Guest Spot: Rebecca Kraemer from Innovative Bodywork

A great Body Worker and friend of mine, Rebecca Kraemer, made some wonderful videos that talk about the importance of self care for the forearms, wrists and hands. Check out the whole series and her site.

http://www.innovativebodywork.com/

Part one: Research 

 

 Part two: Reset

 

Part three: Relax

 

This gets 5 puffy <3's for Rebecca's insight and informative, uhm information

DYI Friday: Ice Cast for Massage Therapist

This is for anyone really, I work 6 days a week as a Massage Therapist. So to make sure I can have a career that last longer then the life span of my lotions, I need to take care of myself. I have my foam roller, my trigger point ball, my sock heating pad, but I lacked ice. I never liked to do ice. It's cold. And as with the heating pad I couldn't do anything when I had it on. I'd have to sit there with ice on my arms getting caught up on Lie to Me. All the while thinking "god this is cold!" Till one day after making the sock heating pad, I was goofing around with the tops left over and making them into gloves. Light dawn on marble head! Could I use these to make an ice pack holder thing? Yes I could and here's what I did :)

Step 1) Taking your left over sock tops cut a small thumb slit on the top on one of them.

Step 2) Fill a ziplock bag with about 1/3 cup tap water. Push all the air out and zip it up.

Step 3) I found a glass that was roughly the same size as my wrist and put the sock with the slit on top of it.

Step 4) Lay the sock glass flat and place the ziplock bag on top. Roll the bag down so it fit the area of the glass.

Step 5) Place the second sock on top of the ziplock bag and tuck in any parts sticking out.

Step 6) Place the whole thing, glass and all, in the freezer for a few hours. Take it out and remove it from the glass. You should be able to slide your arm into the space created by the glass and now ice. Use the thumb hole the make sure the bottom sock doesn't turn.

Step 7) Continue about your day. As you feel one area becoming too cold simply side the ice and top sock to a new area.

What is: A knot, an adhesion, that thing in my shoulder?

We feel them every day. Ever time we reach up or down, bend to pick up something, a little pull or pinch. A tightness in an area of our body. A knot.

My left shoulder, or is this my right?

 What is a knot?
A knot is actually called myofascial trigger point. It's a muscle that had gone into a spasm either due to injury, overuse, or a sedentary lifestyle. With such activities as weight lifting, running, typing, or any type of exercise the muscle goes through a series of off and on cycles. When a knot develops the muscle remains "stuck" in that on, or tense state. It all means that something triggers a muscle and it never relaxes. Studies have shown connections to an abnormal build up of protein after a release of lactic acid. But other studies suggest that lactic acid has little do due with the development of trigger points. The most common cause of these muscle knots is a sedentary lifestyle containing short bursts of activity.

The bumpies are the ouchies :)

How can you heal a knot?
Potassium and calcium help to prevent muscle knots, and remaining hydrated can work wonders. (see post massage nutrition post) Because they are caused by inflammation in the muscle, taking a NSAID drug like ibuprofen will help with the pain. Ice can sometimes help with the inflammation. If you have only a few knots, the very best way to encourage them to go away is to massage them. I often take a trigger point ball , or lacrosse ball and roll it between my knot and a wall. You'll want to try and stay inside the "good pain range". It should feel like your doing some deep work not damage. Massage over a period of days can help reduce inflammation and retrain your muscles to be able to turn on and off again. If you have numerous or very painful muscle knots, the best thing you can do is see a licensed massage therapist.

How to make a foam roller and should you?

I've been meaning to do this for a while. I love foam rolling. To be honest I don't do it as often as I should. For some reason I've always wanted to make my own foam roller. So this seemed as good a time as any. But in the age of the internet and so many sports stores carrying rollers, is it worth it to make our own? Well here's what I found out. If you can find a good one for under $20, it's worth it to just buy it. But can you find one?

Yup here you go...

That being said, there are places that don't have rollers and maybe you can get to the stores that do. Maybe you're just like me and like to make something to learn more about it, or you just have a drizzly Sunday with nothing else to do.

So here's how you make a foam roller:

Step 1) Get your stuff together. You'll need:
PVC pipe ~$6
yoga mat ~$8
ruler
scissors
marker
athletic tape ~$3

Step 2) Measure twice, cut once. Measure how much of your yoga mat you will need by rolling the PVC pipe so that it's covered in one layer of the mat. Mark the mat with the marker and cut it to fit.

Step 3) Tape both ends of the mat and the middle together around the PVC pipe using the athletic tape.

Step 4) Starting from the center work your way up each end taping the mat closed. You might have to un-tape the end pieces once you get to them. Just make sure the mat touches and covers the PVC pipe the whole way around.

Step 5) Tape, tape, tape! Cover the PVC pipe in athletic tape and secure the mat. Once you feel it's secure, you're done. Now go work out those sore muscles ;)

I made mine smaller then normal because it's easier for me to use it on my IT band :)

Difficulty
Child's play

Cost
Less then your coffee for the week

Enjoyment

More fun then it looks