Flexibility training (also referred to as stretching) is a great way to maintain your health and improve body functioning. By using flexibility training and stretches, you allow your body to achieve greater levels of functioning. That, in turn, will allow you to feel better. Knowing what flexibility training includes will help you determine whether it is right for you.

Flexibility training helps your body in several ways. The first thing that it can do is improve your posture. Because flexibility strengthens muscles and tissue, it can allows you have less back pain. Flexibility training is also known to improve the health of your joints. When you incorporate flexibility training into your workout, it increases the temperature of tissue, allowing your body to use some of its stored energies. The flow of your blood and nutrients is also known to increase through flexibility training.

The first way to include flexibility training in your workout is to include simple stretching routines. The more you do these stretches, the further you will be able to maneuver your body. Stretching your legs, hips and lower back muscles will begin to relax tissues in your back and take the strain off of your back. There are specific stretches for each part of the body. To learn more about which stretches are best for you, do some research or ask a professional to help you learn flexibility training routines.

Full body flexibility training includes dividing the muscles in several different groups. Each group then gets stretched and flexed for a certain period of time. Usually, the chest and back are the first muscles people focus on for flexibility. From there, most people move to the legs and hamstrings. After this, work on the smaller muscles. After you have stretched, you will notice a difference in how your body is functioning. Each person will incorporate their own types of flexibility moves in order to provide them with the most effective flexibility training routine.

Flexibility is used in all sorts of exercise programs. Yoga, Pilates, and aerobics classes all focus on flexibility training for a given amount of time. By doing this, they allow for a balance & accuracy. For athletes, this can prove to be very effective. Keeping a muscle relaxed in one area can provide more strength to move to the other area, allowing for more power and endurance.

Flexibility training should be included in all exercise routines. It allows your body to function at a higher level and keep improving its level of functioning. Flexibility training is also effective in allowing you to relax your muscles and release pain. By learning specific techniques for flexibility training, you will be more effective in whatever activities you choose to do.

William Brown
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/flexibility-training-82157.html

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How To Stretch: Butt, Hips for Low Back Pain & Sciatica | Austin Yoga Instructor Jen Hilman

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“How to” stretch butt hips low back pain sciatica austin yoga Instructor Jen Hilman “low back pain” “pain relief” “sciatica stretches” “low back” legs “jen hilman” “howto” relaxing stress psychetruth “massage therapist” “yoga instructor” “Austin Texas”

Duration : 0:13:12

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Duration : 0:4:16

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Here is a preview to a full length video showing you how to fix and prevent lower back pain by correcting lumbo pelvic hip complex imbalance.

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Duration : 0:2:49

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Duration : 0:7:28

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Duration : 0:17:17

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Self massage is a technique that enables you to ease the aches and pains in your muscles as a supplement or replacement for professional massage treatment. Self massage is great when your budget is a bit stretched or you have an immediate pain that needs to be addressed for your own personal comfort. Whilst it does not necessarily give you the same range of benefits that a professional massage can provide, this is an excellent maintenance strategy for your wellbeing. When you are performing self massage, there are a number of techniques that you can use to ease muscle tension and relieve pain. This article provides you with an overview of some simple ones that you may find useful.

Pressure Point Therapy

Applying some gentle massage and pressure to the area affected is a simple way to start. You should be able to find your pressure points with a little bit of trial and error. You will know when you have hit the spot as you will feel tension release in the surrounding muscles and start to experience some relief immediately. If it is highly sensitive to the touch or hot, then it may be best to leave it, or have a professional take a look, as the area may be injured or inflamed and massage will potentially aggravate it more. As a general rule you should feel relief and potentially mild discomfort but not pain.

Towel or Strap

A towel, strap or belt can all assist you in gaining a deeper stretch in the right areas. If you are particularly tense or simply not very flexible, it can help to use these implements to help you reach for your limbs and stretch properly. It is better to do this than force a stretch that your muscle is not capable of or not stretching properly. This is a useful technique with both legs and arms to help relieve tension.

Heat

When an area is extremely tense, the muscles can become locked up making it difficult to massage. Heat is a useful way of relaxing the muscles in tense areas, particularly hard to reach places such as your neck, shoulders and lower back. The heat also relaxes you mentally and can be a lovely way to wind down before going to sleep. When you use a heat pack make sure it is not so hot that it is uncomfortable by wrapping it in a towel or blanket. I typically apply heat for around 10 to 20 minutes to ensure my muscles have been adequately relaxed and tension is reduced.

Ice

If you have an injury, application of ice after exercise should form an important part of your recovery routine. It also helps to elevate the affected area. This will reduce swelling and protect the injured tissue. If you do not have an ice pack then I would recommend using frozen peas or corn. They are malleable so you can easily mold them into shape and, similarly to heat, it is best to wrap them in a towel. You would typically apply the ice for around 10 to 20 minutes.

Tennis Ball

A tennis ball is a great way to apply pressure to massage hard to reach places such as your shoulders. You can roll the ball over the area using a wall or the floor to assist or use the tennis ball to apply pressure in the affected area by pressing into it with your body weight. You will be able to feel if you are applying it to the right area similar to pressure point work as you will immediately feel relief throughout the affected area. Other objects that can be useful are walls and broom sticks are help get into hard to reach areas.

The trick with self massage is to manage your pain whilst also being gentle with your body. If you are feeling unreasonable levels of pain from your self massage then try reducing the pressure or give it a rest and try again later. If you want specific exercises or treatment options, it is helpful to ask your therapist and they will be able to show you other techniques or specific stretches for the affected area. If you have any persistent issues you should definitely seek professional advice.

Kareene Koh

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Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrome is the second most common overuse injury among endurance athletes. Also know as Iliotibial Band Syndrome, IT Band Syndrome, and ITBS, it is a common cause of knee pain in runners and cyclists. In fact, ITBS has been reported in up to 12% of distance runners.

The most frequent complaint of ITBS sufferers is pain at the outside of the knee. They will typically report that the pain will come on at a predictable distance and then worsen throughout the remainder of the run. This pain usually goes away at rest. In its later stages, the same pain may begin with other, less stressful activities, such as stair climbing or even walking.

So what exactly is ITBS? The Iliotibial band is a thick reinforcing band of tissue that stabilizes the outside of the thigh and upper leg. When the knee is bent at about 30 degrees, the IT band changes position and moves backward behind a prominence (the lateral femoral condyle) at the outside of the knee. In the simplest terms, ITBS is an inflammation of the outside of the knee from repeated friction as the knee bends. The IT band snaps back and forth across this bony prominence, which makes it become irritated.

There are a number of many know causes and factors contributing to Iliotibial Band Friction Syndrome. People who are bow-legged, a tight iliotibial band, have high arches, or a limb-length discrepancy are more at risk. All of these conditions can increase the amount of shock transmitted through the leg to the knee. This measn that the knee has to absorb all of the additional force by bending more and friction from the IT band results.

So how do you make sure you don’t become the one out of ten runners that will develop ITBS? As with most overuse injuries…avoid overtraining. One study actually found 42% of all ITBS cases to be associated with training errors such as increasing miles too quickly. Nearly half of those cases caused by training errors could be attributed to a single excessive harmful training session.

Other ways to prevent ITBS include the use of custom orthotics to correct for deficits in pronation. If you are bowlegged, have high arches, or a limb length discrepancy, orthotics can correct the biomechanical shortcomings you were born with, increase running efficiency, and help prevent injury. If you have any of the these conditions, avoid shoes that decrease pronation. Do NOT use shoes labeled “stability” or “motion control”.

Stretching is critical to avoiding the initial injury as well as or re-injury. To stretch the IT band, stand with your hand out in front of you, holding onto a surface such as a counter for balance. Cross your right leg behind the left leg. Lean to the left, and you will feel an increasing stretch at the right hip. Hold this stretch for 15 seconds. Perform the stretch three times for each side.

If you do develop IT band syndrome, icing and anti-inflamatories are the usually treatments. The most successful treatments have included immobilization, icing, stretching and a quick return to activity. Interestingly, running at faster pace has been correlated with a lower incidence of ITBS. This is because the higher cadence requires the knee to remain flexed at a higher degree and decreases the amount of friction to the IT band. This being the case, you should shorten your stride and pick up the cadence.

You can prevent knee pain common with ITBS by including IT band stretches in your routine. If you have high arches or are bow-legged, use your orthotics and avoid motion control shoes. Avoid running along on a down-sloping road (such as always facing traffic). Train sensibly and stick to your training program. Do all this and the one out of ten runners who get knee pain from ITBS…won’t be you!

Dr Christopher Segler
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/how-can-runners-prevent-itbs-684565.html

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Rob Jordan Physical Therapist talks about back pain.

Back pain in the lower back or low back pain is a common concern, affecting up to 90% of Americans at some point in their lifetime. Up to 50% will have more than one episode. Low back pain is not a specific disease. Rather, it is a symptom that may occur from a variety of different processes. In up to 85% of people with low back pain, despite a thorough medical examination, no specific cause of the pain can be identified.

* Low back pain is second only to the common cold as a cause of lost days at work. It is also one of the most common reasons to visit a doctor’s office or a hospital’s emergency department.

* For 90% of people, even those with nerve root irritation, their symptoms will improve within 2 months, no matter what treatment is used-even if no treatment is given.

* Doctors usually refer to back pain as acute if it has been present for less than a month and chronic if it lasts for a longer period of time

Many things can cause low back injuries–muscle strain or spasm, sprains of ligaments (which attach bone to bone), joint problems or a “slipped disk.” The most common cause is using your back muscles in activities you’re not used to, like lifting heavy furniture or doing yard work.

A slipped disk (also called a herniated disk) happens when a disk between the bones of the spine bulges and presses on nerves. This is often caused by twisting while lifting. But many people won’t know what caused their slipped disk. In most cases, slipped disks and other back pain can be relieved by following a few simple methods.

Duration : 0:7:2

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Duration : 0:4:6

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