One thing that we’re hearing so much about right now is how everyone’s bodies feel different. Being home bound for recreation and work really impacts our physical and mental health. Exercise can be such a huge factor in combating those changes, but it’s harder to get moving if your body just doesn’t feel that good. That’s where a little self-care comes in handy.
Whether it’s an overall lack of activity or a radical change in work positions (laptop in a recliner anyone?) chances are you’re feeling the crunch of the stay home mandate on your body. What follows are a series of tips and tricks to get you feeling better so that you can enjoy your exercise program more and stay strong throughout the coming weeks. The basics of fighting against these patterns is to move in opposite directions frequently – so if you’re flexed at the desk all day we want to see you moving through some extension drills. There’s lots of ways to make that happen, so take what you like best from the following list.
1. Self Myofascial Release (SMR) Like a good massage therapist, SMR uses tools to stimulate the muscles, enhance circulation and break up little adhesions where muscles may feel bound up. Foam rollers are probably the most prevalent and widely known and you’ll find some links to good spots on our website. I think it’s important to not spend too much time here, but take a quick pass through several areas that are known issues. If anything feels particularly junky feel free to spend a little extra time. Make sure you work both sides of the body, not just the side that feels tightest.
2. Stretching Generally done as either a static or dynamic series, stretching helps to move muscles through their available range of motion and promote circulation. Moving blood to the muscles helps alleviate pain and increase energy. Remember to try to counter the positions you find yourself in a lot. Extension and rotation can be incredibly helpful right now!
3. Mobility Similar to stretching but more focused on the joint. Mobility work can be static or dynamic in nature but is intended to put a joint through, and improve, it’s natural range of motion.
4. Lacrosse Ball / Acumobility Pressure Work This is the concept of using small implements to apply direct pressure to problematic areas. Again, just like the rest of these tips, we are trying to promote good circulation and break up adhesions – the idea being that this will improve overall health, increase muscle function and enhance energy.
5. Yoga Perhaps the most common and certainly the oldest of these modalities, yoga uses those principles of dynamic stretching in a series of sequences meant to match strong breathing methods and flowing body positions to gain strength, flexibility, mobility and calm.
Watch this week for more guides and videos to all of these methods to make sure you are armed with the best defenses against the challenges our bodies face during the unusual times ahead.
Check out below for some great resources that have been on HyattTraining.com this whole time!
Even if you’re never heard of self-myofascial release (SMR), it’s likely you’ve heard of some SMR techniques like foam rolling, trigger point release (like laying on lacrosse balls), and deep tissue massage using specialized sticks or other equipment. You may have tried it yourself or perhaps you’ve seen others doing it around the gym. But what is the purpose of SMR and how can it benefit you? This article offers an introduction to SMR with a focus on the specific SMR technique of foam rolling.
Resources to help you RELEASE, ROLL and STRETCH
Give yourself some extra support in these stressful times. Take a few extra minutes to focus on release, mobility, stretching and yoga. Here are some resources:
If you’re on the Hyatt Training app, you’ll find several programs for stretching, rolling on the program tab.
Here’s are a couple links to yoga poses to help improve sleep and relaxation. Yoga Journal and PopSugar have good suggestions. Lee’s favorites before bed are forward folds and legs up the wall.
Author Jeremy Hyatt is a personal trainer and co-owner of Hyatt Training. He believes it’s important to start with the basics and move from there. Too often, people get into complicated movements and goals before they have the proper fundamentals, which can lead to negative results.
Learn more about Jeremy, or get in touch with him by emailing us at Go@HyattTraining.com.
Hyatt Training is a collective of certified, enthusiastic and innovative personal trainers in Portland, Oregon.
