Massage News - Articles of Interest
|
At Living Touch Massage, we know the importance of a healthy routine. Jogging and power walking are fantastic ways to get your heart rate up and burn calories, but it's crucial to prioritize proper form to avoid injury. Here are some extended tips to keep your body aligned while you hit the pavement:  Sole Support: Invest in the Right Shoes
Running and walking both put stress on your feet and ankles, which can travel up your legs and cause lower back pain. Fight back by wearing shoes specifically designed for your chosen activity. Don't skimp! Change your shoes regularly, typically every 300-500 miles for running shoes and every year for walking shoes. Consider having a separate pair specifically for your workouts. Proper footwear provides cushioning, arch support, and stability specific to the demands of jogging or power walking. Uneven Terrain? Be Mindful of the Grade When you're out jogging or power walking, pay attention to the incline of the road. It's easy to overlook, but even a slight crest can have consequences. As you walk or run on an uneven surface, one leg is often lower than the other. This can lead to imbalances in your hips, knees, and even your neck over time. To avoid these issues, prioritize flat paths whenever possible. If you must walk on an incline, try to alternate directions on your route so that each leg gets equal work on the incline and decline. Level Up Your Walk: Seek Flat Surfaces While nature trails might seem like a scenic alternative to sidewalks, they often come with uneven terrain. This can be a nice occasional change of pace, but for consistent exercise, it's generally better to stick to level surfaces like sidewalks or tracks. This will help you maintain proper form and reduce the risk of developing pain in your back, hips, and knees. Listen to Your Body: Warm Up, Cool Down, and Stretch Just like any workout, proper warm-up and cool-down are essential for jogging and power walking. Dynamic stretches like leg swings, arm circles, and lunges will prepare your muscles for movement and help prevent injuries. After your workout, dedicate time to static stretches that hold each pose for 20-30 seconds to improve flexibility and reduce muscle soreness. Form Matters: Maintain Proper Posture While you're out there, focus on maintaining good posture. Here's the key:
Don't underestimate the importance of staying hydrated! Drink plenty of water before, during, and after your workout. You may also want to consider a sports drink for longer walks or jogs, especially in hot weather. Additionally, fuel your body with a healthy snack beforehand and replenish your energy stores with a balanced meal afterward. Living Touch Massage: Here to Help You Keep Moving Whether you're a seasoned jogger or a power walking newbie, prioritizing proper form is key to preventing injuries. By following these tips and listening to your body, you can keep your walks and jogs enjoyable and pain-free. And if you do experience any discomfort, Living Touch Massage os here to help. We can provide targeted relief, identify areas of tightness that may be contributing to pain, and offer advice on how to prevent future issues. Let's keep you moving comfortably! If you are a working person in 2023, you know that productivity is king in many facets of life. Your boss expects increases in productivity, and often we project high productivity within our personal lives when it comes to maintaining our social life, homes, families, etc. With all of the demands of everyday life, a person can begin to feel overwhelmed, and burnout can occure. The solution to this is very simple, but for many, it doesn’t seem possible. That solution is rest. While the question of productivity vs rest came to light during the madness of 2020, it has been something bubbling up for a couple decades now. It’s almost become a question of “does taking time to rest make you a lazy person?” Our answer is no. You are a living breathing entity. Our bodies are not made to be worked to the bone day in and day out. It’s essential for not only our physical health, but our mental health, to be able to sit back and rest. Rest your body. Rest your mind. You are not a robot.  Why has rest become seen as a sign of weakness or laziness? We live in a productivity obsessed culture. Taking breaks can make one feel lazy or immoral because that is valuable time that we could be dedicating to output. In fact, most people directly link their output or productivity to their worth as a person. If you think about a day where you have nailed a presentation, closed a big deal, or made a really good proposal, you feel like you’re on top of the world. You have that sense that you’re a person of value, and worthy of your keep. On the other hand, days when you feel sluggish, your output may not be as high, and you can start to wonder why your boss keeps you around or that you’re just not good at whatever it is you do. So you end up pushing through those days to reinforce that you are valuable. This can become a toxic cycle if gone unchecked, and can lead to a decline, not of quantity, but the quality of your work. Your brain is a muscle
If you’ve ever been to the gym, you know that between each workout, and even between each set within a workout, you need to plan time to rest that targeted muscle group. Biologically, it is essential to get the results you want. If you don’t take these breaks, your muscles deplete and you can’t eek out another rep. Your brain is no different. When you mentally extend yourself, your brain begins to slow down, and doesn’t make connections as easily as when it is “working fresh”. At this point, your work or your relationships begin to suffer. Just because you're producing, doesn’t mean you’re fully present, and it doesn’t mean what you’re producing is at a standard that is worthwhile. Rest is essential to your brain so it can function properly. It’s time to reframe the need for rest. It is not taking away productivity. It is enhancing your productivity! Whether your version of rest is a nap, a walk, taking a bath, reading a book or our personal favorite, Getting a massage; they are all in service to improved health, creativity and productivity. After all, even God took a day to rest! As the leaves will soon begin to change and we enter a new season, it is a great time to sit back and reflect on where we are in life. If the summer I’ve experienced is any indication of positive changes, my reflections will be amazing.
For those of you who haven’t met Dave yet, allow me to gush about my new husband just a little bit! As I mentioned, he has been working for Sanford Medical for 22 years, currently in the Sanford Hospital Cardiac Care Unit. In addition to his full-time position, he is attending Northwest Technical College to earn his diploma in HVAC/plumbing . Quite active, Dave enjoys all sorts of outdoor activities: hunting, fishing, hiking, kayaking, skiing, biking. He truly has a zest for life that is just contagious! We laugh a LOT when we’re together, and it’s been a joy to find a kindred spirit where we both really enjoy each other’s company, a very important building block to a successful marriage!
Looking towards the future, we continue to grow and not just by the size of our family! As I mentioned, Dave is going to school for HVAC/plumbing, but I have also been furthering my own education! I have always been a lifelong learner, and value education and the positive changes it can bring. I have been pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering. Don’t worry, this does not mean I am moving on from Living Touch Massage! The knowledge and experience I have gained over the years as a bodyworker has inspired me to find additional avenues to help people. As I merge into these new stages of life, my passion to work with people and their wellness will continue to be my focus and delight. Massage will always be part of my inspiration and a core value. As we grow and adjust to the changes throughout life, for me, massage will always be a part of who I am.
 It’s that time of year again, Back-to-School, and Boo is getting ready to continue his education in the office. Education and proper certifications are always primary goals at Living Touch Massage. It is important to Rita that she practices the most current and accurate techniques in the massage industry. It is so important to her practice that she goes above and beyond required certifications and learns specific techniques to help clients with a variety of conditions. Continuing her education and maintaining her certifications allows her to meet the needs of a broader range of clients and truly make an impact on their lives. From her education, she gains increased knowledge, a better understanding of old and new techniques, and an increased skill level. This helps her create the best possible experience for her clients.
Rita is currently nationally certified by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. To have received this certification, she must demonstrate a mastery of core skills and knowledge, pass an NCBTMB standardized exam, uphold the organization’s Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics, as well as continue her education. Rita is already experienced and trained in Swedish massage, deep tissue massage, Myofascial massage and release, therapeutic, relaxation, restorative, prenatal, and chair massage. For more information on all specialties, view all Our Services. |
