Stretch of the Week: Lateral Child’s Pose
September is here!! This month we will be focusing on the Latissimus Doris muscles. These are the broadest of the back muscles and they connect from the bottom of the humerus bone (under the arm pit) to the spinous processes of the vertebra from T7-L5; so a large area. The lats help to internally and externally rotate the arms and are a powerful rotator of the trunk of the body. Sometimes if you have trouble rotating the torso it’s because these muscles are tight. So let’s stretch them out!
Stretch of the Week: Self Massage Technique for the Forearm
Summer is coming to an end as we approach the last week of August. I’m a fall person myself but I will miss these hot days where my body is warm, making stretching a little more enjoyable! Did you know warming up the body makes you a little more flexible? I always do my stretching after some kind of exercise, even if it’s just taking a walk around the block! I highly recommend it, so this week I will be giving you a self massage technique that will help warm up those forearm muscles before you stretch:)
Stretch of the Week: Forearm Twist
It’s the third week of August, how are your wrists and forearms feeling!? Looser I hope! This week we will be doing a forearm twist. We have two bones in our forearms, the ulna and the radius, that help us to make that twisting, or supination/pronation, of the forearm. In between these bones are little muscles and when they are tight it’s difficult to make those movements with the arm. This stretch will assist in helping to loosen these muscles as well as the muscles connected to the radius.
Stretch of the Week: Simple Wrist Flexion Stretch
Week 2 of August is here! This week we will be doing a simple wrist flexion stretch. This movement will stretch the muscles through the top of the forearm and the top of the hand.
Tips to Triathlon
Triathlons take more time to train for with needing to work on three different disciplines in the sport. It may seem overwhelming and like you don’t have enough time. It can be mind boggling thinking about how to actually fit it all in your weekly schedule. Planning ahead and setting goals are key, but also incorporating a few training techniques into your weekly workouts will help enhance your workout and help you feel ready for race day.
Stretch of the Week: Wrists and Forearms
Is it August already!? My goodness I can’t believe it! How has you’re summer been so far? Have you been keeping up with stretching your body while you do all these fun activities outdoors!? I hope so 🙂 Lets add some more stretches to what you’ve already been doing.
This month we are stretching out the wrists and forearms! So many of us overuse our hands and arms doing repetitive motions everyday, which can lead to tennis elbow or golfers elbow. Maybe you’ve heard of tendinitis? Maybe you actually have had one of these diagnosis’s yourself. It’s not a pleasant thing to experience and it can last several months or even years if you don’t address it. The stretches provided throughout this month are simple and effective and should be easy to make time for. It will help treat these ailments mentioned above, and also keep those muscles from developing the dreaded it is if you don’t have it!
This first weeks stretch is an extension movement. You will not need any props for this one.
(more…)
Injury Prevention Program: OPRF
I’ve written before about injury prevention for ankle sprains and knee injuries and I want to show just how effective a basic injury prevention program can be. This past year, Oak Park River Forest (OPRF) High School’s soccer program implemented an ACL injury reduction program known as the FIFA 11+. The FIFA 11+ is a warm-up program that focuses on correcting the most common faulty movement patterns seen in adolescent female athletes. Those faulty movement patterns – knees collapsing inwards, relying too much on your quads, ankle instability, etc – can lead to all of your common soccer injuries like ankle sprains, shin splints, stress fractures, and knee injuries.
Stretch of the Week: Revolved Triangle
I can’t believe it’s the final week of July already! This weeks stretch is a yoga posture called Revolved Triangle. It is a great upper body twist as well as a stretch for the Lateral side of the leg.
You will need some wall space as well as a yoga block (or something similar) for this stretch. Contraindications for this stretch are if you’re experiencing any of the following; Low blood pressure, Migraine, Diarrhea, Headache, and Insomnia please don’t do the stretch.
