your balance. There was no embarrassing fall. Just an interesting slide. Possible award winning dance move. Your body's response was a bit of an adrenaline rush and many muscles of back, leg, shoulder, arms, neck tightened up to protect you from the the impact. Now it is two weeks later and you hurt in the hip (buttocks area) and the pain might also be going down the back of the leg. And maybe that lower back is still gripping tight. What to do? Did you ice the injury? What injury? I didn't fall? Yes, there was no impact. The muscles are still holding a muscle contraction. Check the muscles that hurt. Are they hot or cold. Use the back of your hand to check. Add heat if they are cold and ice if they are hot. Continue with the ice and heat and ice. This will increase the blood flow into the muscles allowing the muscles to release the tension. Next do stretches for the lower back, hip and legs. This picture shows a demonstration of a hip stretch. Do this stretch sitting in any chair. The leg of the hip that is in a bit of pain, place that ankle over the opposite knee. With a straight back, lean forward, flexing at the hip. Do not curve the lower back. Feel the stretch in the hip. You can view a good explanation and demonstration of the sitting stretch for the piriformis muscle, for back pain and sciatica nerve pain with the Dr. Steven Hoffman on this youtube This youtube video by Oscar Sanchez demonstrates a way to stretch and massage the hip muscles using a ball (use a ball with a bit of bounce like a tennis ball) to release the tight piriformis and gluteal muscles that is pinching the sciatic nerve. This youtube video by Oscar Sanchez demonstrates five floor stretches for the lower back. kimdeering.com Stretches Make The Difference
My computer glasses are Foster Grant low prescription orange lenses I bought in store at Staples. D has amber lenses, non prescription, Gunnar Optiks Gaming Eyewear. Eyestrain is reduced by altering the reflective blue rays of the screen, reducing glare, and blocking the harmful UV light rays from the computer screen. Using computer glasses will help you to have fewer headaches. Yes, you still need to get away from the computer and the desk every twenty minutes if possible. No? Okay then, every hour and take a walk about and stretch. Have a look at the index of stretches from Bob Anderson's book, Stretching in the Office, or available as StretchWare, software that reminds you to stretch. And have a drink of water. Just a reminder, that it is not a treat, it is a necessity to get a massage when you are wearing your shoulders as earrings from the stress of work, worries and deadlines. kimdeering.com/blog |
About The Author Kim Deering, RMTI am a practicing and teaching massage therapist. Index to HealthCategories
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