Myofascial Release - What the Heck is it and Why YOU should be doing Foam Rolling!

I often have people at the gym ask me about "those long blue things" and ask me what they are for? 
They are referring to Foam Rollers (see pic), which we have at the gym.  I always make time to do a "pop-up" session for them and offer to show them a few basic moves to get them started and on their way to feeling great! 
Foam rolling has become the way to perform self-myofascial release—a fancy term for Self Massage and I guarantee you - it's the "cheapest" you will ever get!  I have been Foam Both Cliffie and I have been foam rolling for many years and it is "preventative medicine" as far as I am concerned - especially because I run so getting at my IT band (the fascia down the outside of your legs - hip to knee) is very helpful. 
I call it "Self-Love" because you can NEVER have too much of that! 

So WHAT is MyoFascia anyway ??

Fascia is a layer of connective tissue that wraps and connects nerves, bones, and muscles throughout the body. 

Think of foam rolling as actively ironing out your muscles, or more accurately, the fascia. 

You hear many people and you may have said this yourself.."I have a knot in my muscle"  Well, actually NO you don't - what you are experiencing is the Fascia strained and over contracting causing what we refer to as a "knot".  

Doing some Foam Rolling means you’re releasing fascia, which increases flexibility. It can help loosen up tight, hyperactive muscles; release trigger points (where you feel the pain and even scar tissue from prior injuries); improve blood flow and circulation; and stimulate the healing and recovery process; which means less DOMs (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) after your workouts. 

Some OTHER BENEFITS of Foam Rolling: 

• It corrects muscular imbalances, increases mobility and flexibility, and improves range of motion — all of which prevent common injuries. This also directly unlocks increased power and explosiveness, which produces better gains.
• It helps reduce pain. Specific rolling exercises can alleviate runner’s knee, plantar fasciitis, lower back pain, fybromyalgia, tennis elbow, shin splints, sciatica and other painful conditions.
• It can help to fix posture.
• It’s relaxing and can reduce stress — the mild pain and laser-like focus can help distract yourself from whatever’s on your mind!! Which is why I always do it at the END of my workout!
• *BONUS*: It’s a solid core workout — most foam rolling moves build core stability!

Experiment with different sizes as well - I would recommend the longer ones to start as they are easier to stay on and maintain balance.  Foam Rollers have also become more mainstream over the past 3 years and are easier to find. You don't HAVE to go to a Fitness store as they are sold at Winners, Marshall's, Canadian Tire etc. 

You will notice that the "nodules" are different sizes and some (see my Tractor Tire one) below are deeper grids which are for deep tissue massage. These ones are not for the faint of heart or beginner, so start with smaller nodes and work your way up if need be! 

YOU CAN EVEN TAKE THEM WHEN YOU TRAVEL !! 

This link below has some very basic beginner moves you can do on a Foam Roller: 

http://gethealthyu.com/foam-roller-moves-loosen-tight-muscles/#_a5y_p=3264477

So get ROLLING today!!   

'Peace, Love and Fitness' 

"Get a Grip" with Coach CA!

Metabolism Boosting Smoothie!

Give your Metabolism a Boost with this great Smoothie ! 

Ingredients

6 ounces vanilla nonfat Greek yogurt
10 almonds
1/4 cup broccoli florets, stems cut off
1 cup frozen strawberries
1/4 cup cannellini beans
3/4 cup iced green tea
1 teaspoon flaxmeal
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Optional : 

1/4 cup Liquid Egg Whites

1 Scoop Protein Powder

Directions

Place all ingredients together in a blender and mix well ! 

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Why Taking Care of your Teeth and Feet will help YOU live longer !!!!

In a recent poll of the elderly and their care givers, they were asked...if they could go back and change something or had any regrets regarding their health, what would it be?   The surprising answer....Take better care of their FEET and TEETH !!!  (Bet you didn't see that one coming !)....but it's True! 

Many researchers believed many years ago that Gum Disease could lead to Heart Disease. While the two may not sound related, fast forward to the future and scientists now believe that the heart CAN be weakened by agents in the blood that respond to inflammation and guess what....Chronic Gum Disease produces constant inflammation.  So that "flossing" twice a day that your dentist gives you....yeah....it's worth it! 

Not only will it go a long way toward protecting your teeth and gums (and lowering your body's overall inflammation), it's also just plain old good hygiene ! 

If allowed to deteriorate, teeth and feet can cause misery and therefore poor health.  And if you smoke....quit NOW.  That alone causes major issues for oral hygiene among other health issues!

Poor Oral hygiene can produce tooth decay or worse the total loss of one's teeth..

Now let's talk about those "tender tootsies" !!  Most people only think about their feet when they want to get a pedicure or have to clip their toenails....but there is SO much MORE to think about !!! 

Not taking care of your feet can result in painful bunions, corns, warts and other podiatric torments that can make walking difficult, if not impossible.  What's more, the feet contain thousands of receptors  that help you to gain information about your whereabouts - literally !! 

Many of these receptors contribute to your sense of balance and and ability to walk. A whopping one-quarter of the bones in the body are located in the feet (or phalanges) !!! 

Your feet can also have a "domino effect" on the rest of the body.  Left untreated, many foot aliments can (like pronation issues - over and under) lead to both KNEE and HIP and Back issues later in life. 

I instruct ALL my clients to head to a sports store or Running Room www.runningroom.com and have their feet analyzed to make sure they do not have any issues and are fitted for the proper Running Shoes !!!  And don't even get me STARTED on high heels and the damage they cause!!!

Many people never consider the shoes they are wearing everyday can be the culprits to pain they feel later !  I rarely wear high heels nowadays due to that very reason.  And MY feet are happier because of it.  (and so is my lower back!). 

So don't feel guilty about getting that foot massage and examine your feet for strange moles and other skin discolorations.  Your feet can also be a site for skin cancer as well ! 

And don't forget, that together our feet and teeth are major connectors to the world around us! We use our teeth to obtain nourishment and our feet to navigate our paths through life. 

So DON'T forget them !!!  

"Peace, Love and Fitness" 

To Yogurt or Not to Yogurt....

Yogurts With More Sugar Than A Twinkie !

We all like to think of yogurt as a healthy breakfast, but as it turns out, many of the most popular yogurt brands have more sugar than a junk food you'd never consider eating.
Navigating the Yogurt aisle these days can be a daunting experience and confusing! 

The  US and Canadian Heart Association recommends that men eat no more than 36 grams of sugar per day, and women no more than 20.
One Twinkie makes a big dent in that recommended daily max, packing 19 grams of the sweet stuff. 
Many of the top-selling yogurts have even more.
Part of this high sugar count is due to sugar that occurs naturally in yogurt, but the amount of natural sugar varies dramatically, depending on the kind.  Lowfat yogurt, for example, is notorious for being high in sugar.   The first 17 grams of sugar per serving, in lowfat varieties, is naturally occurring lactose.   In original yogurt, it's common to see anywhere between 12 and 15 grams of natural sugar   The best option and what I recommend to anyone who asks is "going Greek."    Greek yogurt has as little as 6 grams in plain flavors.
What really ups the sugar, though, is what we put into that plain yogurt. Fruit, especially the syrupy kind mixed into store-bought yogurts, is a common culprit.  Plus, once you start throwing in candied nuts or sweetened granola, you've can quickly find yourself well beyond the sugar content of an entire Twinkie. 
If you're going to add toppings, always stick to a plain flavor, you can even add a little cinnamon to sweeten it up! 
But many would-be yogurt eaters will tell you they just don't care for the bitter taste of a plain scoop.  I get it, it CAN be boring but what I do is add a couple pieces of sliced strawberries and some cinnamon and it tastes more like a treat ! 
To make it more palatable, nearly all big brands, like Yoplait and Dannon, offer a large selection of fruit, and sometimes even dessert-flavored options. It's often these sweet additions that give the yogurts like the five below more sugar than a Twinkie.
SO READ YOUR LABELS!  And always check the "per serving" at the top for the container you are holding in your hand!  

Below some of these will look familiar to you as you stroll down the Yogurt aisle......

• Yoplait Original Strawberry
  Strawberry-flavored original Yoplait yogurt, despite being 99 percent fat free, packs 26 grams of sugar per 6-ounce container.

• Dannon Fruit On The Bottom Blueberry
  
  This blueberry offering from Dannon is proof that you should always check nutrition labels -- or you could end up with 24 grams of sugar per 6-ounce serving!!!!

• Activia walks a fine line with 19 grams of sugar per 4.4-ounce container of the blueberry flavor.     That's as much as a Twinkie, in a smaller-than-average serving size !! 

Educated Label Reading is very important and a must for anyone looking to make serious fitness and nutrition changes in their life!  Remember Nutrition is 60% of the puzzle when you want to reach your goals!  

Start checking out labels and you will be so surprised with what you learn!  Then share your new found knowledge with everyone you know!  Share the wealth of good health ! 

"Peace, Love and Fitness"