BodywoRx

When the toes grip the floor, it's making up for stability lost in other places such as the glute muscles (the body is great at compensating to do what needs to be accomplished). Stand on one foot and you'll see whether your toes naturally want to excessively grab the floor and start digging. If they do, curl your toes harder and eventually you might start to feel your glute muscles activate. That is a clear sign that your butt is not working properly. We definitely can't h...ave that! Toes that are constantly trying to find stability from butts that don't do their job can lead to: Plantar Fasciitis Tight calves Limited Hip Extension Poor Ankle Range of Motion Poor Big Toe Mobility What does all this have to do with the pictures above? When you wear: Shoes that are not tied securely Shoes that are too big for your foot Slides Flip Flops ...your toes, to some degree, grabs on to your footwear to keep it from sliding around and falling off of your feet. This changes the way you walk and recruit muscles for various activities. Therefore, the glute muscles learn to sit back and have another muscle do it's job. Disclaimer: I am aware that keeping the laces loose and untied is fashionable and that the shoe can actually still be secure due to the nature of the design. This was just to illustrate what I was trying to point out. #Adidas #Footwear #Yeezy #GluteActivation #Glutes #GluteGains #PlantarFasciitis #Calves #Anatomy #Physiology #Biomechanics #Sneakers #SneakerAddict See more

Accommodating resistance (AR) involves using bands and chains to match the strength curve of an exercise. Let's use the squat for example. The part of the lift that is the most challenging is getting up from the bottom position and the lift gets easier as you get to the top. So let's say you can squat 300 lbs at your weakest position (the bottom). As you get up from the bottom you're not challenging yourself throughout the range of motion because the lift gets easier once ...you get past your sticking point. That's where bands and chains come in. As you rise from the bottom, if you have bands attached to the bar, more resistance is gradually being applied towards the ground by the bands. Thus, you would be training the part of the movement that used to be the easiest and increase potential of continuous gains, right? Ehh.... Not so fast! If you use AR, you're going to have to reduce the total amount of weight on the bar before you add bands or chains. This will jeopardize the amount of resistance taking place at the bottom of the movement. If you remember what I said earlier, you're only as strong as the amount you're able to move out of your weakest point. Using AR trains your strongest ranges of motion and does nothing for helping you at your weakest. Using this method has died out among elite lifters and records still continue to be broken. However, there are still applications where it can be useful. If you're a high level athlete, band work can be used to increase variety in training and improve technique without focusing so much on bar weight. It can also be used to teach someone how to continue to apply force throughout the range of movement. Many times, lifters will only exert the amount of force needed to get out of their sticking point and then decelerate the bar as they get to the top. For individuals trying to develop explosiveness, chains will help them learn how to continually apply force throughout the movement because they have to if they don't want to get buried under the weight. by See more

The gluteus medius (highlighted in blue) is one of the muscles that move the hip, but, more importantly, stabilizes the hip as we walk and run. Dropping the hip and swaying them during the gait cycle (walking) is commonly seen in women when attempting to attract or seduce a potential mate. While some sway is normal due to the structure of the female pelvis, dropping the hips is a sign of a weak ass. On top of that, repetitive motions of the hip can lead to unwarranted back pain. So even though some aspects of the catwalk may seem seductive, a weak ass isn't. #Glute #Hips #Catwalk #Runway #Supermodel #StrongGlutes #SayNoToWeakAsses #BackPain #StrengthTrain #Gait

Whether you've been into self care for a while or just getting acquainted, we all fall into the "go big or go home" mentality. Trainers take their clients to the point of exhaustion where they throw up (or want to throw up) and lifters routinely push themselves in order to achieve a personal best every week. It's posted all over social media as if that is the ultimate goal and if you're nowhere near it, you're doing it wrong! Is beating your body to the ground on a consi...stent basis leading you to the path among the elite or does it only make you better at exercising? This is not me telling you that you shouldn't push yourself (there's a big difference). The minimum effective dose is using the smallest dose to produce a desired outcome. Looking at the image above, you can see that a greater amount of stress or exercise can yield just as good a result as dialing it back a little and going further will lead you to diminishing returns (e.g. injury, lack of energy or appetite, absence of period, longer than usual recovery times). Over doing it can actually do the opposite of what you're trying to accomplish. Repeatedly "killing it" at the gym can make you weaker and alter hormone activity to store body fat instead of burning it. However, over training is better than under training. The chances of you going into the harmful stages of training are slim. The goal is to challenge but not completely burn yourself out. Much like anything in life, the path to success is not a straight line to the top. #MED #Overtraining #ScienceFitness #GoBigOrGoHome #IfYouAintFirstYoureLast #TrainSmarter #Strong #Efficient See more

Each one of us owns a bucket. A bucket in the brain that receives stress input. The more stress you encounter, the fuller it becomes. Our body is capable of handling a tremendous amount of stress. However, once stressors overcome the brain's capacity to deal with them, it limits your ability to perform and manifests itself as pain, depression, decreased coordination, mobility, and strength, high blood pressure, weakened immune system, gastrointestinal issues, and so on. ...Your brain will always prioritize survival over performance. So when your body displays one of the outputs mentioned above, it's protecting you from doing further damage and possibly encountering more stress until you deal with them to empty out the bucket. Ever have unexplainable pain? That's your body telling you to chill out and deal with your shit. It's a cascading effect. Loss of balance or muscle tension leads to less mobility. Left untreated, loss of mobility and increased tension leads to pain. Constant pain leads to moving less. Moving less leads to depression. Depression leads to secluding yourself from the outside world. Seclusion equals decreased exposure to stressors. Left untreated, seclusion leads to hysteria or suicidal thoughts. This is just one example of how letting your bucket overflow can affect you. As a therapist, there are only so many things we can control in a client's life. The ones we can assist with are vision insufficiencies, better breathing, balance and coordination, quality movement, and, to some degree, sleep and nutrition. Work on these long enough, performance will increase, threat will go down, and so should the pain. #StressRelief #PainScience #HealthScience #SelfCare #Depression #Disease #Brain #MassageTherapist #Healthcare #Threat #Protection #Performance #Upland #RanchoCucamonga See more

The idea behind unstable surface training (UST) was that training on a surface like a Swiss ball, BOSU ball, balance disc, or anything similar would make you more athletic, develop a stronger core, and improve balance. Is there any truth to this? When it comes to athletic ability, athlete's sprint and agility scores went down after 10 weeks of UST. If you want to be better at your sport, train on the same surface as your sport. When it comes to strength development, a so...lid foundation is required for maximal force generation. If energy is spent trying to stay upright, strength is left on the table from energy that could've been used in applying force into the weight. Thus, squatting or benching from the ground will always allow for greater force development. "But what about the core? I feel more activation when doing crunches on a BOSU ball." Sure, you might get more activation doing a crunch on the BOSU ball versus on the floor. But do you know what gets even more activation from your core? Compound movements like squats and deadlifts. What about balance? It has to help with that, right? There are almost no circumstances in life where you'd come into contact with a similar surface. In fact, training on unstable surfaces requires you to stabilize the head, decreasing vestibular activation; The system involved in processing spatial orientation. In addition, UST teaches the ankle to lock itself down, requiring mobility from another joint which supposed to be stable (the knees). Also, If you have plantar fasciitis or patellar tendinitis, it can make your condition worse and cause flare ups. In short, training for balance on the ground will do you better. Are there benefits to UST? Without making this post any longer I'll say that doing plyometrics (dome side up), pushups or shoulder stability drills (dome side down), and rehabbing lower limb injuries for the sole purpose of increasing muscle firing rate seems harmless enough and doesn't pose a significant risk. In the end, if you're just trying to have fun with your workout and have healthy lower limbs, have at it. Just don't feel the need to overdo it. See more

Crepitus, aka creaky joints or rice krispie knees, is a common phenomenon where a snap, crackle, or pop is heard when actively or passively moving a joint. This often leads to concern whether something is injured or self diagnosing arthritis. In most cases, the sound is physiological. Pathological noise is usually accompanied by pain, swelling, and a history of injury. While some researchers have found that individuals who were diagnosed with arthritis previously had crepit...us, the noise you hear when moving a joint is not indicative of anything serious unless accompanied with pathological symptoms. Typically, the sound you hear is the result of gas in the joints popping. You may also hear noise as you get up in the morning or warm up before exercise as the patella (knee cap) finds it's way into the groove of the knee. As the ligaments and tendons move and stretch over the bones, you might hear a snapping sound. This may be due to tightness in the muscles and tissues which have lost elasticity due to the ageing process. It can also be associated with hypermobility of the joint. Rest assured, there is generally no reason for concern. If you notice your joints creaking after you begin an exercise program, ask a qualified trainer to examine your technique and possibly make modifications. If creaking continues, try performing exercises that stengthen the muscles that surround the joint. Also, it definitely won't hurt to see a therapist who may be able to help with soft tissue health and function. And if it STILL continues, learn to accept the fact that you are most likely doing just fine. #Crepitus #KneePain #CreakyJoints #Physiology #JointHealth #Therapy #Fitness #Wellness #SnapCracklePop #Massage #Strength #RanchoCucamonga #Claremont See more

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common condition (more prevalent in women than men) that causes pain, numbness, and tingling in the hand and arm. It occurs when the median nerve is squeezed or compressed at the wrist. Left untreated, it can lead to atrophy (muscle decline) or permanent damage to the nerve. When someone experiences pain in an area, the traditional thought is to work that area, loosen tissue, and reduce any inflammation that may be causing pain. In some ...cases, this is all that needs to be done. In most cases, the site of pain isn't the origin and other contributing factors need to be considered. Pain often causes symptoms in strange locations. For example, many people diagnosed with CTS are told that surgery is the only option. But, there could be other places to treat before thinking about surgery. If your practitioner understands the role of synergists and compensation patterns, they might consider the fact that the pain you're experiencing is actually caused by a muscle in the armpit, the subscapularis. However, that is not the only muscle that can cause referred pain to the wrist and hands. If you trust your therapist and they recommend to work on other places besides your arm, hands, or wrists, take their advice. There's a reason why you went to see them in the first place. Besides massage, there are other treatments you can do in conjunction or by itself. Acupuncture Rest Ergonomic equipment Immobilizing the joint Meditation Physical Therapy and exercise All of these are aimed at reducing stress and swelling, minimizing the possibility of overuse, and strengthening weak muscles to prevent compensation. #CTS #CarpalTunnel #Syndrome #Swelling #ReferredPain #Ergonomics #MassageTherapy #TriggerPoint #Therapist #DeskJockey #Hands #WristPain #Compensating #Stress #Inflammation #Anatomy See more

With the popularity of the push up challenge going around Instagram, I've noticed 2 things. 1) People don't know how to do push ups or are unaware of what they look like (Yes, I am even looking at the personal trainers out there). 2) We are getting really bored... "Sherwin, stop being so hard on people! The fact that they're even moving is a good thing." While that may be partly true, would you still hold on to that principle if poor technique led to pain? The first demo is what I think a push up should look like. Full range of motion (full extension at the top and top of the arm parallel to the ground or breaking parallel), whole body moves together, head is neutral and not moving, inhaling and exhaling through each repetition. The close grip push up is still debatable whether it is considered a push up. Regardless, people tend to move the head too much and lose connection with their low back (excessive arch and dip in the hips). The third demo shows that the hands are too close to the body and putting stress on the joints. The fourth demo is just unacceptable. As far as "girl push ups," there is no such thing! Only push ups that don't engage the core. Doing push ups on your knees might allow you to get better range, but at the cost of core activation. It will be very hard, if not impossible, to learn how to do a correct push up this way. Use an incline (table, bed, couch, etc.) to help you progress toward getting to the floor. Practice and be ready to crush it next time the world gets bored and starts another #PushupChallenge See more

Ego: mY BaCK iS maSsIVe, BrO!! Body: But what did it cost? Just because you can lift the weight doesn't mean you own it. You can easily dial the weight back and get the same muscle activation while reducing the chances of your ego hurting yourself. Would you like to not have that nagging upper back and neck pain? Well, stop lifting like a jackass!!!... I really tried to make the bad lift look worse than it came out. I've seen people perform the same lift looking like they were almost standing straight up . Do you know what you look like when you lift? Recording yourself is a great way to analyze the way you move and make changes to make you better. Try it! #LiftLikeShitFeelLikeShit #EgoLifting #LiftingForLikes #Rows #WeightTraining #Fitness #Strength #Stronger #Control #QuarantineWorkout #BarbellRows #ExerciseScience See more

What if I told you there's a way to predict who your future pain clients will be? A big part of how you experience pain is learned. ... When a child falls and scrapes their arm or leg from 1-2 ft above the ground (because that's literally how tall they are), the child likely to grow up to be more pain sensitive are the ones whose parents are highly reactive to incidents that are considered dangerous or hurtful. The ones who are less likely to be sensitive to pain are the ones who were taught that getting banged up every now and then is a part of growing up and being a kid. It helps develop high level functioning individuals who are not afraid to experiment with activity and movement. Which parent did you have? Highly reactive or the "Walk it off" parent. #Pain #PainScience #Tough #Wimp #Kid #ChildDevelopment #HighLevel #Athlete #ExplainPain #Action #Comedy #Upland #InlandEmpire See more

If you've never been a client of mine, here's your chance to find out whether you'd like to be. Starting now, I will have an introductory rate for new clients. 55/1hr 85/1.5 hr... If you're a first time client within the past 30 days of this post, you may come in a second time at this rate within 30 days following the date of this post. Must mention this post. Share this with anyone you think may need it. Applies to massage service only. Any questions, feel free to ask. #Massage #Bodywork #FeelGood #Therapy #Relax #Unwind #Special #Intro #IntroductoryOffer #RanchoCucamonga #Upland See more