Help With Fibromyalgia

When I was working @ the Edmonton Marathon a couple of weeks a go, Patti came by my booth.  It turns out she was dealing with Fibromyalgia!  We spoke together for quite a while sharing information and resources that we have heard about.  Our conversation consisted of treatment options such as massage,exercise, stretching, and drug treatments for Fibromyalgia.

Patti was a wealth of knowledge and creditable because she was getting better!!  I have spoke to many people about Fibromyalgia and have learned many things.  One resource of information that she shared with me is a book that I never heard of:

I was so impressed with our conversation, that I asked Patti to send me some information about this great book.  I cannot claim that I have read this book, but I have read some pages that she sent me.

So far, I think it is amazing!  My philosophy of finding appropriate resources and information is to get second, third and even fourth opinions.  Talk to people and network.  There is nothing better than first hand knowledge about a condition from a person that deals with that condition every day of their lives. 

Patti, her husband and I spoke for quite some time and exchanged information and contacts.  

As a side note, Patti was really at my booth wondering about “The Stick”.  It turns out that she picked up a Flex Stick that offers her a longer, more flexible model to get at her shoulders and back.  People with Fibromyalgia usually gravitate to the Marathon Stick that offers excellent flexibility as well.

I thank Patti for sharing this information and hopefully some readers of this post will helpful.  If you have suggestions, please comment below!!

Here are some other posts I have done about Fibromyalgia:

• The Stick and Fibromyalgia
• Massage Therapy at Home
• Nutritional Biomechanics and The Stick

A Routine to Massage Your Legs With “The Stick”.

Here is a video I recorded on how to massage your legs using The Stick.   I am using the Travel Stick while I roll out my legs.  The Travel Stick has a standard flexibility and is short, making it ideal for travel.

The Travel Stick

The different models of Sticks can be found here. 

 

Best Stretches at Your Desk.

I found a nice little article that gives some tips for stretching out @ your desk when you are at work or working in the siting position for some time.  Here is an exert:

“Sitting in front of a desk every day can wreak havoc on your body, especially since most of us don’t have the best posture. Hunching the shoulders and slumping in your seat can cause back pain, headaches, tension and tightness in your back, neck and shoulders. The following stretches target the muscles of the back, neck and shoulders as well as the hips and glutes. Taking time to do some of these stretches throughout the day can help increase flexibility and reduce tension and stress.”

You can find the whole article here – Best Stretches for Office Workers

I would like to add in my two cents by saying that The Stick is in fact, the perfect tool for putting the “pop” back into your busy lifestyle.  By rolling out your muscles, you increase circulation, flexibility and reduce stress all at the same time. 

I have included a video and a picture to help see what I mean!!

Forearms

 For more pictures, please go here – Specific Techniques .  I have loads of pictures!  Everything from standing to sitting to kneeling to sitting on the ground!!

 

The Stick As a Recovery Tool Part 2

To fully understand muscle recovery whether it is work related, induced by training and/or exercise or even from a medical condition, we first need to discuss muscles as compliant and non-compliant.

We will first start with a discussion of compliant muscle. Muscles that are compliant can be shortened, stretched, compressed and twisted without symptoms of soreness or pain. They will exhibit flexibility, strength, good circulation, and the qualities of endurance.

Let’s switch our focus to the qualities of a non-compliant muscle.  Non-compliant tissue is tight, stiff and tender.  People often refer to this type of sensation as having painful “knots” in their muscles. Their muscles actually feels fibrous instead of long, lean and smooth.  Non-compliant muscles exhibit reduced flexibility, weakness, poor blood circulation and they easily fatigue.  A non-compliant muscle or group of muscles create barriers which restrict peak performance and blood flow.  These, non-compliant muscles are susceptible to injury because they are not functioning properly. In order for the body to perform at optimum levels, muscles must me allowed to expand and contract freely.

The human body contains approximately 690 muscle bellies and tendons. Each muscle has an origin and an insertion.  The rule of thumb is the origin is where the muscle attaches to bone and the least amount of movement takes place.  Whereas the insertion of a muscle is the opposite end of the muscle that attaches to bone where the most movement takes place.  Here is a great website for muscle origins and insertions. 

Now that we have some basic understanding of compliant and non-compliant muscles, there are some tough questions to answer:

• Why are some muscles compliant and others are not?
• Why do specific muscle get stiff during weather changes, yet others appear to be  unaffected?
• Why do we continually wake up with the same sore, stiff muscle pain in the same place every morning?
• Why does our back hurt in some positions and not others?
• Why do our episodes of muscular pain plague us in the same spot?
• Why does the pain return . . . even after treatment?

The above hypothetical questions all have one common answer. That is… myofascial lesions in the form of barrier trigger points.  Myofascia is the tissue that surrounds all muscles.  I like to describe it like the substance that holds sausages together.  Barrier trigger points are inflexible bands of muscle, usually containing knots. These trigger points (knots) set an artificial ceiling on optimal muscle performance by restricting blood flow to the muscle(s). Muscles need unrestricted blood flow for both high performance and full recovery from muscle activity regardless of the type (athletic, work related or a muscular condition). Simply put, barrier trigger points are usually the primary cause of non-compliant muscles.

Here is where The Stick comes in…

The STICK allows a person to self-administer general as well as segmental therapeutic practices with a great deal of accuracy. By rolling over the muscles with The Stick, muscles become compliant and ready for activity. Due to the bio-mechanical rolling, stretching and compressing of muscle tissue, barrier trigger points become diffused and rehabilitation of non-compliant muscles takes place. Remember that a compliant muscle will perform much better than a non-compliant muscle.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of The Stick as a Recovery Tool.

Avoiding Injury With “The Stick”

You ask yourself, how can a massage stick help me to avoid injuries?  Here is how:

1. By rolling over your muscles, you can feel tightness.
2. By rolling over your tight muscles, you will loosen them up.
3. By rolling over your muscles, you may feel knots (trigger points).  Knots lead to injuries.
4. By rolling over your muscles, you will release those knots.
5. By rolling over your muscles before exercise, you will warm them up.
6. By rolling over your muscles after exercise, you will help to cool them down.
7. By rolling over your muscles, you will increase circulation.  Poor circulation leads to muscle fatigue.
8. By rolling over your muscles, you will segmentaly stretch each muscle.  Flexibility is good!
9. By rolling over your muscles, you may feel soreness that you never thought you had.
10. By rolling over your muscles, you will get to know your own body!!!

The Stick can do all this and more!!

I also found a great article that refers to avoiding fitness faux pas.  The actual title of the article is:

Don’t hurt yourself: Avoid 5 fitness faux pas

Play it safe with tips for avoiding injury on the field, in the gym

Basically the five faux pas to avoid are:

1. Not sporting the right gear
2. Ignoring instruction
3. Overdoing it
4. Not varying your routine
5. Overexposing yourself to Mother Nature

Here is the direct link – Click Here -

Nutritional Biomechanics and The Stick

Have you ever heard of this term “Nutritional Biomechanics”.  I know I didn’t until I got involved in researching about The Stick.  I have posted a description of this interesting subject below.

By the way, I am a firm believer that nutrition and sleep are the top variables that a person can monitor and directly control.  Most of us a born with some combination of  speed, endurance, flexibility and power.  Some people can increase their abilities in one area, but not others, no matter how hard they try.  Some level of improvement will be seen with training.  However, advanced levels of achievement come with years of training and hard work.  Sleep and nutrition are directly controlled on how we take care of our bodies.   Imagine how much harder or how fast a person can recover with proper rest and nutrition?  

Nutritional Biomechanics:

The Stick helps to strengthen your muscles by employing Nutritional Biomechanics.

Here’s a short definition:
“In principle, Nutritional Biomechanics exploits the unique biomechanical relationship between muscle and its nutrient delivery system. Patient care for fibromyalgia syndrome, trigger point pain, muscle strain and delayed muscle soreness is especially magnified by supplementing the patient with a balanced nutritional drink 20-30 minutes prior to therapeutic stretching and massage. Such a protocol will insure that the blood entering the newly relaxed muscle is nutrient-dense. A full complement of nutrients will provide the raw materials needed for healing.”
- Dr. Andrew S. Bonci
Copyright 1992, All Rights Reserved Dr. Andrew S. Bonci Sport Biomechanics Laboratory

As you can see, The Stick can really make a difference in how nutrition is used in the body.  Basically, ingest some nutrient rich substance 20-30 minutes before you use The Stick, then roll out your muscles to increase circulation and blood flow.

 

The Technology Behind The Stick

As a  follow-up post to my last one.  I would like to give some information about the technology behind The Stick.  This should answer the question of what does The Stick actually do?

Here it goes: (Note: Please remember that “Intracell Technology” can be used interchangeably with “The Stick.”)

The Q-10 Effect

Warm muscles perform better than cool muscles. Traditionally, athletes would have to do light exercise to raise muscle temperature and enhance enzyme activity. This came at the expense of energy stores that could make the difference between first place and second place. Intracell Technology™ allows an athlete to warm-up without expending energy reserves.

Speed, Strength and Endurance

Emphasis on flexibility training by most athletes is almost non-existent. However, flexibility is crucial for developments in speed, strength and endurance. The usual approach to flexibility is less than optimal since muscle rarely stiffens uniformly. Typically, isolated segments of muscle become chronically shortened. Intracell Technology™ allows an athlete to perform general stretching as well as segmental stretching procedures with a high degree of precision.

Barrier Trigger Points

Barrier trigger points are inflexible bands of muscle containing knots. These barriers set an artificial ceiling on muscle performance by restricting blood flow to the muscle.And, unrestricted blood flow is vital for both high performance and full recovery from exercise. Intracell Technology™ lifts the ceiling on performance by extinguishing barrier trigger points.

Growth, Repair and Glycogen

Restricted blood flow to the muscles following exercise hinders muscle growth, muscle repair and glycogen repletion. Blood flow restrictions are due to generalized muscle tightness and barrier trigger points. Intracell Technology™ relaxes tight muscle which enhances muscle growth, repairs tissue and augments glycogen repletion following heavy exercise.

Enhanced Lactic Acid Removal

During exercise, lactic acid can build to critical levels where optimal performance is sacrificed. Intracell Technology™ expedites the discharge of lactic acid from your muscles and encourages its conversion into glucose by the liver.

The Stick and Horses

Yes, you read it correctly!  The Stick is awesome for our equine friends. 

Just like humans, horses react to exercise and develop soreness and trigger points like we do.  The only difference is they don’t complain about it as much as we do.   In fact, equine massage is big business!  Around where I live (Alberta, Canada), there are ranchers, rodeo enthusiasts, dressage participants and the like.  If they care about their horses, then they are having their horses being treated by chiropractors, massage therapists, naturopathics and even acupuncturists.

I still say that nothing will replace the human touch, but The Stick is the next best thing.  The best part, is you can work on your horse anytime, anywhere!  Because this amazing tool is non-motorized, you do not need a plug in, it can get wet and dirty and it is very easy to transport.

Due to the fact that horses are like athletes, we treat them the same way.  You simply roll The Stick over the horses muscles!!  I recommend using the Stiff Stick.

We recommend this Stick because it is stiff and longer for more leverage.  A horses muscles are quite dense!

 

What Can “The Stick” Do for Horses?  

By increasing circulation and breaking down Trigger Points (muscle knots), “The Stick” can: 

Improve Strength

Increase Flexibility 

Extend Endurance

Accelerate Recovery Time

Reduce Muscle Soreness, Stiffness & Pain

Prepare Muscles for Rigors of Activity

Flushes Muscles from the Rigors of Activity

 

 

Please visit here for more details!!

Tell me about your Stick!

One of the most often asked question that I get is something along the lines of “OK, I believe in The Stick, now which one should I get?”

I answer everyone the same way…”The one that feels best for you!”

There are however, some basic guidelines.  Factors such as body composition and intended use are very important when making a decision of which Stick to purchase.  Each Stick is a different length and has different flexibility.  In short, the longer the Stick, the more versatile it is.  The stiffer the Stick, the deeper penetration of massage can be achieved.

Some people like the versatility of the longer models.  Others like the travel-ability of the shorter models.  Either way, The Stick is an extremely useful tool to muscle health.

Please visit this page: “Pick a Stick” from my website :  ZealousVitality.ca

 

Post a comment and tell others why you use The Stick that you do!

fast weight loss

What can The Stick do for me?

 By rolling your muscles with The Stick you can:

 

→Improve Strength

→Increase Flexibility

→Extend Endurance

→Accelerate Recovery Time

→Reduce Muscle Soreness, Stiffness & Pain

→Prepare Muscle for Rigors of Activity

→Flush Muscle from Rigors of Activity

 

How and why does this happen?

 

The simple answer is….. A Healthy Muscle is a Responsive Muscle!!

The more complex answer is….. When muscles are sore, they are recovering from injury.  An injured muscle cannot perform the same as a healthy muscle.  In most cases, if treatment is not applied to an injured muscle, another injury may take place.

 

More precisely……. Trigger points (knots) and lesions (tears) can form in a muscle from a result of excersice or activity. It is well known that massage and self-massage techniques are applied to repair muscles that are injured and sore.  By using The Stick muscle soreness and further injury can be addressed and treated.

 

Please visit www.ZealousVitality.ca for more details.