Quick Tip: Have you checked-in with your quads today?
Many of us — desk workers, walkers, cyclists, and runners — frequently move through the world with our hips in flexion. This often results in short quad muscles that can cause tightness in the hips and back. If you’ve looked for a good stretch to lengthen those quads, you’ve probably come across the common stretch that requires balancing on one leg. It’s a great one, but it’s not for everyone. For some, the balancing piece can be difficult and, for others, it doesn’t deliver a deep enough stretch. Does that sound familiar? Check out this week’s...
Read MoreQuick Tip: Want a quick activation for the legs?
When clients ask us for the best pre-workout warmups, we often recommend active stretches. This technique requires you to use certain muscle groups in order to stretch others. And it’s a great way to lengthen some muscles, activate others, and promote blood flow — everything you need before pushing your body to jump, dance, run, or lift. In this week’s Quick Tip from the archive, Jenny Lightstone shows proper form for a great and simple active stretch: leg swings. The series helps stretch the hip flexors, hamstrings, IT bands, glutes, and adductors. It’s great before...
Read MoreQuick Tip: Want to relax while you open up the pecs?
Many members of our clinical team assign pec stretches as homework between sessions. It’s often clinically indicated because so many of our clients work at desks, or in professions that require them to frequently reach and bend forward. These activities often lead to tight pec muscles, and tight pecs can end up pulling you farther forward. Over time, these patterns can lead to pain and misalignment, and you might find them playing a role far from the desk — like as you train for the Rock n’ Roll Marathon this coming Saturday, or as you lean towards other wellness goals that...
Read MoreQuick Tip: Ready for your next alignment tip?
Did you catch the first stretch in chiropractor Dr. Katherine McCarty’s 7-point posture program? Katherine compiled this series of stretches to help us counteract our forward-bending tendencies — and to address the neck and back discomfort those patterns often cause. This week, we’re sharing the second and third points in the program: stretches for the Trapezius and Levator Scapulae. Take a little break from your desk today, and follow along with the video below! While practicing these stretches regularly can point us in the right direction, sometimes we do need a more...
Read MoreQuick Tip: Want a more specific stretch for the plantar fascia?
It makes sense that certain techniques of structural bodywork begin with the feet. For many of us, the feet are our primary modes of interacting with the ground. And the feet receive so much sensory information — whether through the force of the ground in high-impact sports, or from patterns of tension traveling down the leg. Because many of our clients hold tension in the feet, we love recommending good ways to stretch that plantar fascia regularly. In this week’s Quick Tip, Scott Schwartz shows one of our favorite stretches for the muscle and fascia that span the bottom of the...
Read MoreQuick Tip: Want seven tips for alignment?
Finding your body’s most natural alignment can seem daunting. But it’s often a question of taking small steps in the right direction. That’s why we love the 7-point posture program designed by chiropractor Dr. Katherine McCarty. The program helps counteract forward-bending tendencies that often come with desk work, and you can do all the exercises in 10 minutes! Check out the first stretch in the series — which targets the pecs — below. Want to delve deeper? To support desk workers, athletes, and anyone experiencing pain, Katherine is offering adjustments...
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