Welcome to Psoas Massage + Bodywork

Psoas Massage + Bodywork Newsletter

Greetings!

Welcome to July's Newsletter. This month we will give our take on the age old debate - heat or ice for chronic and acute injuries. You will also find 3 stretches, no matter who you are or what you do, these should be included in your routine! We will show you how to do them right.

We have four special announcements from our highly respected partners and an introduction to a new Psoas partner Diakadi Body - if your working out or want to, you might want to check these guys out.

And finally, a scrumptious Banana Bread recipe from our helpful nutritionists at MV nutrition.

Summer is officially here - enjoy!

Peace out,
Psoas

Ice or Heat?
By: Martina James

I've been a massage therapist for 5 years and had been a Physical Therapist prior to that in Germany. One of the most common questions I get asked regarding injury repair is ICE or HEAT? An easy answer would be use heat for chronic pain and ice for acute pain but this isn't the complete answer. I'll try clarify here.

Acute pain is easier to figure out. Most acute pain arises from a fall, twist or collision and is almost always accompanied by signs of inflammation.

Signs of Inflammation:

Warm to touch
Redness
Swelling
Pain
Loss of function

In most cases of acute injury you could use the RICE acronym to remember your best course of action.

RICE
R - rest
I - ice
C - compression (ace bandage etc...)
E - elevation

"I" is for ice. So ice your acute pain usually for the first 72 hours.

Icing in itself needs some explanation here. Ice causes a vaso-constriction (narrowing of blood vessels) which helps minimize internal bleeding at the injury site, prevents swelling, and relieves pain. When icing injuries, you should ice for 15-20 minutes, 3 to 4 times a day. If you want to ice over again wait for twice as long as you originally iced before re-icing. The body takes about twice as long to thaw as it does to freeze. So if you iced for 20 minutes wait 40 minutes before re-icing. Also, avoid ice packs and frozen food if possible. Ice in a plastic bag or a hot/cold water bottle.

A few tips about icing.
If you use the hot/cold water bottle (some are called ice bags - its thick rubber), add a tablespoon of isopropyl alcohol and then put the bag back in the freezer after use. When it freezes, the ice won't stick to itself it will freeze with a crunchy/squishy consistency. This will make the bag pliable the next usage. This bag can be placed directly on the skin.

A plastic bag filled with ice works well too. You can also place this on the skin.

If using an ice pack, don't put the bag directly on the skin - lay a piece of paper down between the bag and skin. Many ice packs can burn you if place on the skin.

Conversely, chronic pain lasts longer than the 72 hour period of acute pain and usually doesn't have the 5 signs of inflammation. Chronic pain is slow to develop, comes and goes, often described as a dull pain or as soreness, and is usually the result of an acute injury that didn't heal properly or a repetitive motion disorder.

When chronic pain is accompanied by inflammation - ICE. Otherwise heat is your best bet.

Warmth increases circulation and metabolism and helps muscles to loosen, which is exactly what the body needs to regenerate and heal. For all of those people who have shoulder and back pain after a long day at work (repetitive motion and/or bad posture) try taking a 20 minute warm bath to help alleviate the pain. Heating pads work well.

A product called ThermaCare Heat Wraps provide a mild heat for 8 hours. Psoas sells these or you can pick them up at Walgreen's or Target.

If you are injured please call to make an appointment or give a buzz if you are still unsure whether to heat or ice - we'll let you know our thoughts.

Welcome Diakadi Body - A New Psoas Partner

Why Diakadi Body?

For us, it helped that many of their trainers are clients at Psoas, but go walk in to Diakadi Body. Give them a call and talk with anyone. It's obvious - these guys are very serious about what they do. If you are looking for a trainer to help push you to the next level or just keep you strong, lean and healthy - we highly recommend them.

Here is a bit more about Diakadi Body.

Diakadi Body inspires, challenges, and enables all levels of clients and trainers alike in their pursuits of fitness, wellness and athletic goals and achievements.

Whether you are just starting to look into the power of bringing fitness into your life or you are a competitive athlete looking for that 'spark' of inspiration to help you break through a current plateau, Diakadi Body brings together a full spectrum of resources and services to inspire, challenge and enable you in the achievement of your fitness and wellness goals.

There is absolutely nothing ordinary or average about their workout experience. Designed by a broad range of fitness and wellness professionals, Diakadi Body offers an all-encompassing package of unique goods and services that are guaranteed to 'unleash the inner athlete' in each of us.

3 Stretches done right.

Google stretching, I dare you. When you're finished rummaging through the plethora of contradictory information, you will find yourself with a possible tidbit or two but probably more confused. Should you stretch? How often? Before athletic activity? After?

There seems to be very little research supporting that stretching is good for you. Yes, it's true but fortunately we know better and at Psoas we teach our clients how to specifically stretch the muscles needed. More often than not, when asked to show me a stretch, clients show something - not exactly correct. I assume that this is the reason that the research shows little respect for stretching. The positional difference between a stretch done correctly and not exactly can be very small. That difference, however, can have huge effects.

Simply put, when you correctly stretch a muscle that needs stretching at the right time, held long enough, without to much or too little force - STRETCHING HELPS. Unfortunately, I see people stretching incorrectly, everywhere - in the gym, before runs on the Embarcaderro, on the cover of Yoga magazines - like I said everywhere. Even my own clients might be doing a stretch differently a session after my explanation. Why is that? Again, the answer is simple - stretching correctly is a precise science - unless you went to school for it, how would you know? It's a science and it's pretty complicated to really get right.

Now the jury is in - STRETCHING HELPS - if you do it right. And how do you do it right?

Let's leave that to your Psoas professional for now but until you get a chance to come in for session, here is a brief description of three stretches that most everyone should be doing. And some tips on doing it right.

General stretching tips.
Below are some general suggestions when it comes to stretching. Please call us at 415.227.0331 if you are unsure about these.

There are 2 very important questions that everyone should be able to answer about their stretching - if you are stretching at all.

Why are you stretching?

Post event tightness - gentle and slow
General tightness - can be deep and held longer
To lengthen a recovering muscle - can be deep but only if there is no pain
Prevention - deep and held longer but also strengthen the muscles around that joint
Increase range of motion - deep and held longer but also strengthen the muscles around that joint

When are you stretching?

Before athletic activity - Light, active and short
After athletic activity - slow and not too deep
Between athletic activity (ie. the days between races or games) - specific, deep, long with intent to lengthen muscles
Not associated with athletic activity - deep, long with intent to lengthen muscles

Good luck with this advice for any stretch or stretching program. Below are 3 stretches that can benefit pretty much anyone.

Artisan Stretch/Exercise - more detail

This is both a stretch and strengthening exercise and is great for anyone working at a desk or with their hands. Repeat the entire movement 3 times.

Step 1

Place arms straight at your side or slightly in front of you with palms down and fingers open as wide as possible.
Rotate palms up as far as possible
Open palms (extending wrist) as far as possible.
Hold for 6 seconds.

Step 2

Slowly curl fingers into fist starting with the thumb side first; thumb will be on the outside of the fist.
Bring knuckles towards your forearm.
Rotate fist and forearm down and away. Knuckles should be facing away from the center.
Hold 6 seconds and repeat entire movement 3 times.

Pectoralis Major - more detail

This stretch is great for all of us who are contracted. Rounded shoulders, rounded upper back, internally rotated arms. Great for deskworker and any athletes who throw or swing something. (these are large strong muscles - go slowly just till you feel a stretch than move deeper as the original stretch fades)

At doorway, exposed beam or wall, place right arm straight out to side and bend elbow to a 90 degree angle
Place that hand and elbow just inside wall, body even with wall.
Move right foot forward and turn torso to the left
Repeat the stretch continuing to find the slight stretch, letting it fade and then finding the stretch again. Use your breath.

The Pectoralis major is a large fan shaped muscle. In order to stretch its entirety, one must use three separate positions. The 90 degree angle is one but also move the elbow slightly upwards and downwards to stretch the entire muscle.

Quadriceps - more detail

Again here we have another stretch great for all of us who are contracted. This is super for anyone with an aching back, deskworkers, athletes that run and humans. Really, almost anyone will benefit from this stretch. See if this instantly helps low back pain - it probably will for about half of you.

Stand with a wall or chair or some other stable object available to help balance.
Bend your right leg at the knee and reach behind you and grab your right foot.
Your right knee should be very close to your left knee.
Your right heel should be moving directly towards the middle of your right buttocks
While keeping your upper body perpendicular to the floor, draw your right foot closer to your buttocks.

For a deeper quad stretch.

Good luck and happy stretching.

Applesauce Banana Bread

This month we are featuring a great recipe from our partners at MV Nutrition.

Great healthy recipe for an active person. Since carbohydrates are needed to fuel your tank to improve performance here is a carbohydrate source that is low-fat and delicious

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice = 72.5 grams or 2.6 ounces)

4 Bananas, ripe
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Applesauce
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Tbs Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 cups Flour

Preheat the over to 350° Bake.

Place the bananas in a large bowl and mash with an electric mixer.

Stir in the sugar and let stand for 15 minutes.

Add the applesauce and eggs and beat well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Pour into a 9"x5" loaf pan coated with nonstick vegetable spray.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Some Summer announcements from our Partners

Free Sports Nutrition Seminar from MV Nutrition

On Tuesday July 28th from 6:30-7:30 pm, Manuel Villacorta from MV Nutrition will conduct a seminar at Psoas Massage + Bodywork that will focus on the following aspects of Sports Nutrition:

The importance of carbohydrates during training
Proper timing and amounts of carbohydrate and protein before, during and after exercise
The role of protein and fat in exercise
Proper hydration strategies

Enrollment is open to the first 15 individuals that call.
Sign-up today by calling Psoas at 415-227-0331.