By Alisa Smith - from OutsideOnline
Your well-tailored fitness program may be missing something important—a regular massage. Here's our hands-on guide to the right rub.
All summer long you surfed, you hiked, you all-out mountain biked. Soon enough you'll be thumping through the moguls and skidding on ice. Problem is, relentlessly redlining your outdoor lifestyle week in and week out takes a toll on the body, especially when recovery means little more than popping ibuprofen caplets like they're Flintstones chewables. What's a sore adrenaline junkie to do?
"Every day, have a massage," says Melissa Shockey, a rubdown master at Otter Bar Lodge, a white-water kayaking school on Northern California's Salmon River. "The more massage, the better."
Her prescription may require a chubby wallet and open-ended leisure time, but Shockey has a point.
No longer stigmatized as a frivolous luxury or a therapeutic detour on the woeful road to rehab, massage is now joining exercise, nutrition, and rest as a crucial component of a sound fitness plan, particularly for weekend athletes who may not take optimal care of their bodies. "Amateurs are training as seriously now as pros did 50 years ago," says Mel Cash, founder of the London School of
Sports Massage. "It's usually aches and pains that make people give up a sport. But if Joe Runner stays out there with the help of regular massage, he's going to live to be 80 or 90 years old."
What can massage do for you, besides help you stay in the game longer? Even the simplest relaxation massages will decrease stress and improve circulation. More intense sports massages and deep soft-tissue workcharacterized by pushing hard into the layers of muscle, tendon, and ligamentwill shorten your recovery time after tough workouts and races, while keeping joint injuries and other ailments at bay. But don't take our word for itconsider the evidence.
What the Pros Know
For competitive cyclists, speedy muscle recovery can make the difference between winning a stage racewhich can entail up to 20 races over consecutive daysand finishing at the back of the pack. Rest between stages is critical, but rest combined with sports massage can double or triple recovery speed.
Racing and hard training leave behind microtears in muscle fiber, while muscle metabolism deposits waste in the form of lactic acid and phosphocreatine. As your body cools, these metabolic by-products solidify, creating adhesions between muscle fibers that inhibit those fibers from contracting smoothly against one another. Massage does two things: It physically breaks down the adhesions and waste productsimagine rolling a clump of dirt between your fingers until it disintegratesmaking it easier for the body to flush out waste and restore your full range of motion. And it stimulates blood circulation, speeding up repair work by delivering oxygen and nutrients to muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Of course, bike racers aren't the only people who stand to benefit from deep massage. "For recreational athletes who hit it hard on weekends and who may go three or four days without activity, exercise is even more stressful on the body than for those who work out regularly," says Bob McAtee, a Colorado Springs massage therapist who teaches sports-massage seminars around the country.
For working-class funhogs, massage may be more about injury prevention than performance enhancement, but the two go hand in hand. Unless you apply due diligence every time you bike, run, or climbstretching before and after, warming up slowly and adequately, drinking plenty of wateryou're risking strains, pulls, and tears. And you're begging for more serious problems down the road, such as tendinitis and chronic pain.
Massage shouldn't replace stretching, but since it moves muscle fibers in many more directions than a person can stretch, it can increase your range of motion dramatically. Wes Hobson, a top American triathlete based in Boulder, Colorado, adheres religiously to a regular hour-and-45-minute intensive rubdown to keep himself limber. "I'm not the most flexible person, and I hate to stretch," says Hobson. "Massage really helps me out."
How Much Is Enough?
For mortal athletes, McAtee suggests gauging how often you should get a massage by the number of training miles you log. For runners, consider a massage session every 70 miles. "If you're a recreational runner who jogs two or three times a week for short distances, that may mean one massage a month," he says. "If you're training for a marathon, you're probably looking at a massage every week." Cyclists should slot a visit every 300 miles. Since a professional massage runs between $50 and $90 per hour, weekly sessions may require some budgeting. Of course, there is also the low-budget, do-it-yourself option.
Once you've committed to time on the table, determining your pain threshold is critical. While therapists vary on their opinion about how much you should hurt during and after your session, the purpose of sports massage is to penetrate far into muscle tissue, and sometimes that work can be painful.
"In general, the more pain you can tolerate, the deeper the massage, and the more you'll see lasting benefits," says Mark Tamoglia, a massage therapist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who works with athletes of widely varying age and ability. "With a deep massage, you may feel good the day after, but the next day you'll feel even better." Your comfort zone may depend on how seriously you take your sportand your recovery. Any qualified therapist can help you zero in on the right intensity level.(To find a massage therapist near you, contact the American Massage Therapy Association, 888-843-2682 or www.amta massage.org.)
Relax, Bro
In the end, sports massage is about feeling better, not hurting more. A little extra suffering at the hands of your massage therapist pays off in the form of enhanced relaxation afterward, which may be more important than you realize. The body reacts to non-sports-related stressflack from your boss, for instanceby contracting muscles and restricting blood flow to certain parts of your body. Worse, this tension carries into your extracurricular activities, leading to bigger problems. "People bring stress into whatever they do," says Shockey. "A lot of tension in sports is emotional tension, and anywhere there's tension there's potential for injury."
Moreover, some evidence shows that relaxation is a conditioned response. Massage takes the body through the relaxation process and makes it easier to coax yourself into a mellow state when you're feeling stressed, say, at the start of your first half-Ironman or pulling through the crux of a lead climb. "Over time," says McAtee, "the relaxation you learn on the massage table can be tapped on the line."
Whether you're budgeting for a professional massage therapist or plying your squeeze with red wine in hopes of convincing him or her to take on the role, consider sports massage the most pleasurable fitness prescription you're ever going to get. Forget gulping down painkillersthis is medicine you'll take with glee.
http://www.howtobefit.com/importance-of-regular-massage.htm
Showing posts with label improve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label improve. Show all posts
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Yoga For Golf and Core Conditioning
Yoga For Golf and Core Conditioning
by Katherine Roberts - contributor for GolfOnline
The big buzzword in athletic training these days is "core conditioning". What exactly does core conditioning mean and why do golfers need to improve their core strength? Core conditioning refers to the center of the body - the abdominals, back and buttocks. Core strength will enable the golfer to maintain proper spine alignment throughout the golf swing and develop a consistent, repeatable golf swing. The walls of the abdominal cavity are supported entirely by the strength of the muscles located there, as no bones provide support for this area. Weak abdominal will stress the low back as the muscles do not provide adequate support for the spine.
These exercises will strengthen and stabilize the back - increasing rotation and decreasing risk of injury. Core strength and flexibility will maintain your primary spine angle and allow a reproduce able swing. Without core strength the golfer will have trouble maintaining a proper set up posture.
Three things to remember when working the core strength of the body - M.B.A: Move slowly, Breath deeply exhaling on exertion, and Align the body with total support of the neck.
Core abdominal presses:
To begin, lie on your back with bent knees and feet on the floor, relaxing the neck and shoulders. Begin by pressing your lower abdominals towards your spine and your spine towards the floor. Imagine you are pressing a penny into the floor under your low back. You should maintain this action while breathing deeply through your nose. Envision you are creating an imprint of the penny on the floor below your back. Hold this for one minute.
For more advanced students you can begin to lift the legs and lower slowly while maintaining the low back touching the floor. Raise and lower the legs as slowly as possible for one to two minutes. Once you cannot keep the low back on the floor or you experience any sensation in the low back immediately bring your legs back to the set up position.
Bicycle Oblique Crunches:
Lying on your back with your knees bent place one foot flat on the floor and the other leg extended approximately six inches off the floor. Supporting your neck with your clasped hands bring your right elbow to your left knee. Keep your elbow in your peripheral vision, twisting from the trunk not just the arms. Switch sides slowly exhaling as you twist. Continue as long as you can maintain the low back pressed against the floor.
Traditional Crunches:
Lying on your back with your knees bent and press your low back into the floor. Support your neck with the fingers interlaced. Very slowly exhale and lift your upper body towards the ceiling. Note: Keep your face and sternum facing the ceiling without straining your neck. Hold for five breaths and then lower. Repeat as many times as possible while maintaining proper alignment.
Practicing your exercises will build strength and you will continue to maintain your proper spine angle and reproduce your swing consistently. In my next article we will address the muscles of the spine continuing to build your core strength.
http://www.howtobefit.com/yoga-for-golf.htm
by Katherine Roberts - contributor for GolfOnline
The big buzzword in athletic training these days is "core conditioning". What exactly does core conditioning mean and why do golfers need to improve their core strength? Core conditioning refers to the center of the body - the abdominals, back and buttocks. Core strength will enable the golfer to maintain proper spine alignment throughout the golf swing and develop a consistent, repeatable golf swing. The walls of the abdominal cavity are supported entirely by the strength of the muscles located there, as no bones provide support for this area. Weak abdominal will stress the low back as the muscles do not provide adequate support for the spine.
These exercises will strengthen and stabilize the back - increasing rotation and decreasing risk of injury. Core strength and flexibility will maintain your primary spine angle and allow a reproduce able swing. Without core strength the golfer will have trouble maintaining a proper set up posture.
Three things to remember when working the core strength of the body - M.B.A: Move slowly, Breath deeply exhaling on exertion, and Align the body with total support of the neck.
Core abdominal presses:
To begin, lie on your back with bent knees and feet on the floor, relaxing the neck and shoulders. Begin by pressing your lower abdominals towards your spine and your spine towards the floor. Imagine you are pressing a penny into the floor under your low back. You should maintain this action while breathing deeply through your nose. Envision you are creating an imprint of the penny on the floor below your back. Hold this for one minute.
For more advanced students you can begin to lift the legs and lower slowly while maintaining the low back touching the floor. Raise and lower the legs as slowly as possible for one to two minutes. Once you cannot keep the low back on the floor or you experience any sensation in the low back immediately bring your legs back to the set up position.
Bicycle Oblique Crunches:
Lying on your back with your knees bent place one foot flat on the floor and the other leg extended approximately six inches off the floor. Supporting your neck with your clasped hands bring your right elbow to your left knee. Keep your elbow in your peripheral vision, twisting from the trunk not just the arms. Switch sides slowly exhaling as you twist. Continue as long as you can maintain the low back pressed against the floor.
Traditional Crunches:
Lying on your back with your knees bent and press your low back into the floor. Support your neck with the fingers interlaced. Very slowly exhale and lift your upper body towards the ceiling. Note: Keep your face and sternum facing the ceiling without straining your neck. Hold for five breaths and then lower. Repeat as many times as possible while maintaining proper alignment.
Practicing your exercises will build strength and you will continue to maintain your proper spine angle and reproduce your swing consistently. In my next article we will address the muscles of the spine continuing to build your core strength.
http://www.howtobefit.com/yoga-for-golf.htm
Incorporate Yoga for Improved Strength and Flexibility
Incorporate Yoga for Improved Strength and Flexibility
From Active.com - Register Online For Thousands of Events and Activities
This months fitness makeover request is from 38-year-old Chris Rudin of Silverlake, Calif.
An avid fitness buff who enjoys weightlifting, swimming, and jogging, Chris’ main concern is that he’s feeling less overall flexibility than he did in his early 30s.
"I used to be able to lift weights one day and swim comfortably the next," he writes, "but more often than not these days, I’m really tight when I begin my swim and I feel totally inflexible throughout my workout."
An additional problem is that Chris finds it increasingly difficult to maintain his overall strength — he notices this in the weight room, where he does the same amount of reps as he did years ago, but with slightly less weight before "maxing" out.
Loss of flexibility and the gradual loss of strength are facts of life as we age, but there are ways to slow the process and perhaps even stop it. Recently, I’ve been facing similar issues — it’s been months since I’ve felt really good in the water, and in the weight room I struggle to lift the same amount of weight as I once did, while losing patience and motivation.
I have a solution that is currently improving my flexibility and strength, and while it’s still too early to tell how yoga will affect my athletic performance in the long run, I have a hunch it will help me greatly because it is doing wonders for me now.
I was initially a skeptic. Only a few months ago I was turned on to the yoga craze by a friend; a former swimmer who was now a yoga enthusiast. She claimed it was a great workout, strengthening her entire body while making her muscles pliable. More out of politeness than keen interest, I agreed to try a beginner’s class.
For someone who thought yoga was not really a form of exercise as much as a state of New Age mind, I was in for a rude awakening (and a pleasant surprise). Not only was the class challenging and difficult, but it left me feeling euphoric and relaxed. The next day, I had the best swim workout I’ve had in a long time. Something was definitely up with this yoga business.
I began taking classes more regularly and reading up on the subject. I found that yoga is basically defined as the uninterrupted flow of movements combined with a system of meditative breathing. This combination of movement and regulated oxygen intake creates increased body heat. It is this heat that is used to heal, tone, and strengthen a body full of tight, sore muscles.
Just as an artist uses heat to soften metal and glass into artistic forms, so an athlete can use yoga to soften and strengthen muscles to achieve athletic improvement.
In addition, the benefits of yoga extend to other areas. As your muscles expand and contract during a session, blood flow increases to areas that have formerly been blocked with accumulated toxins (toxins that build up from overuse and overtraining). These toxins are flushed out by the rush of blood that enters the blocked muscles, resulting in that euphoric endorphin-flooded "high" you feel at the end of a class.
Mental concentration and balance are required during yoga as well, elements that count toward overall athletic excellence. The more you can clear and center your mind, the more likely you are to remain focused and calm prior to an important competition.
The more capable of good balance you are, the stronger your "core" strength will be, improving your overall body position (regardless of your sport).
What follows is a very basic series of poses that you can try on your own as a warm-up before getting into the pool or going on a run.
While it is definitely recommended to learn these positions from a certified yoga instructor in a studio-class setting, the poses below serve as introductory yoga exercises that double as pre-workout stretching drills.
Some of them may even seem familiar if you are disciplined about stretching prior to athletic activity (and you should be, to avoid injury!).
1. Beginning pose: Sun Salutation
Begin by standing with your legs shoulder width apart, arms at your sides. Breathe in, and bring your arms up over your head by tracing a circle from your sides until your palms come together.
2. Folding Pose
Exhaling, bend forward at the waist and reach toward your feet. If you can't touch your toes, then touch your shins. Remember to keep a long spine, relax your neck so your head hangs, and keep feet firmly planted in the ground (heels and balls of feet support equal weight: concentrate on balance!).
3. Body Raise
Inhale and bring head up slowly, lifting your chest up so that it is parallel to the ground. Stretch your spine keep it long. Bring your chest and arms back down and touch the ground. Bend your knees if you have to.
4. Pre-Downward Dog pose
Exhale and walk or jump your legs back, lowering your body to the earth as if you were doing a push-up. Stop in the down position with your elbows bent but tucked in at your sides; your body should be as straight as a plank while parallel only inches from the ground.
5. Upward-Facing Dog pose
Inhaling deeply, push the upper body upward while pointing your toes (you can flatten the tops of your feet along the ground now). Your hips should be square and elevated a few inches from the ground so that your body is perched on your palms and the tops of your feet only (in non-yoga terms, this pose is also known as a "seal-press").
6. Downward Dog pose
Exhale, turning your toes back into "push-up" mode and bring your waist up towards the sky as if there is a string attached to the small of your back and someone is slowly pulling you upward. Your body should now be in an upside-down "v," feet shoulder-width apart, head hanging relaxed, palms firm and centered. Take several deep breaths.
7. Body Raise 2
Walk your feet back up toward your palms and reassume the Body Raise position (#3).
8. Folding Pose 2
Exhale deeply and fold downward into the aforementioned Folding Pose (#2).
As you inhale deeply again, slowly raise your body up into a standing position, arms at your sides as you bend up from the waist. When you are standing upright, circle your arms over your head again, clasping the palms together. Exhale.
Repeat this series of poses slowly and methodically three to five times.
Try to reach, or stretch, a little bit farther with each sequence. You may find that on the first round you are unable to touch your toes or reach the ground, but that by the fourth or fifth cycle you are making progress and doing poses you found impossible just minutes before!
I am finding out that mastering yoga takes time and patience. But for you instant-gratification junkies out there it's also a quick fix for sore, tight, and injured muscles. The more you do it, the more flexible and strong you will become. Even a 15-minute unsupervised session like the one above, practiced once a week, will provide the results our fitness makeover subject is looking to achieve.
My advice for Chris is to look into taking a beginning-level yoga class at least once a week from a certified instructor. It should have an immediate effect on his flexibility and he should feel the difference the first time he swims after taking a class.
In time, his strength will also increase, in ways that are simply not possible with consistent weight training. By introducing a new form of exercise into his long-established routine, Chris will use existing muscles in different ways, resulting in greater strength and improved overall flexibility.
Finally, yoga will help motivate, rejuvenate, and instill discipline by way of concentration and balance; traits any athlete should welcome with open arms — or in this case, with a Sun Salutation pose.
http://www.howtobefit.com/yogaforflexibility.htm
From Active.com - Register Online For Thousands of Events and Activities
This months fitness makeover request is from 38-year-old Chris Rudin of Silverlake, Calif.
An avid fitness buff who enjoys weightlifting, swimming, and jogging, Chris’ main concern is that he’s feeling less overall flexibility than he did in his early 30s.
"I used to be able to lift weights one day and swim comfortably the next," he writes, "but more often than not these days, I’m really tight when I begin my swim and I feel totally inflexible throughout my workout."
An additional problem is that Chris finds it increasingly difficult to maintain his overall strength — he notices this in the weight room, where he does the same amount of reps as he did years ago, but with slightly less weight before "maxing" out.
Loss of flexibility and the gradual loss of strength are facts of life as we age, but there are ways to slow the process and perhaps even stop it. Recently, I’ve been facing similar issues — it’s been months since I’ve felt really good in the water, and in the weight room I struggle to lift the same amount of weight as I once did, while losing patience and motivation.
I have a solution that is currently improving my flexibility and strength, and while it’s still too early to tell how yoga will affect my athletic performance in the long run, I have a hunch it will help me greatly because it is doing wonders for me now.
I was initially a skeptic. Only a few months ago I was turned on to the yoga craze by a friend; a former swimmer who was now a yoga enthusiast. She claimed it was a great workout, strengthening her entire body while making her muscles pliable. More out of politeness than keen interest, I agreed to try a beginner’s class.
For someone who thought yoga was not really a form of exercise as much as a state of New Age mind, I was in for a rude awakening (and a pleasant surprise). Not only was the class challenging and difficult, but it left me feeling euphoric and relaxed. The next day, I had the best swim workout I’ve had in a long time. Something was definitely up with this yoga business.
I began taking classes more regularly and reading up on the subject. I found that yoga is basically defined as the uninterrupted flow of movements combined with a system of meditative breathing. This combination of movement and regulated oxygen intake creates increased body heat. It is this heat that is used to heal, tone, and strengthen a body full of tight, sore muscles.
Just as an artist uses heat to soften metal and glass into artistic forms, so an athlete can use yoga to soften and strengthen muscles to achieve athletic improvement.
In addition, the benefits of yoga extend to other areas. As your muscles expand and contract during a session, blood flow increases to areas that have formerly been blocked with accumulated toxins (toxins that build up from overuse and overtraining). These toxins are flushed out by the rush of blood that enters the blocked muscles, resulting in that euphoric endorphin-flooded "high" you feel at the end of a class.
Mental concentration and balance are required during yoga as well, elements that count toward overall athletic excellence. The more you can clear and center your mind, the more likely you are to remain focused and calm prior to an important competition.
The more capable of good balance you are, the stronger your "core" strength will be, improving your overall body position (regardless of your sport).
What follows is a very basic series of poses that you can try on your own as a warm-up before getting into the pool or going on a run.
While it is definitely recommended to learn these positions from a certified yoga instructor in a studio-class setting, the poses below serve as introductory yoga exercises that double as pre-workout stretching drills.
Some of them may even seem familiar if you are disciplined about stretching prior to athletic activity (and you should be, to avoid injury!).
1. Beginning pose: Sun Salutation
Begin by standing with your legs shoulder width apart, arms at your sides. Breathe in, and bring your arms up over your head by tracing a circle from your sides until your palms come together.
2. Folding Pose
Exhaling, bend forward at the waist and reach toward your feet. If you can't touch your toes, then touch your shins. Remember to keep a long spine, relax your neck so your head hangs, and keep feet firmly planted in the ground (heels and balls of feet support equal weight: concentrate on balance!).
3. Body Raise
Inhale and bring head up slowly, lifting your chest up so that it is parallel to the ground. Stretch your spine keep it long. Bring your chest and arms back down and touch the ground. Bend your knees if you have to.
4. Pre-Downward Dog pose
Exhale and walk or jump your legs back, lowering your body to the earth as if you were doing a push-up. Stop in the down position with your elbows bent but tucked in at your sides; your body should be as straight as a plank while parallel only inches from the ground.
5. Upward-Facing Dog pose
Inhaling deeply, push the upper body upward while pointing your toes (you can flatten the tops of your feet along the ground now). Your hips should be square and elevated a few inches from the ground so that your body is perched on your palms and the tops of your feet only (in non-yoga terms, this pose is also known as a "seal-press").
6. Downward Dog pose
Exhale, turning your toes back into "push-up" mode and bring your waist up towards the sky as if there is a string attached to the small of your back and someone is slowly pulling you upward. Your body should now be in an upside-down "v," feet shoulder-width apart, head hanging relaxed, palms firm and centered. Take several deep breaths.
7. Body Raise 2
Walk your feet back up toward your palms and reassume the Body Raise position (#3).
8. Folding Pose 2
Exhale deeply and fold downward into the aforementioned Folding Pose (#2).
As you inhale deeply again, slowly raise your body up into a standing position, arms at your sides as you bend up from the waist. When you are standing upright, circle your arms over your head again, clasping the palms together. Exhale.
Repeat this series of poses slowly and methodically three to five times.
Try to reach, or stretch, a little bit farther with each sequence. You may find that on the first round you are unable to touch your toes or reach the ground, but that by the fourth or fifth cycle you are making progress and doing poses you found impossible just minutes before!
I am finding out that mastering yoga takes time and patience. But for you instant-gratification junkies out there it's also a quick fix for sore, tight, and injured muscles. The more you do it, the more flexible and strong you will become. Even a 15-minute unsupervised session like the one above, practiced once a week, will provide the results our fitness makeover subject is looking to achieve.
My advice for Chris is to look into taking a beginning-level yoga class at least once a week from a certified instructor. It should have an immediate effect on his flexibility and he should feel the difference the first time he swims after taking a class.
In time, his strength will also increase, in ways that are simply not possible with consistent weight training. By introducing a new form of exercise into his long-established routine, Chris will use existing muscles in different ways, resulting in greater strength and improved overall flexibility.
Finally, yoga will help motivate, rejuvenate, and instill discipline by way of concentration and balance; traits any athlete should welcome with open arms — or in this case, with a Sun Salutation pose.
http://www.howtobefit.com/yogaforflexibility.htm
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