Category: Hip Pain

Are Your Muscles Plastic or Elastic?

Fun fact…..muscles and other soft tissue have different ranges of stretch. There is an elastic stretch or a plastic stretch. An elastic stretch is when the tissue stretches, but then returns to its original length. This is similar to a rubber band stretching and contracting. In a plastic stretch the muscle, or other tissue, remodels and takes on new shape or length. This is important because to make a real difference for tight muscles you need to hold a stretch long enough to help that muscle find permanent lengthening.

This is also true of connective tissue, such as fascia. Fascia is a weblike tissue that surrounds each muscle fiber and the muscle as a whole. Sometimes when we feel stiff and tight it helps to bring pliability to the fascia. This is where stretching can really help. Since fascia surrounds muscle, stretching the muscles also stretches fascia. Unfortunately, many people stretch briefly before or after a workout and some rarely stretch at all. If you’re wondering why your muscles are tight even though you’re stretching, perhaps it’s time to slow down and hold your stretches longer. It is also important to stretch regularly. A weekly yoga class is great, but in between you should still stretch daily to provide the suppleness you may be seeking.

In order to reach the plastic phase of  a stretch, you should stretch for ninety seconds or more. This can happen in one long stretch or can be broken up into two or three stretches, i.e. repeating a thirty second stretch three times. To get even more benefit, try incorporating breath. First, slow your breath. Then come into a stretch and set a thirty second timer. While you’re in the stretch count your breath cycles (a breath cycle includes an inhale and exhale). Then you’ll know how many of your breath cycles are in a thirty second time block. Now you can count breaths, instead of using a timer, when you stretch. In addition to getting a good stretch, this practice is very relaxing and can lower blood pressure and heart rate.

In answer to the title question, “Are your muscles plastic or elastic?” The simple and technical answer is that they are neither. Your muscles are of course made up of muscle fibers and fascia, which have the ability to stretch into a plastic or elastic range. A more philosophical answer may be that your muscles may now be elastic, but  aspire to be plastic. Thus, remodeling into a more efficient or desirable length and shape.

For a personalized sequence for back pain, contact me at lorie@wellnesswithlorie.com Find more tips on pain relief and injury prevention through yoga and physical therapy on my website at http://www.wellnesswithlorie.com or follow me on social media on FaceBook @yogalorie, Instagram Wellness_with_Lorie, or LinkedIn yogalorie

Yoga Hits the Road

Ah summer! It’s a time for picnics, barbeques, hikes, swimming pools and beaches. It’s also a time to hit the road and take that long awaited vacation. It’s fun to see new places, try new things, and visit with family or friends. However,  sometimes the body gets a little cranky after sitting on long plane rides or in the car for a road trip.

Recently my daughter and I took back to back trips to look at colleges. Other than sitting on flights (or hanging out in airports), we mostly walked on college campuses and in cities. Back at the hotel we read or watched TV. This was pretty relaxing and fun, but upon arriving home my body told me…..loudly…how it missed my daily yoga practice. My hips in particular were tight and achy. Yep….a real pain the butt! But, as they say, hindsight (get it?) is twenty twenty. So next time I travel, whether by air or car, I plan to sneak a little yoga into my journey.

The key to keeping your body happy during travel is to reverse whatever “shape” your body has taken. Think about which joints are bent and which muscles are being used the most. Then it’s just a matter of stretching those bent and overused  areas and using those underused muscles.

Let’s look at the average road trip. While driving our knees and hips are bent. The spine might round forward as gravity allows the body to slump down. If you’re the driver, your arms are forward for hours, and if the weather is bad, or visibility is difficult, your head might be forward as well. As the passenger, the shoulders might be rounded as you read or navigate on your phone or on a map (yes, some people still use those). Additionally, the passenger might doze off to sleep and end up in some asymmetrical posture with the head nestled against the window. None of this is natural to our bodies, so no wonder the body protests afterwards!

Of course it’s not feasible to do a full yoga sequence while driving, or even at rest stops, but here are some ideas on how you can work a bit of yoga into your road trip.

Try These Postures At Rest Stops:

  • Urvha Hastasana (Upward Salute) with Side Bend
  • Lunges
  • Seated Figure 4 Stretch
  • Seated Cat/Cow
  • Eagle Arms
  • Neck Stretches
  • Shoulder Rotations

Once You Get to Your Destination

  • Viparita Karani (Legs Up The Wall)
  • Supine Figure 4 Stretch
  • Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)
  • Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)

I’ll be featuring some videos with brief road trip sequences in my newsletters. Be sure to sign up  if you’d find these helpful. You can also contact me to send you a pdf with sequences that you can bring with you for your next trip. Happy travels!

If you’d like a personalized sequence or an individual session focused on your health goals, please drop me a line at lorie@wellnesswithlorie.com. You can also join me for one of my classes. See my offerings on my schedule page.

For more tips on pain relief and injury prevention through yoga and physical therapy, sign up for my newsletter here, or follow me on social media on FaceBook @yogalorie, Instagram Wellness_with_Lorie, or LinkedIn yogalorie

A Tour of the Core

As a society we are core obsessed. If a workout has the word “core” in it, it’s supposed to be good for us.  Apparently we should seek out such workouts because if “core” is involved we will become stronger, healthier and more attractive. I must admit that when I first hear the word core uttered, it was  shrouded in mystery and sounded difficult, perhaps even threatening. So what’s the big deal about core workouts? What’s all this hype about, and does it have to be difficult to be a good workout? Let’s unveil some of the mystery behind the core musculature.

For our purposes we’ll talk about two types of muscles; postural muscles and phasic muscles. Postural muscles help you maintain posture and keep you upright against the force of gravity. They support your frame and help with endurance, balance, and strength. Postural muscles are also called core muscles. They are deep within the body (at the core).

Phasic muscles allow you to move quickly and efficiently. They are the “doers.” To pick up a cup, kick a ball or stand up from a chair, phasic muscles are the first to volunteer for the task. The phasic muscles help you perform a task, but the postural muscles help you to maintain it. Sometimes the phasic muscles will try to do the job of the postural muscles. Unfortunately, since they are not built for endurance they often wear themselves out and get hurt. This is why it’s so important to strengthen the core muscles. Injuries often arise because phasic muscles are not strong enough to repeatedly perform a task that requires the support of core/postural muscles. The core muscles really “have the back” of the phasic muscles. If the phasic muscles are not quite strong enough (and this happens even with body builders) the core muscles step in to help out. So the core muscles must pitch in to help, or havoc ensues.

The core workouts that we hear about often focus on the deep abdominal muscles, which are important muscles to support our backs. However, postural muscles also include muscles in the neck, chest, hips and legs. Therefore, it’s important to try to strengthen the full range of core muscles in the body.  Several common yoga postures can help strengthen the core muscles, particularly if you hold them for 30 seconds or so. Here are a few examples.

  • Vasisthasana (Side Plank) engages the obliques, quadratus lumborum (the “hip hiker” muscle in the low back/hip area), and spinal extensors as they work against gravity to maintain the pose.
  • Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) is a good supportive pose that works many of the hip and leg muscles as they hold the spine up.
  • Utkatasana (Chair Pose) is a vigorous and powerful pose known for increasing strength in the quads and gluteus muscles. It also works the spinal extensor muscles as you reach your arms overhead.
  • Vrksasana (Tree Pose) like many balance poses, standing on one leg can work the hip, leg and deep abdominal muscles. Try to keep the hip of the standing leg from drooping as it’s important to keep the quadratus lumborum muscle strong to reduce injury to the back.

If you’d like a personalized sequence or an individual session focused on your health goals, please drop me a line at lorie@wellnesswithlorie.com. You can also join me for one of my classes. See my offerings on my schedule page.

For more tips on pain relief and injury prevention through yoga and physical therapy, sign up for my newsletter here, or follow me on social media on FaceBook @yogalorie, Instagram Wellness_with_Lorie, or LinkedIn yogalorie

 

Give Me A Hand

Recently I was diagnosed with mild osteoarthritis in my hands. Even though this is only a mild form of arthritis, my hands bother me on and off  throughout the day. I sympathize with those that have more severe forms of this disease. If you read my previous post “Wrist Watch”, you know that this is not the first time my hands have bothered me. I had carpal tunnel surgery two years ago which led me to modify my yoga practice. At that time I modified to reduce pressure on my wrists in postures such as downward dog and plank. Now, I must consider how yoga and lifestyle changes can benefit this condition and bring relief to joint stiffness and inflammation.

For me, it’s just about my hands (at least for now). For many people arthritis affects other joints, commonly the knees, hips or spine. Research has shown that yoga has benefits for many forms of arthritis. Stretches and motion can increase flexibility,  strengthening the muscles helps them to support the joints, and balance postures help reduce the risk of falls. Another benefit is stress relief. Often, the pain and reduced function that comes with arthritis causes emotional stress. Stress has been shown to exacerbate symptoms of many diseases. This becomes a vicious circle. The mind-body practice of yoga and breathwork helps reduce stress, which in turn can help manage pain.

As I look at postures and practices that help with arthritis, I’m very encouraged. There are many postures that help, and most postures can be modified to be accessible for those with arthritis. Sometimes just a slight variation or correction in alignment is all that is needed to make a pose more comfortable. In fact, yoga can help with so many  of the symptoms of arthritis that I cannot cover them all in one article. Arthritis of the fingers, hands and wrists is one of the most common areas that arthritis appears. So today I focus on yoga and movement to help with arthritis of the hands and wrists. See below for some ideas for movements and yoga asana to help improve some of these symptoms.

Standing Prayer Sequence

  • Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) and bring hands to prayer position with palms together at heart. Bring shoulder blades down the back. Press hands together while elbows come out to the sides
  • Next, separate the palms, but keep the fingertips pressed together as the fingers curve
  • Bring the palms back together in prayer position and while pressing palms together raise hands overhead
  • Open arms to cactus position, then bring arms down to the sides.
  • Repeat 5-10 Times.

Wall Stretch

  • Stand about 18 inches away from a wall, with the wall on your right side
  • Bring your right hand to the wall at shoulder height, your index finger should point straight up and the whole palm should be against the wall.
  • Take a few slow breaths here
  • Now bring shoulder blades down the back
  • Keeping hand against wall with gentle pressure, slowly walk feet so that the body faces away from the wall
  • Once you feel a good stretch in the shoulder and upper chest, stop and pause
  • Hold and breath for 5-6 breaths
  • Take the hand off the wall, but keep it in the same position for a count of 5-10
  • Rep[eat with other arm

Finger Spread

  • Seated in a chair, place your palm face down on a table or desk
  • Start with the fingers together
  • Keeping the palm on the table spread the fingers wide
  • Hold for a count of 5, then bring the fingers back together
  • Repeat 5-10 times

Finger Curls

  • Start with your palm open and fingers together
  • Slowly curl the top part of the fingers
  • Continue to curl the fingers down until you make a fist
  • Slowly open the fingers and extend the fingers until you feel a stretch
  • Repeat 5-10 times

Stay tuned for more on this topic in the future! If you’d like a personalized sequence or an individual session focused on your health goals, please drop me a line at lorie@wellnesswithlorie.com. You can also join me for one of my classes. See my offerings on my schedule page.

For more tips on pain relief and injury prevention through yoga and physical therapy, sign up for my newsletter here, or follow me on social media on FaceBook @yogalorie, Instagram Wellness_with_Lorie, or LinkedIn yogalorie

Core Need Not Be A Chore

I still remember the first time I heard the word “core” in a yoga class. It was long before I was a PTA or a yoga teacher. I was on a yoga retreat with a co-worker. She was an avid runner in fantastic shape. I had just started practicing yoga consistently. The yoga instructor asked what we wanted to work on. I was thinking of serenity and a mind-body connection….and of course some lovely stretches. Then my friend answered with the word “CORE” in a very serious tone. I thought to myself, “I don’t know what that core thing is, but it sounds scary and difficult.” Just as I was thinking that I was in over my head, the instructor mentioned there was another class that would suit her goals better. I breathed a sigh of relief and declined to go with her when she invited me.

Fast forward a few years and I’m a huge fan of the “C” word. Core muscles lie deep within the body and are also referred to as postural or tonic muscles. They are built for support and endurance. Stretching and strengthening core muscles help them to support the spine and other parts of the body. That’s right….I said “other parts.” Core muscles are not limited to abdominal muscles, they are also present in the hips, legs, chest and shoulders.

Even though core exercises brings about images of a million sit ups and planks, it’s important to note that to keep our core muscles in top form we should strive for flexibility and strength. Core muscles work against gravity to keep us upright during walking or sitting, and help with other functional daily activities. This means that they often get tight and shortened which can cause them to inhibit other movements. For example when one tries, but is unable, to do an abdominal crunch the cause may be weakness in abdominals OR tightness in the extensor muscles of the spine. If the spine is unable to flex because of tightness in the back it inhibits the abdominal crunch. Therefore, for healthy core muscles we should incorporate both stretching and strengthening into our repertoire. Yoga is an ideal way to do this.

Here are some yoga postures that can help some of your postural muscles (and all the others) become healthier and happier.

  • Uttanasana (Standing Forward Fold)
  • Balasana (Child’s Pose)
  • Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head to Knee Pose)
  • Vasisthasana (Side Plank)
  • Uttita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose)
  • Virabhadrasana 1 (Warrior 1)
  • Anantasana (Side Reclining Leg Lift)
  • Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose)

If you’d like a personalized sequence or an individual session focused on your health goals, please drop me a line at lorie@wellnesswithlorie.com. You can also join me for one of my classes. See my offerings on my schedule page.

For more tips on pain relief and injury prevention through yoga and physical therapy, sign up for my newsletter here, or follow me on social media on FaceBook @yogalorie, Instagram Wellness_with_Lorie, or LinkedIn yogalorie

Winding Down

For the first time in over a year, I’m not teaching my “Unwind the Spine” class on a Friday night. I have mixed emotions about this. First, I welcome the opportunity to spend more time with my family. I’m looking forward to pouring my energy into creating a delicious Friday night Shabbat meal for family and close friends. However, I’ll miss spending time with my family of yogis as we welcome the weekend, and let go of tension from the week.

“Unwind the Spine” was a lovely class that started just before the pandemic forced us all to rethink where and how we do yoga. When I first started this class I was excited to use foam rollers and other props that were available at Refresh Studios. Since foam rollers, blocks, bolsters and the like are not always available to students in their homes, I had to shift my teaching style to find household items to use as props. The homemade towel roll bolster was born! I found that simply folding a bath towel in four and rolling it from the short end can work wonders to unravel tight areas of the spine. One day I’ll teach “Unwind the Spine” again. Until then, roll up your towel and try these tips to loosen up some of your tightest areas:

  • To relieve upper back tension:
    • Place the towel roll horizontally on your yoga mat and lie down with the roll across your shoulder blades
    • Bring your arms out to a Cactus/Goal Post position
    • Take 10 (ish) slow breaths in and out through the nose. Try to release and relax with each exhale
    • Next, on the inhale bring your arms (with elbows bent) toward each other
    • As you exhale lower the arms (still with elbows bent) to or toward the floor
    • Repeat this sequence 5-10 times
  • To release lower back/hip tension:
    • Place the towel horizontally on your yoga mat and lie down with the roll under the small of your back
    • Make sure your tushie is supported and touching the floor
    • Bring the legs a little wider than hip distance apart and let the toes point inward toward each other
    • Take 10 (ish) slow breaths in and out through the nose. Try to release and relax with each exhale
    • Now bend the knees and place feet flat on floor, lift the hips and move the roll downward so it is under the hip bones
    • As you exhale lower both knees toward the right until the left hip raises slightly off the towel roll
    • Inhale knees to center, then exhale both knees to the left
    • Repeat this sequence 5-10 times
  • Alter the position above by lifting hips and moving the towel roll to the right. Now only the right hip will be on the towel, while the left hip comes to the floor.
    • Lift the right foot off the floor with the knee bent
    • Keeping the knee bent, make slow circles with the right leg
    • You can leave the left knee bent with foot on floor, or extend it and let the leg rest on the floor (extending the leg will intensify the massage)
    • After you’ve made 5-10 circles on the right, repeat on left side.

One day, I hope to bring “Unwind the Spine” back. Until then, try the above towel tricks or join me for one of my weekly offerings. I teach Hatha Yoga (Sundays 5-6 pm MT), Yoga 1 (Mondays, 5:30 pm MT) and Healing through Yoga (Wednesdays at 5:30 MT).

If you’d like a personalized sequence or an individual session focused on your health goals, please drop me a line at lorie@wellnesswithlorie.com. You can also sign up for a class or private session by clicking here. For more tips on pain relief and injury prevention through yoga and physical therapy, sign up for my newsletter here, or follow me on social media on FaceBook @yogalorie, Instagram Wellness_with_Lorie, or LinkedIn yogalorie

How to Have Happy Hips

Hip tightness or pain is a frequent complaint of many. Sometimes this arises from lifestyle patterns, and other times from a previous injury that needs a little TLC. There are indeed many causes of hip pain. If you suffer from any pain that causes you to abstain from activities you previously engaged in, a trip to the doctor is warranted. For many people yoga and physical therapy can help.

The hip joint is an amazing structure. It is made up of the femur (thigh) bone, and the pelvis. The top of the femur has a knobby protrusion on it that fits snugly into a concave area in the pelvis. Muscles, ligaments and tendons all give stability to this joint. The design of the hip joint allows for lots of motion. Additionally, it is able to handle the load of the upper body, even as we carry heavy objects, walk up stairs, or engage in sports. It’s designed to do all this with efficiency and grace as we propel forward through our days on our two legs.

However, as with any fine machine, we need to take good care of the hip joints for them to be at their best. Today’s lifestyle of relative immobility can cause tension and tightness in the hips. Since we sit with our hips bent for hours on end, the hip flexors at the front of the thigh get tight. These muscles shorten which can cause pain in the low back, hips and knees. If you have tension in any of these areas, or feel pain while walking, then you may be able to find relief from movement, stretching, and strengthening. Ideally, you should try to stretch and strengthen all the muscles that attach at the hip….those on the front, back and sides of the thigh.

Yoga can really help create more openness in tight muscles. If you want to try a yoga class to help all your body parts feel better, try one of my weekly offerings. I teach Healing through Yoga (Wednesdays at 5:30 MT) and Unwind the Spine (Fridays at 4:30 MT). To try some postures on your own, some good choices to keep your hips happy and healthy are:

  • Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge)
  • Paraghasana (Gate Pose)
  • Virabhadrasana 1 (Warrior 1)
  • Trikonasana (Triangle Pose)
  • Figure 4 Stretch
  • Vasisthasana (Side Plank)
  • Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose) (Also one-legged bridge for strengthening)
  • Gomukhasana (Cow-face pose)
  • Eka Pada Kapotasana (Pigeon Pose)
  • Bird Dog Pose

For a yoga class to help all your body parts feel better, try one of my weekly offerings. I teach Hatha Yoga (Sundays 5-6 pm MT), Yoga 1 (Mondays, 5:30 pm MT) and Healing through Yoga (Wednesdays at 5:30 MT).

If you’d like a personalized sequence or an individual session focused on your health goals, please drop me a line at lorie@wellnesswithlorie.com. You can also sign up for a class or private session by clicking here. For more tips on pain relief and injury prevention through yoga and physical therapy, sign up for my newsletter here, or follow me on social media on FaceBook @yogalorie, Instagram Wellness_with_Lorie, or LinkedIn yogalorie