Welcome to Psoas Massage + Bodywork

Psoas Massage + Bodywork Newsletter

Greetings!

We at Psoas are psyched for the upcoming Winter season; we have dedicated this newsletter to help you stay in shape so you can take advantage of all the time you have out there on the slopes. For all you boarders/skiiers out there, the season is upon us and it is time to start preparing!

Billy Polson, owner and founder of DIAKADI Body, brings us 4 killer exercises to step up our performance. Randy and Scott, Psoas therapists, bring us 2 videos on stretching and recovering from injuries. We are also offering discounted tickets to Kirkwood again this year. Take advantage! You might notice that our music selection is a bit more rockin' than usual so you can use it to keep you motivated while you exercise during the colder season.

We are also happy to introduce Ultra-marathoner, Devon Crosby-Helms, and our sponsorship to help her reach her goals to be the best out there on the trails.

Cheers,
Psoas

Getting Your Legs and Body Ready for Snowboarding Season
By Billy Polson, Owner and Founder of DIAKADI Body

For those of you who live for the 4 months of great boarding we have each year, below is a list of exercises to add into your current workouts to make sure your legs and body are ready for an all out day on the slopes.

And, for those of you wondering what the fuss is all about with boarding on fresh powder, it feels like surfing through the trees. An incomparable rush! And talk about a calorie burning workout! My friend Tom and I boarded for 6 hours (with a 30 minute break for lunch) last year, and with the use of a heart monitor we learned that we burned over 4000 calories during that time. That is an average of 667 calories an hour! A rocking workout for surfing through trees.

Add these exercises below to your current workouts to make sure your legs and core are ready for the days ahead:

Click Here for pictures of exercises - start and finish positions.

BOARDERS:

Using either a BOSU or Reebok Coreboard - between each set of exercises you are normally doing in your workout (whether it is a chest day or whatever), do (1) a set of 20-30 squat jumps on top of the BOSU/core board. Followed immediately by (2) a set of low squat holds rocking from your weight on your toes to your weight on your heels for a set of 20-30 rocks front/back.

For all of your standing dumbbell (DB) work (shoulder presses, laterals, biceps curls, upright rows), do this work on the round side of a BOSU and between each rep do a squat on top of the ball. Then at end of DB set, set the DBs down and get back on ball and holding in a low squat position - 1st put your weight on your left leg and rotate your upper body left as if facing down hill (Regular Foot Stance)- hold for 30 seconds with minor toe to heel alternate leans. Then still in low squat, shift the majority of your weight to your right leg and rotate your upper right as if facing down hill (Goofy Stance) - hold low for 30 seconds again with minor toe to heel alternate leans. This combination of Regular and Goofy will help prepare you for being switch footed on the snow.

Stand on flat side of BOSU ball with round blue side on floor (*** CAUTION - this can be very tough for the beginner, so be sure to do this using a wall or bar to hold on to for first few sets). Stand with your legs wide on flat side and drop into a full low squat, then shift your weight all the way front to your toes until the edge of BOSU rests on floor (as if making a sharp turn in snow). Then once the edge touches ground in front, then stay low in squat and shift weight back so that back edge hits floor. Continue this for as long as possible. Start with 1 minute and try to work up to 3 minutes.

And lastly, to help with the single leg balance work of pushing your board across the snow with your back leg out of bindings: REGULAR stance individuals place your left foot on top of center of flat side of BOSU. (GOOFY stance individual place your right foot on top of center of BOSU.) Keeping your balance and weight on your top leg, try to tap your opposite toe down to ground as wide as you can away from BOSU and then stand fully back up on your top leg only. Repeat this tap for 20 reps for 3 sets. For those of you who tend to switch your lead leg throughout the day, then try this exercise again for opposite foot on top.

Welcome, Randy Lind, to the Psoas Team

Randy Lind has been involved in healing work for nearly twenty-five years and has been practicing massage for over twelve. He joins Psoas Massage + Bodywork as a specialist in orthopedic massage. His understanding of human anatomy, the neuromuscular system and his clinical experience informs his ability to pin-point issues, relieve symptoms and create lasting change in his clients.

As an orthopedic massage therapist, he specializes in a unique bodywork modality called the Hendrickson Method. This method is a remarkable blend of massage and manual therapy, soft tissue and joint mobilization, and isometric exercises and stretches. This is bodywork at a whole different level. With this method, Randy is able to find the issues, quickly relieve tension and reduce pain. This allows him to access the deeper layers of the body, those that are actually causing the issue, without the usual discomfort. Clients have described his work as a blend of massage and physical therapy and have found his sessions to increase their body awareness as well as be educational.

His early passion for healing and his curiosity about the human body has given him a long and eclectic work experience, ranging from New Age conference centers to world class spas and from rehabilitation centers to chiropractic clinics. He has also captained the AIDS Lifecycle massage team for several years and has taught at the McKinnon Institute in Oakland and at the Hendrickson Method Institute in Berkeley. He is currently on the teaching faculty at the San Francisco School of Massage and is a long time student of meditation, an avid backpacker and a nature photographer.

Click Here to hear Randy talk about his work, and in more detail about Hendrickson Method.

A Gift Everyone Can Feel Great About - Corporate Giving Package

In 2008, we started a Corporate Bonus Program with local stores, restaurants and small and medium sized businesses in San Francisco. The program was well received as it was a great alternative to large bonuses that many businesses could not afford during the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. While many businesses are still feeling the impact of the economy in 2009, they want to recognize and thank their employees for their hard work and bring positivity to the workplace.

Psoas is offering an excellent way to keep your employees happier and healthier, with special rates for you to give the gift of massage this season.

Click here for more information.

Forward this on to your company and/or friends/family that own businesses in the Bay Area to help them with good gift ideas for the Holiday Season.

2 Techniques to Keep You on the Slopes

Randy Lind explains Muscle Energy Technique (MET's) for your hamstrings. Click here for video.

Scott Schwartz goes into detail about employing ART for your acute injuries. Click here for video.

Be sure to use these additional stretches to keep yourself in top condition throughout this winter!

Psoas
Quadratus Lumborum (QL)
Gluteals/Hips

Quadriceps
Adductors
Hamstrings
Gastrocnemius
Soleus

Give us a call to schedule a session for either A.R.T. or a Hendrickson session with Randy for M.E.T. work or if you have any questions about how/what to stretch.
Good luck - happy boarding!

Discount: Kirkwood Lift Tickets

That's right! Our clients raved about this discount last season and this season is set to be an el nino, so we are bringing it back for 2009/10.

Kirkwood is offering a 20% discount on lift tickets to Psoas Massage + Bodywork members. The tickets are valid every day of the 2009-2010 winter season. The per ticket price is $58.00. Single Day Vouchers will be available for purchase mid-November.

Purchase Single Day Lift Ticket Vouchers

Click on the Group Login at the top right.
Group Name: psoas
Password: bodywork

Upon purchase, a bar coded voucher will be available for print. It is this voucher which is available for redemption at any lift ticket window at Kirkwood for a full day adult lift ticket.

Having trouble? Here is a step-by-step guide on purchasing your tickets.

Have fun boarding, and enjoy!

Elite UltraRunner Devon Crosby-Helms

Psoas Massage + Bodywork is proud to announce its sponsorship of Elite UltraRunner Devon Crosby-Helms. Considering her comparatively young age and continued success in a new career, we believe that we will be hearing a lot about Devon and the podium will be seeing a lot of her. Hopefully our continued support in maintaining and increasing the potential of her body will yield the results we foresee.

Devon Crosby-Helms, 27, is an elite marathoner, trail runner and ultrarunner. Devon has been racing since her first marathon in June of 2005, Edinburgh Marathon. Since that time, she has dropped her marathon time to near Olympic Trial qualifying standards and begun racing competitively in ultrarunning and trail events, including multi day events, 50k, 50mile, 100k and 100 mile events. Devon is no stranger to the podium in ultras/trail running either. Since running her first 50k in August of 2006, she has raced in 20 ultra distance events and been on the podium in many of those.

Recent Racing Resume:

Won 4 out of 8 events she raced and set course records at 3 of those events; including breaking the Tahoe Rim Trail 50 mile run by 21 minutes.
Ran the fastest time for an American woman in the 50k distance (3:32:02) in the previous 10 years.
Followed up her rookie season with an equally impressive year winning 4 more races including her debut at the 100 mile distance at Vermont 100.
Won 2 marathons (out of 3 lifetime victories) and set her PR in the marathon 2:49:51.
Ran with the elite women at the Boston Marathon.
Represented the US for the third time in the 100k world championship, helping the team to a gold medal and personally placing 4th in the world.
Raced as part of the winning duo at TransRockies Run, a 6 day, 113 mile race through the mountains of Colorado.
Won Vermont 50 miler and placed third in the Trail Marathon National Championship Lithia Loop Marathon.

Devon is a Seattle native, who moved to the Bay Area in 2006. She currently works as an architectural lighting designer and a certified personal chef. She is a writer who blogs about her food and recipes and her running. She also holds a masters in library science from University of Pittsburgh and an undergraduate degree in English from University of Washington.

November 2009