Tools for Self Massage:

So why would a massage therapist talk about self massage? Simple, I know very few people that have the time or money to get massaged as often as they need. Massage therapy can be important in recovering from exercise and helping avoid injuries.

Two different devices I like to use for self massage are the Stick and the Tiger Tail massager. The Stick has been around longer and is more widely used. The Tiger Tail came out about 6 months ago.

The Stick is a long, flexible bar with plastic rollers that conform to the shape of your muscles. I like to use it prior to exercise or stretching. It brings blood flow to the muscles and helps loosen them up. You can use slow movements with deeper pressure or faster ones to help stimulate the muscles. I use it on my legs and then go through my warmup.

The Tiger Tail is a one piece rolling massage device, similar to the Stick. It is shorter and has a firmer pressure. I like both of them and they both work pretty well, in my opinion. The Tiger Tail may be a little easier to take with you in your gym bag, because it is smaller.

Neither one replaces a good massage therapist, but gives you the benefits of massage on a more regular basis. The Tiger Tail can also be used on the arms and upper body. Once again, because it is smaller, it is much easier to do this by yourself.

Other methods can include a tennis ball, foam roll, or massage ball. The foam rolls have become popular in athletic training centers as part of the warmup. They can be fairly painful the first few times, though. If you have no injuries and a high pain tolerance, be my guest.



If you would like to read more, go to my articles on Self Massage for Pain Relief and Prevention.

Exercise vs. Physical Activity for Fat Loss:

Do you need to "exercise" to lose fat or do you just need plenty of "physical activity"? I'd like to continue our conversation from yesterday...... the one about the Amish and their very low rate of obesity.

I get a lot of questions about walking for fat loss, and do you burn more calories walking or bike riding. Bottom line, at the speed that I see many people walking or riding their bike, it doesn't really make a difference.

This afternoon it was about 60 degrees and sunny, so I took a walk down by the Mississippi River, on the Iowa side this time. There were a few other walkers and a couple bike riders. If you are out strolling along at a pretty casual pace, you won't burn that many calories.

This is the same for joggers and cyclists. A fast pace is required to burn the most calories. If you are just starting to exercise for the first time in a long time, you might see some weight loss by doing anything. After a while, your body will adapt to this and you will have to change the stimulus.

This would include exercising for more time, more often, and a faster pace. You can lose weight by walking only, but it will probably take a while and you will have to be fairly strict with your diet.

The logical thing would be to add in some resistance training to increase your lean muscle tissue, thus increasing your metabolism. If you don't want to spend any more time than necessary, strength training is more efficient, especially when combined with walking.

If you can't or won't exercise intensely, you need to be like the Amish, get more physical activity all throughout the day, so at the end of the day you burned many calories, as opposed to an intense exercise session, where you burned many calories at once (keeping your metabolism elevated for several hours).

After all, the Amish don't go to healthclubs to exercise, do they? Of course, they don't really need to!

Resistance training to reverse the aging process.

Walking for Fat Loss:

Since it is officially Spring and more people in colder regions are ready to get outdoors, I've decided to revisit one of my previous articles on walking.

A recent article in the paper talks about a columnist over 50 who is deciding to keep her New Year's resolution of losing weight and gaining more mobility. You've heard me say it before, don't stop moving if you don't want to lose your mobility.

Walking is great exercise and can be done by most everyone. You still need to do some type of resistance (strength) training for added bone strength and joint protection. It will also make your fat loss goals easier to reach.


Obesity and the Amish

What do the Amish have to do with obesity? Not much, as it turns out. I recently read an article reviewing the recent Health and Fitness Summit co-sponsored by the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Academy of Sports Medicine. This four day event featured 77 speakers on various topics related to health and fitness.

One of the speakers, Dr. Ted Mitchell spoke about the rising rate of obesity in this country, including our youth. He made some interesting comparisons to the Amish that you might find interesting. Such as the fact that the obesity rate among the Amish is 4%, while the rest of the US is 26%.

Their typical diet includes plenty of fat from bacon, eggs, and butter, yet obesity isn't much of a problem. One of the reasons given is that they move around a lot. The average adult male takes 18,000 steps a day, compared to 7000 or less for the typical American male. For American women that number is around 5000 steps.

Without the conveniences of modern society, they burn more calories through physical exertion than the rest of us. Environmental, hereditary, and behavioral factors all influence how you age. In 1900, the top killers were the flu, tuberculosis, etc. Today, some of the top killers, such as heart disease and diabetes, are largely caused by our behaviors - lack of exercise and poor diet.

Another factor that may play a role is fast food and processed foods. I doubt the Amish go to McDonalds too often. All those chemicals in processed foods can't be that great for your health. If you have ever watched the TV show Survivor, you have noticed that everyone looks skinny and those that started out heavier are always much lighter by the time they leave.

Yes, these people are physically active and don't eat much food, but none of the food they eat is processed. Maybe that also plays a part in their leanness.

Maybe we just need to move around a little bit more to fight off obesity. Park your car farther out in the parking lot or take the stairs at work. This should be in addition to your exercise program.

Interestingly, one picture shown in the article was taken at another fitness and bodybuilding event.

The long flight of stairs going up was empty except for three people, while the escalator was jam packed, with people lining up to use it.

Maybe our modern lifestyles have made us soft and robbed us of our health in the process. Not a judgment, just an observation.

The article I mentioned was written by Chris Shugart.

Click here for my article on Walking and Weight Loss.

Runners and Bikers Need Core Training:

Core training has been a popular topic for a while and probably a bit overused. But since its still very necessary for prevention and optimal movement, we will talk about it here.

Some people run or ride bikes for exercise and/or enjoyment, while others may be more interested in competition. Either way, runners need proper core strength for improved efficiency of movement, as well as prevention. Cyclists need some proper off-bike training to keep their posture in balance.

You've heard me say it before, when you spend a lot of time seated, while leaning forward, your body tends to adapt to this position unless you do something to balance out your body. Specific training of the upper back muscles would be one thing, avoiding neck pain would be another.

If you're a cyclist who's also a "desk jockey", meaning your job requires sitting at a desk all day long, you are doubly prone to postural problems and neck and shoulder pain. Doing some upper back strengthening is necessary to counterbalance all the leaning forward.

Runners need core strengthening for proper running mechanics. Core training affects your posture in a positive manner (when done correctly). The end result is a more efficient running style, with a reduced risk of overuse injuries.

This would include glute exercises to help with hip and pelvis stability. Stability there will place less stress on your joints in the long run (no pun intended). I was at a seminar a while back with a physical therapist who lectures nationally.

He talked about a triathlete who came to him after an injury. One of the main things they worked on was glute strength and stability. The runner literally had no butt and this contributed to his injury.

After working on this he was able to return to competition and jump several points in his age bracket, while doing less running. This reduction in the distances he ran probably placed less stress on his joints.

Neither runners or cyclists need to spend a great deal of time or effort doing strength training, just enough to add greater stability. Doing bodybuilding training isn't necessary or even desirable.

Bike riders might try some exercises for thoracic mobility to enhance their posture and prevent neck pain.

For more information on posture and mobility exercises, go to www.BrianMorganFitness.com

Headaches and Neck Pain

Core Training for a Strong Back and Abs

How Training Your Abs Affects Your Posture:

In addition to being very inefficient for training your abdominals, situps and crunches can also hurt your posture. In your quest to get 6 pack abs, you may be wrecking your posture and your spine at the same time.

In past talks on posture, I've told you about the need for balance between the muscles on the front and back of your body. When your body is in balance, you can stand up straight and move more efficiently. This efficiency also puts the least amount of stress on your joints, as your muscles are providing the proper amount of support.

When you spend 10-15 minutes on the floor doing situps, you are training your body in a flexed position. Since you never see someone work the opposite muscles (low back) for an equal amount of time, you throw off this balance. Since most people already have a tendency to be in a flexed position, due to the amount of time we spend sitting, this further throws off your postural balance.

So, besides being inefficient because they take too long to do, crunches and situps can also cause low back pain. When you do repeated flexion exercises your discs are prone to injury. So to protect your low back and reinforce good posture, you should do most of your abs training in a neutral position. Various bridges and planks on the floor are one way to do this.

The other is to train your abs and low back at the same time you work your upper and lower body. For example, doing upper body exercises that require your midsection to provide stability for your spine. Resistance band exercises that use a pulling or pushing move will build strength in your abs. Dumbbell swings, squats, and presses will also strengthen them.

All the situps or crunches in the world won't cause you to burn away your belly fat, despite what the TV commercials lead you to believe. You need to use exercises that involve multiple muscles such as squats, lunges, presses, and pulls. The more muscles involved leads to more calories burned, provided you are working intensely enough.

Exercise machines for the abs, whether at the gym or home, aren't needed. If at home, dumbbells, resistance bands, sandbags and your own bodyweight is all that is needed. If you want something at home to help burn more calories, a decent bike will work. Then you would do interval training for greater fat loss.

Your abs have different layers of muscles running at different angles, similar to plywood. This layering effect is what gives them their strength. Trying to isolate them with different crunches doesn't strengthen them properly and may lead to posture problems, over time.

Chiropractic and Massage Therapy for Pain Relief:

Chiropractic and skilled massage therapy is a great combination for pain relief. Recently, I've read a few chiropractic magazines which featured articles dealing with soft tissue injuries. These soft tissues would include your muscles and connective tissues. I believe in chiropractic, but I believe that you also need to treat these soft tissues, in most cases.

As a massage therapist and personal trainer, I have spent almost 4 years working in two chiropractic clinics. Skilled massage therapy can be a great adjunct to the chiropractic adjustment. It makes sense that by removing excess tension from the muscles, the adjustment will be easier and likely have longer lasting effects.

There are various forms of massage therapy. Most people may only think of massage as relaxing, something you go to a spa for, or as a way of pampering yourself. Yes, it can definitely be used this way to help relieve stress and increase your circulation. But there are also specific techniques that deal with pain and injuries.

One of these is myofascial release. Myofascial release is a form of therapeutic stretching developed by a physical therapist named John Barnes in the '60's. I have used it many times while working in chiropractic settings with good results. Sometimes MFR and the chiropractic adjustment were all that was done. Other times, it was combined with deep tissue massage for more permanent results.

The two doctors of chiropractic I worked for were both highly skilled - one conducts seminars nationally and the other works with a professional sports team. When I worked with their patients, those patients saw even further benefits than they would have received from just the adjustments. Many times the bones can be misaligned because of the surrounding muscles and connective tissues.

Sometimes these tissues are too tight and pull too much on the bones, and other times they may not be pulling enough - they are too weak. Often these muscles need some strengthening exercises to help support the joints. Many chiropractors use soft tissue therapy to make changes in these tissues, whether its some form of massage or therapeutic stretching.

They may do this themselves or have a massage therapist do this. General relaxation massage is not what is most effective in these cases, but more specific techniques are needed. I have seen many times where someone I was working with or a colleague, got better results than physical therapy did. You should know that obviously I believe in exercise, particularly to help support the joints.

In these cases, often a greater amount of soft tissue therapy was done to get these results. In an article I recently found, a chiropractor talked about having some upper back pain that got relief from the adjustments, but came back here and there. He received a myofascial release treatment to the muscles of his chest, which were too tight, pulling him out of alignment.

The pain left and had not returned. Two things to take from this - one, that skilled soft tissue therapy is often needed along with the chiropractic adjustment, and two, our bodies need to be balanced front to back, side to side, etc. Myofascial release seeks to treat the connective tissue that surrounds the muscles, called fascia.

This fascia can become tight from trauma, inflammation, and chronic poor posture. There's that P -word again. Chiropractic and skilled massage therapy can do a lot to improve your posture, but ultimately you have to retrain yourself to stand and move while properly aligned with gravity. You will also need some proper core training to stabilize your spine.

For more information on myofascial release, click here.

Using Power Plate to Increase Your Movement:

Does using the Power Plate increase your movement or your ability to move your joints? Yes, very much so. The Power Plate is a whole body vibration platform that causes reflex muscle contractions of 25-50 contractions per second, depending on the setting.

When first using a vibration platform, most of the positions are stationary. For example, you would step on to the platform and squat down to a comfortable position and hold this position for 30 seconds. If you have balance issues you can grip the handles for support.

In this squat exercise your muscles are contracting as they hold you in this position. When vibration goes through a contracted muscle you cause reflex muscle contractions to occur. These reflex contractions are where the strengthening occurs, along with increasing your circulation and creating an endorphin release.

Athletes use the Power Plate as part of their warmup because of this increased circulation to the muscles and joints. It also stimulates the nervous system, preparing your body for the movements to follow, as well as creating heat in the muscles from all the contractions. Basically, it shortens the time needed for a good warmup, prior to exercise.

So while it may seem strange that a stationary position on this platform can increase your movement, it does, because of the reasons just mentioned. Depending on your goals, you can use it by itself for your exercise program or as part of a workout, where you include other "normal" exercises. I like to use it to stretch, either prior to exercise or in between sessions to help recover faster.

When I use it this way, I will also use it to massage different muscles prior to stretching. A relaxed muscle stretches much easier than a tense muscle does. The results will also last longer. I have found that this combination of massage and stretching with the Power Plate gets much faster results than traditional stretching. Combine this with other forms of stretching and joint mobility movements and you can increase your ability to move easily and efficiently.

After using it for a while you can add more movement while on the platform, such as squatting up and down, with or without any additional weight such as a dumbbell. Most of these exercises occur without moving very far, however. As you attempt to stand up straight you take tension off the working muscle.

When you remove tension from the muscle you take away the reflex muscle contractions. If you were to stand completely upright on the platform, all the vibrations would pass by the muscles and go straight to your head, feeling uncomfortable and a little bit dizzy. When I see some of the other platforms on the internet and the people are standing completely upright, it tells me that these platforms don't have as much power as the Power Plate, or that the manufacturer doesn't know the science behind it.

Either that or their machine works on a very different mechanical property. I have clients do these stationary positions on the platform and then go right to another exercise, such as pushups, lunges, bridges, or resistance band exercises while standing(off the platform). By combining all these different exercises and movements, they get a lot of done in a short amount of time. We make the workout more efficient this way by using exercises that use several muscles and joints at the same time.

In this manner you can use the Power Plate for fat loss. If you aren't able to do a lot of exercise because of physical limitations, many of you can use the platform for your exercise and movement needs. Those with pacemakers and certain illnesses, such as uncontrolled diabetes would not be candidates for this type of routine.

When you add up all the reflex contractions that occur on the platform with other exercises done off the platform, that is a lot of muscle contraction, which is why you can get results without spending an hour or more to exercise. For those with limited time this is an ideal way to exercise.

You can see results by only doing exercises on the platform. If you've got more than 20 pounds to lose, its doubtful that you will accomplish this just through the vibrations, but you would see some increase in your metabolism, losing some weight.



For more information on Power Plate stretching, click here.

Is Your Posture and Movement Important?

Most definitely! Physical therapist Shirley Sahrmann wrote a book a few years back on pain and movement dysfunctions. One of her main themes was to look at someone's posture and regular movements - or lack of them - when trying to determine the cause of their pain.

I had come up with the idea of Posture-N-Motion as a title for this blog before I found out about her book, and have since renamed it Posture and Movement. Your posture is very important to your health, yet rarely discussed. Doctors do screenings for cancer (and rightly so) but why is it that no one screens for posture problems.

Many injuries and physical problems occur needlessly because of poor posture, and in some cases, a lack of adequate movement. Many people with neck and shoulder pain have poor posture. Their head is positioned too far forward, placing unnecessary strain on the joints.

Muscles end up being constantly stretched, which contributes to them being sore and tired from working when they shouldn't be. When you have good posture, your body is properly aligned with gravity. Poor posture has your body working against gravity and working inefficiently.

When you are out of alignment with gravity you cause greater wear and tear on your joints. They will likely wear out faster just like your car's tires will wear out faster when not in alignment. But its a whole lot easier and cheaper to get your tires replaced. Your joints on the other hand - plenty of pain and suffering occur when they are surgically replaced.

But can't I just stand up straight you ask? Its not that simple. Some people haven't stood up straight for so long that they don't know what straight is. They literally need to be retaught with specific movements, like joint mobility training. This is likely the case if you have had past injuries or haven't exercised in a long time.

Posture isn't just about standing up straight, anyway. Its about moving more efficiently while your joints are properly aligned. It takes specific training for many people. It also takes conscious awareness of how you are standing. Most people are just not aware of their posture and what it feels like to "stand tall."

Basically, you should have a balanced body. The muscles on the front of your body should be in balance with those in back, as well as having the left and right sides of your body in balance. Part of the muscle imbalances that are so common in those dealing with pain is due to sitting too much.

Many of us spend too much time seated in front of the computer, TV, or driving to and from work. Its nearly impossible to sit upright this entire time and our shoulders and back tend to round forward. Over time, our bodies adapt to this position unless we do something to "balance" ourselves.

Most of you need greater mobility in your hips and thoracic spine, and need to strengthen your glutes, midsection, and upper back. You also need to get enough movement so that your muscles and joints don't stiffen up. This will help ensure that your body stays in balance and works as efficiently as possible.

The more efficient your movements are, the less stress on your joints. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it. Now if we could get more health and fitness professionals to recognize this and do posture screenings aimed at prevention, we'd be in business. Or maybe some of them make too much money dealing with the effects of poor posture, to really care.

Most of you should be able to stand tall your entire life - with the proper training. Some people will have severe injuries or disease that may make this impossible, but most of you can have proper alignment with a little work.

How posture affects your health

Walking is Good for Your Health:

After a looong Winter, today's temperatures of 60 degrees here in the Midwest felt like I was in the Tropics. Many people were outside enjoying the Sun and after lounging on the couch all afternoon, I went down to the bike path next to the Mighty Mississippi.

The path had a lot of water in various places, which should be expected with all the snow we've had. Just being outside and walking in decent weather more than made up for the puddles, mud, and goose crap. I think these geese have forgotten that they are Canadian and spend most of their time down here.

I like to use walking as my "cardio" activity. I also do a lot of joint mobility movements, which are like a Westernized version of Tai Chi. Since I weigh 240 lbs. walking is pretty good exercise for me. I usually walk at a fairly quick pace but I don't worry about monitoring my heart rate or anything like that.

At my size walking is a great way to get my daily movement quota and enjoy the outdoors at the same time. Somebody of my weight would run the risk of overuse injuries to their muscles and joints by jogging too much.

Just to give you an example, if I took a walk with someone who weighed 120 pounds and we walked the same pace for the same length of time, I would be doing twice as much work. My calorie burn might not be exactly double - I'd have to break out my old college text books - but I would definitely burn significantly more calories.

In case you're not familiar with my writing, I'm not a big advocate of doing regular cardio activity. Steady state cardio is fine if you are preparing for endurance competition, but is overrated for fat loss in my opinion. Yes, you can find many runners who are very lean, but you can also find many people who do cardio only workouts who are not that lean. Some have a downright "soft" appearance.

If you are walking or doing the elliptical machine because that is all your joints can handle, than that is fine. I believe most people with physical limitations should still do light walking or some type of water exercise to keep their muscles and joints from getting even stiffer. If this is your case, start out with mild walking for 10-15 minutes and slowly build up your exercise endurance.

Any movement should help you feel better and give some health benefits. If you are currently doing nothing, 15 minutes of daily movement can still benefit you. It increases the circulation to your muscles and joints, lubricating your joints in synovial fluid. This movement will also increase the circulation of your lymphatic system, which unlike the blood, is totally dependent on motion to push lymphatic fluid through your body, helping remove toxins.

I actually get most of my cardio from my strength training workouts. By choosing exercises that involve several muscles such as pushups, pullups, squats, and lunges, I can get my heart rate up fairly easily. I combine these exercises into a circuit where I go from one exercise to the next with little rest in between. By doing this I get a lot of work done in about 30 minutes, with my heart rate elevated the entire time.

This way I get cardiovascular benefits at the same time I strengthen my muscles.....and bones. Don't forget about bone mass. Baby Boomers should be concerned as much about keeping their bone mass as they should about keeping their hearts healthy. This efficient exercise, known as interval training, allows me to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time, ensuring that lack of time is no excuse for not exercising.

So if not planning on running half marathons or triathlons, interval training and interval cardio exercise is more efficient and more manageable for most busy people, provided you are healthy enough for this more intense activity.

Then, you can take nice enjoyable walks to add in a little extra calorie burning. You can also use this time to relax and spend time with someone else or just clear your own mind and reduce your stress levels, something we all could use in this fast-paced world of ours.