As massage therapists something that we often do after a session is give our clients homework which mostly comes in the form of stretching. Stretching or to stretch can have multiple different definitions such as, ‘to extend or reach out’, ‘to pull taut’, and ‘beyond the ordinary or normal limits’. Stretching in movement terms at its root means to elongate the muscle(s) in the opposite direction of their muscular actions. Now that’s no picture perfect definition, but I’m not an English professor for a reason. Anyways, the main theme of stretching in this article is to ask the question, does st ..read more

The months of July and August are the heart of the outdoor running season and it is usually this time of the year that runners are starting to really kick up the mileage in their marathon training to be ready for events such as the Chicago Marathon and the New York City marathon that usually takes place in the early part of the autumn season.  Part of the preparation for those marathons means putting in the mileage with proper training but that also means overtraining and injury could become a factor to take you out of the game. So how can runners avoid getting injured and perform at thei ..read more

Quadriceps, or more commonly known as quads, are the strongest muscles found in the human body. The quads begin from your hip bone and travel down just passed your knee. Quadriceps muscles are made up of four different muscles that help you extend your knees and one of those muscles also flexes your hip. The four parts of the quadriceps muscle include Rectus Femoris, Vastus Medialis, Vastus Lateralis, and Vastus Intermedius. Whether you are kicking, walking, sprinting, or cycling, your quadriceps play an active role in making those movements happen. Continuous usage of the quadriceps muscles w ..read more

 One of the most common problems that clients come to us with is low back pain. Low back pain could be considered the mother of all pain for most people. Sometimes it’s caused by an abrupt injury, or perhaps it’s a structural problem like scoliosis, and don’t forget about those years of bad posture that start to add up. Massage is a great tool in decreasing pain and improving muscular functionality in the low back and surrounding areas. However, sometimes it’s not as simple as that. Low back pain can be caused by a multitude of reasons that don’t include soft tissue and can be better addr ..read more

The next massage gun question I would like to answer for you is, “Can you use a massage gun on your face? I feel like this is an obvious answer to me but with having enough people ask me that question I realized the necessity to give this one an answer both in video and blog format. Well the answer to this question is mostly pretty solid no from me. Sure you might be able to find a rare example of someone like John Cena using  it on his face; but come-on he is an exception rather than the rule to this example. John Cena is physically well developed from lifting weight and wrestling, so I ..read more

  Let’s take a moment to teach you how to foam roll your calf muscles. This is a great technique to use as part of your warm-up or cool down routine for running, strength training, hiking or just as maintenance from the wear and tear of daily life. All you’ll need is to have a foam roller and preferably a mat or a soft surface to have your hands work off of Then you start by sitting on the ground with your legs spread out, and the foam roller in front of most of your body, getting the roller under your calf muscle.  Then using your hands, lift your body off the ground so you make thr ..read more

Human bodies are just fancy biological machines. Just like any motor or engine, proper fuel is necessary to make it run. If you constantly try to make your body machine run on no fuel or the wrong fuel or too little fuel then the engine breaks down. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as driving up to the pump, hitting ‘regular’, filling up, and then driving off. So what is the proper way to fuel our body machines? In order to understand the “right way” to fuel ourselves we need to understand what the fuel is made of first. The three basic categories of nutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, and ..read more

I will never forget when my olympic rower physical therapist told me that dancers work harder than any other athletes he was seeing. He would watch dance videos or come to performances and cringe. I don’t think it’s a secret that dancers ask more from their bodies than most of the population. It’s a job that requires a high level of mobility and brute strength combined with a just insane level of endurance. All set to music and  expected to be done with a smile on your face and an illusion of effortlessness. So this begs the question, what can we do for body maintenance? What can be done ..read more

Sports Massage is one type of massage that it seems not everyone is too clear on what it is and how it’s different from a massage style like Medical massage or Deep Tissue massage.  Well rather than compare it and say well this one is different because this reason or that reason it would be easier to just fully explain what sports massage is cause once it’s explained to you it will be easy to tell the difference. Let’s start by talking about sports massage and what the main focus a.k.a. Goal should be.  The main goal of Sports Massage is to help athletes operate as close to their pea ..read more

Self-care is everywhere; at least these days, it does seem to be everywhere we look.  From ads on youtube & television to paper ads as you commute to work and even all over your social media, the world these days is talking more and more about a good self-care regimen.  With all the voices fighting to get your attention, we must ask ourselves, “What does self-care mean to me?” To each one of us, self-care is customizable, but there are fundamentals for it to be considered health-supportive self-care.   Knowing this definition is essential.  For example, let’s say you ha ..read more