Benefits of Foam Rolling

You’ve probably seen it. Those people at the gym, rolling around on the floor with a giant cylinder thing, and wonder “what the heck are they doing?” Well, it’s time for you to jump on the bandwagon too, because foam rolling really can change your life. And if not your life, it can at least change your workout.

Foam rolling, or self-myofascial release, as it’s technically called, is basically like a deep tissue massage for your muscles. It’s a type of soft-tissue therapy that focuses on connective tissue called fascia. Fascia is tissue that connects with your muscles, bones, and ligaments to provide support throughout your entire body. (1)

When it works properly, fascia is elastic and can stretch and move as one with the rest of your body. However, many times, due to intense workouts, poor posture or movement patterns, stress, and lifestyle factors, fascia can tighten and become stiff, restricting movement and even causing pain.

Unfortunately, conventional stretching on its own doesn’t always release tight fascia. Direct pressure from a massage therapist, or a tool like a foam roller, or even a lacrosse ball, is needed to release those tight muscles and tissue. It’s important to have muscles and fascia supple and elastic for proper muscle movement and function.

1. Improves Range of Motion & Performance

Exercise, injury, and lifestyle can cause your fascia to tighten and cause trigger points, or “knots”. These knots are what restrict both mobility and performance. Foam rolling can break up those knots and return muscles and soft tissue back to normal, increasing range of motion. With an increased range of motion, you can perform better in your workouts by engaging muscles fully to increase strength and power. (2)

2. Relieves Muscle Soreness and Aids in Recovery

Fascia provide your muscles with support and protection. Overuse, injury, and even inactivity can cause fascia to tighten, causing inflammation and irritation. Foam rolling breaks up those knots which can actually help increase circulation to your muscles and connective tissues. With better circulation and more oxygen, your muscles can recover faster and you’ll experience less muscle soreness. (3)

3. Relaxes Muscles

Just with deep tissue massage, foam rolling applies direct pressure on tight muscles and knots which helps them relax and release tension. “Rolling” over your muscles and trigger points creates a similar effect that a massage therapist uses when kneading your muscles. (4)

4. Lengthens Muscles & Prevents Injury

Just as it increases range of motion, foam rolling allows you to stretch your muscles more efficiently as well. Foam rolling lengthens muscles and breaks down scar tissues that can prevent you from reaching your deepest stretch. It allows muscles to return to their normal length, which in turn allows for proper muscle function. When your muscles are efficiently stretched and function properly there is far less risk of injury.

5. Correct Muscle Imbalances

Because foam rolling can relax tight muscles, improve range of motion, and lengthen muscles, it allows your body to perform better. It helps correct muscle imbalances by relaxing the overactive, tight muscles, and allowing for proper movement to strengthen the weak, underactive muscles.

6. Can Boost your Immune System

A healthy myofascial system directly correlates with a healthy immune system. Your lymphatic system detoxifies your system and keeps it healthy. Lymph, or lymphatic fluid, runs along the facial plane of your body. When the fascia in your body are tight, it restricts the movement of lymph. Foam rolling will release tight fascia, allowing for proper detoxification and immune function. (5)

Fair Warning: Foam Rolling won’t feel that great…

For some, foam rolling seems as if it can’t possibly help if it is so painful while actually doing it. But again, think of it as a deep tissue massage. Most people understand and know that deep tissue massage can be uncomfortable and even painful. Foam rollers are really just a tool used as a substitute for the hands, elbows and forearms of the massage therapist.

When foam rolling, it is important to choose the right type of roller to start with to minimize the amount of discomfort in the beginning (sometimes the pain the first time can be enough to scare people off forever!). Foam rollers come in different densities, or “hardnesses”. The harder to roller, the more painful it will be if you have extremely tight muscles and fascia. When starting a foam rolling program, choose a softer roller (usually colored white or light blue) and start there.

As soon as you move off of the foam roller, the muscles you were working on should stop hurting and actually feel relieved and more relaxed. As the discomfort starts to go away when foam rolling, this means that you have been able to work out those knots.

As you progress through a foam rolling program and the pain starts to decrease, you gain flexibility and increase range of motion, and then move up to the next level of hardness in rollers (usually a black roller). Eventually, you will become accustomed to the uncomfortable feeling and even start to enjoy it. You may eventually even want a roller that is lined with a PVC pipe in the middle to really dig into those muscles.

Tips for Foam Rolling

• • Roll each muscle group for 1-2 minutes and roll very SLOWLY. When you hit a tight spot that is painful or uncomfortable, HOLD on that spot for 30-45 seconds. You should feel the tension release slowly.

• • Make sure to keep breathing, even when it’s painful. Holding your breath won’t allow the muscles to release and relax.

• • Be sure to RELAX the muscle as best you can. If you are flexing or tensing the muscle group you are trying to roll out, you won’t feel the trigger points you need to release.

• • Drink plenty of water for the next 24 hours. Your body needs to rid itself of the lactic acid released after rolling.

• • The next day your muscles may be a bit sore. That’s normal, they should feel slightly fatigued and possibly a tiny bit tender. Wait 24-48 hours to foam roll again if you’re sore.

• • Never roll on a joint or bone and DO NOT roll your lower back. Also, when rolling your upper back be careful not to roll directly on your spine, instead always roll one side of your back at a time by slightly leaning to that side. There are small knobs on your vertebrae, called facets, that could get injured when rolling directly on your spine.

• • If an area is too painful to apply direct pressure, shift the roller and apply pressure on the surrounding area and gradually work to loosen the entire area.

This a full body foam rolling routine for you to get started with. Some muscle groups may be more sensitive than others, THOSE are the ones that you need to focus on! You will eventually be able to feel which muscle groups tend to always be tight for you personally. If you work at a desk (like most people) some areas to pay special attention to are the chest (and fronts of shoulders), lats, hip flexors, and IT-band.

1. Chest

Lay facedown with the bottom of the foam roller angled away from you, and your arm extended out to the side over it. (The foam roller should rest in the crease of the front of your shoulder.) Lift your stomach and hips off the floor to press your weight into the foam roller. Roll forward and backwards a few inches over your chest and your front shoulder muscles. Repeat on the other side.

2. Lats

Lie on your RIGHT side with the foam roller just under your armpit and your RIGHT arm extended over the roller. Bring your LEFT leg over and place your foot on the ground for support. Press all of your weight into the foam roller and roll along the RIGHT side of your torso from your underarm to the bottom of your rib cage, and then roll back up. Repeat on the other side.

3. Thoracic Spine

Lay with the foam roller in the middle of your back across your shoulder blades. Clasp your hands behind your head for support, but don’t pull on your neck. Shift slightly to your RIGHT side and lift your hips off the ground to put as much weight as possible up your upper right back. Roll from your shoulder blades down to the bottom of your rib cage and back up. Do NOT roll directly on your spine. Repeat on the other side.

4. Glutes/Piriformis

Sit on top of the foam roller with your RIGHT ankle crossed over your LEFT knee. Shift your weight to the RIGHT slightly to apply pressure onto your right glute. Roll forward and back slightly to release, then switch sides.

5. Hip Flexors

This can sometimes be a tricky muscle group to reach. The best way to hit it is to angle the upper part of the foam roller away from you so that the bottom part of it lines up with the crease of your pelvis and hips. Roll back and forth a few inches to release the hip flexors and shift your weight slightly from side to side to hit those muscles a little differently. Repeat on the other side.

6. Quads

Lay facedown, almost in a plank position on your elbows, with the foam roller just under your hips on your quads. Shift as much weight as possible onto the foam roller and slowly roll down your legs to just above the knee and roll back up. Also, try externally rotating your legs to hit the inside quad muscles, and internally rotate your legs to hit the outside quad muscles.

7. IT-Band

Lay on your side, with the bottom RIGHT leg placed onto a foam roller between the hip and the knee. Cross your LEFT leg over and place the foot on the floor. Place as much weight as possible into the bottom leg and roll from the hip to just above the knee and back up. Repeat on the other leg.

8. Calves

Sit on the floor and place the foam roller under your RIGHT lower leg, between the base of your calves and your Achilles. Cross your LEFT leg over your right. Press into your hands and lift your hips off the ground to apply pressure onto the roller. Slowly walk your hands towards the foam roller to roll it up your leg. Stop just below the knee and roll back down. The most sensitive spot will mostly likely be at the base of your calf muscles. Repeat on the other leg.

Article originally appeared on http://blog.paleohacks.com/foam-rolling/ written by Deanna Dorma.

Want to Improve Your Willpower?

While it makes sense that meditation would be linked to greater willpower, who'd have thought procrastination could also do the trick?

One of the key parts of our culture at Buffer is a focus on self-improvement. We each pick an area to improve on each week and share our daily progress and challenges, making it a social, supportive way to adjust, create or change our habits.

There’s still a lot of work to be done for self-improvement to be effective, though. I’ve been through a bunch of different improvement focuses in the last few months, including positivity, running, reading more and learning French. Each one has been fun to focus on, but it’s hard to keep more than one new habit going at a time—partly because it takes so much willpower.

What willpower is and how it works in the brain

Kelly McGonigal, PhD, and author of The Willpower Instinct says willpower is a response that comes from both the brain and the body.

The willpower response is a reaction to an internal conflict. You want to do one thing, such as smoke a cigarette or supersize your lunch, but know you shouldn’t. Or you know you should do something, like file your taxes or go to the gym, but you’d rather do nothing.

The prefontal cortex (that section of the brain right behind your ) is the part that helps us with things like decision-making and regulating our behavior. Self-control, or willpower, falls under this heading, and thus is taken care of in this part of the brain.

To be effective at controlling our urges and making sound decisions, the prefontal cortex needs to be looked after. That means feeding it with good-quality food so it has enough energy to do its job and getting enough sleep.

How willpower gets depleted throughout the day

McGonigal points out that one of the most replicated findings about willpower is that it seems to be finite—that is, we only have so much and it runs out as we use it.

Trying to control your temper, ignore distractions or refuse seconds all tap the same source of strength.

We can look at willpower like a muscle—it can get exhausted by overuse, but just like our physical muscles, there are some researchers who believe we might be able to strengthen our willpower by training it.

How to increase your willpower

Okay, we know that we only have so much willpower and as we go about our day, stress and normal self-control depletes our resource. Let’s see what options we have for increasing the pool of willpower we have to draw from.

1. Increase your capacity for pressure: Learn how to manage stress

To start with, we need to manage our stress levels, says McGonigal. Being under high levels of stress means that our body’s energy is used up in acting instinctively and making decisions based on short-term outcomes. Our prefrontal cortex loses out in the battle for our energy when high-stress is involved.

McGonigal says that stopping to take a few deep breaths when we feel overwhelmed or tempted can be a great start in managing our stress levels and improving our willpower.

2. Encourage yourself to stick to your plan

To make it even easier, it appears that self-affirmation can even help you to have more self-control when you’re running out, according to a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. A good example of this is the difference between telling yourself "I can’t" and "I don’t." Taking back control of the situation using the phrase "I don’t" has been shown to be more effective at helping you to stick to your plan and break bad habits:

Every time you tell yourself "I can’t," you’re creating a feedback loop that is a reminder of your limitations. This terminology indicates that you’re forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do.

So try telling yourself that you don’t do that bad habit, rather than punishing yourself by saying "I can’t."

3. Get more sleep to help your brain manage energy better

McGonigal also says getting enough sleep makes a big difference to how efficiently our prefrontal cortex works:

Sleep deprivation (even just getting less than six hours a night) is a kind of chronic stress that impairs how the body and brain use energy. The prefrontal cortex is especially hard hit and it loses control over the regions of the brain that create cravings and the stress response.

Luckily, McGonigal also cites studies that have shown we can make this work in our favor by ensuring we get enough sleep:

When the sleep-deprived catch a better night’s sleep, their brain scans no longer show signs of prefrontal cortex impairment.

And if you’re wondering how much sleep is enough, here’s a rough guide: one of the most acclaimed sleep researchers, Daniel Kripke, found in a recent study that "people who sleep between 6.5 hours and 7.5 hours a night, live the longest, are happier and most productive."

4. Meditate (for as little as eight weeks)

Meditation has also been linked to increasing the reserve of willpower we have available, as well as improving attention, focus, stress management, and self-awareness. McGonigal suggests this can even give fast results:

And it doesn’t take a lifetime of practice—brain changes have been observed after eight weeks of brief daily meditation training.

5. Better exercise and nutrition: The most ignored route to higher willpower

Another great way to train the brain, that is often easily ignored or undervalued, yet can make you a lot more resilient to stress, and thus boost willpower, is regular physical exercise. Both relaxing, mindful exercise like yoga and intense physical training can provide these benefits, though McGonigal points out that we’re not sure why this works yet.

As I mentioned earlier, what you feed your body affects how much energy the prefrontal cortex has to work with. This is why nutrition is so important:

Something as simple as eating a more plant-based, less-processed diet makes energy more available to brain and can improve every aspect of willpower.

Not only will exercise and good nutrition improve your willpower, but they’ll make you feel better as well. Exercise in particular is known for making us happy by releasing endorphins:

These endorphins tend to minimize the discomfort of exercise, block the feeling of pain and are even associated with a feeling of euphoria.

6. Postpone things for later to gain focus on what’s important now

Postponing something you really shouldn’t have can be effective if you’re trying to break a bad habit. In Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, Roy F. Baumeister explains that people who tell themselves "not now, but later," are generally less tormented by the temptation of something they are trying to avoid (his example is eating chocolate cake).

A treat for you, since you waited this long

One last thing. You might have heard of a famous experiment using marshmallows to test kids’ willpower. What happens is a child is left alone in a room with one marshmallow for an undefined period of time. If they can resist eating the marshmallow, they’re rewarded with a second marshmallow at the end of the experiment. If they eat the marshmallow before time is up, they only get that one.

Written by Belle Beth Cooper

For more information:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3032513/work-smart/6-scientifically-proven-ways-to-boost-your-self-control

Powerful Diet and Lifestyle Tips to Prevent and Manage Depression

As depression affects millions worldwide, countries across the globe now have special days to foster more awareness about mental health issues. While Mental Health Days are a good place to start, is anyone raising awareness of the concrete strategies that anyone can do to prevent, manage and overcome this condition?  While some individuals may require stronger treatment methods (such as medications and psychotherapy) most should begin by addressing the many simple, yet powerful changes they can make in their diets and lifestyle.

Stats Canada and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) report that about 9% of adults 18 and older reported symptoms consistent with at least one of the following disorders: major depressive episode, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and abuse of or dependence on alcohol, cannabis or other drugs.

Depression can be described as a state of being that includes a lack of motivation, a sense of hopelessness and a lack of energy. It can include chronic fatigue, sleep problems, alterations is appetite and loss of interest in life in general.

In mainstream medicine, most doctors only address and treat the symptoms of depression by prescribing antidepressants.  These types of medications all come with varying degrees of side effects which can be even more detrimental to the individual.

An integrated approach looks at all the contributing factors then works to correct and resolve areas that may be creating difficulty.

How You Think and Feel is Directly Affected by What You Eat

There is much evidence that the foods we eat directly influence the brains behavior.  Here’s some Food for Thought: How you think and feel is directly affected by what you eat.  This idea may seem strange but a poor diet, especially one with a lot of junk foods, is a common cause of depression.  That’s because neurotransmitters in our brain, which regulate how we behave, are controlled by what we eat and closely linked to mood.  The fact is that eating the right foods has been proven to boost IQ, improve mood and emotional stability, sharpen memory and keep your mind young.

Two of the most important aspects an individual should address if they’re suffering from depression are their diet and lifestyle.  Everything from blood sugar imbalances to food allergies and deficiencies in much needed vitamins and minerals should be considered and corrected as well as ensuring your diet is rich in fatty and amino acids as these have all been linked to low mood.

What is a Balanced Diet?

A good nutritional program consists of three parts:

1. A good diet, without chemicals, sugars and junk food. Eating a whole food diet ensures you receive all the right nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and EFA’s. These all support you mental, physical and emotional health.
2.  Micronutrient support, especially the B vitamins niacin, pyridoxine (B6), B12, folic acid, vitamin C, zinc & essential fatty acids.
3.  Other nutrients that support the production of neurotransmitter substances such as choline, and L-tyrosine which improves dopamine synthesis and 5-HTP to stimulate serotonin production.

Getting enough Vitamin D through appropriate sun exposure or in supplement form is also essential in fighting depression.  Vitamin D is actually a neuroregulatory steroidal hormone that has been found to significantly lower the presence of depressive symptoms. There is growing evidence showing that if you’re suffering from depression one of the best choices you can make is to spend as much time outdoors in the sun as possible.

Exercise

Exercise is a great way to prevent and treat depression. Studies show that regular exercise helps you feel better and improves mood and attitude towards life. Exercise can help cleanse toxins out of the body and could moderate depression. Also, exercise helps increase feel good endorphins in your brain.

Exercising 3-5 times a week for at least 45 minutes and including some form of aerobic exercise, weight training to improve strength and tone and stretching to ensure flexibility are all essential components to a balanced program.

Although this may be difficult to even consider when you’re feeling depressed, once you establish a routine it will build and help moderate your symptoms.

Lifestyle

How you live your life, interact with others, the work you do and the stresses in your life all have an impact on you mental health and need to be addressed and modified. Keep a positive attitude towards life. Look at challenges as opportunities to improve your well being. Create a regular exercise program and learn ways to talk about your feelings and frustrations with friends or loved ones.

Other possible causes of Depression

Many drugs can cause mild to moderate levels of depression; these include blood pressure medications, estrogens in birth control pills, steroids and antianxiety drugs. Although alcohol can make you feel good initially it is actually a depressant and if you suffer with depression you should absolutely minimize or avoid consumption.

Hormonal imbalances such as low testosterone or menopausal imbalances are also factors in causing depression.

A hidden problem that many individuals suffer from is unbalanced thyroid, in particular hypothyroidism which, often goes undiagnosed and untreated.  Thyroid problems can have a definite impact on your mood.

As mentioned above food allergies can produce and aggravate depression. For this reason it’s critical to isolate and eliminate food allergies. Avoiding or better yet, eliminating all sugars, refined foods and chemicals found in those foods helps many people with poor moods and depression.

Empower Yourself with an Integrated Approach to Mental Health

If you or someone you know is plagued with depression there are many ways to help prevent and control this condition using natural alternatives or in conjunction with medical therapy.

Keep a positive attitude, exercise, address your diet and nutritional intake, supplement with a good quality multi-vitamin and mineral formula, avoid foods that are toxic to your body and don’t forget to exercise regularly.

Regular Exercise and Massage Manipulations Offer Positive Health Effects

A group of sedentary women experienced positive health effects after participating in regular exercise and massage manipulations. The study, “The effect of regular exercise and massage on oxidant and antioxidant parameters” included 25 sedentary women, ages 32 to 50 years old.

Oxidative stress involves oxidant-antioxidant imbalance, and is known to cause cardiovascular disease, as well as cell and DNA damage. Studies have been conducted involving the effect of acute exercise on oxidative stress, but there haven’t been any studies regarding the effect of a combination of regular exercise and massage on oxidant and antioxidant activity.

Since massage is a popular treatment method used to prevent fatigue from intense muscular activity and muscle damage, researchers chose to incorporate both exercise and massage. The study’s authors stated, “this experimental study aimed to determine the effects of the combined application of regular exercises and massage on the values of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NOx), glutathione (GSH), adenosine deaminase (ADA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD).”

Participants were randomly divided into three groups: the control group, exercise group and massage and exercise group. 

The control group (CG) avoided any form of exercise or supplement that may affect oxidant- antioxidant status. Exercise group (EG) participants exercised on a treadmill for 45 minutes at 50 percent overloading rate, and were monitored and motivated by two trainers. The massage and exercise group (MEG) participants participated in the same exercises as the EG and received massage therapy, consisting of effleurage and petrissage massage manipulation, for 20 minutes after exercise. During the 12-week study, all exercise and massage sessions occurred from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Participants’ blood samples were taken before and one day after the 12-week exercise and massage protocol. Post-test analysis concluded a decrease of MDA in both the EG and MEG participants. Compared to the control group, EG and MEG participants reflected a significant increase in GSH and SOD values. Data suggests a combination of regular exercise and massage manipulations may positively affect oxidative stress.

According to the study’s authors, “The findings show that regular physical activities and massage manipulations significantly decrease MDA, increase SOD and GSH activities, and result in no change in NOx and ADA activities; [which] supports the assumption that regular physical activity has positive health effects.” The authors also pointed out that further studies should be conducted to support these findings, and should be conducted especially regarding massage’s effect on oxidant and antioxidant balance.

- See more at: http://www.massagemag.com/regular-exercise-and-massage-manipulations-offer-positive-health-effects-27193/#sthash.5l7T0TNJ.dpuf
Written by Aysun Bay Karabulut, M. Emin Kafkas, Armagan Sahin Kafkas, Yunus Önal and Tugba Rabia Kiran