We thought we would share some good news for all your chocolate lovers out there – studies on dark chocolate show that it may boost your athletic performance.
Dark Chocolate is rich in epicatechin, which is converted to nitric oxide in the body. This dilates blood vessels and reduces oxygen consumption — allowing athletes to go further for longer!
Of course, eating dark chocolate without added sugar will have the most benefits. You can read more about the studies here!
Considering the amount of time many of us spend either at our desks on our computers, using our phones, or carrying heavy bags and purses, it’s not surprising that many of our clients come to us with neck and shoulder tension. Shoulder and neck tension also play a part in some types of headaches.
The shoulder is a large and complex joint, made up of three bones: the clavicle or collarbone, the scapula or shoulder blade, and the humerus or upper arm bone. The stability of the area comes from the many muscles which makes up the shoulder which you can see in the image below:
If we overuse, or misuse, these muscles in one or more areas, we are left with a soreness and sometimes also a limited range of motion.
Here are some easy shoulder stretches which you may do anywhere to help keep your shoulder healthy. To get the most benefits, you should do each stretch for about thirty seconds, and repeat the series three times.
Extend your arms straight in front of your body. Drop your left arm under your right.
Bend your elbows, and then raise your forearms perpendicular to the floor. Wrap your arms and hands, and press your palms together (or as close as you can get them). Lift your elbows and reach your fingertips toward the ceiling. Keep your shoulder blades pressing down your back toward your waist.
If your palms don’t touch, press the backs of your hands together, instead, or hold onto a strap. Repeat on the other side.
Reach your left fingers between the shoulder blades, and reach your right hand around the back to grasp the left fingers. Gently pull the arms towards each other. Hold for five breathes and repeat on the other side.
If your arms don’t reach (which many of us with tight shoulders will experience), use a strap! Hang the strap over your left shoulder, bring your right hand toward the middle of your back. Reach your left hand between your shoulder blades and grab onto the strap with both hands. Repeat on the other side.
Stand in front of doorframe bend elbow at 90-degree angle and place palm against doorframe. Move forward to stretch rotator cuff.
While doing this pose, focus on isolating your shoulder blades and not just moving your shoulders up and down.
Start in a comfortable standing position with arms at your side. Move your shoulder blades up, then out (pushing away from your body), then down
Using shoulder position from the scapular setting, lower you chin down toward your chest and feel the stretch throughout the back of your neck. Then lower your right ear to your right shoulder, holding for five breaths. Repeat on the left side.
Doing these stretches once or twice a day will go a long way in keeping your shoulders feeling healthy!
The strong muscles of the calf can be quite tight, especially after prolonged standing or walking, and for many athletes whose sport of choice involves running or jumping. To best stretch these muscles, grab a bolster or pillow and have a seat; start with both feet extended out in front of you with the pillow under your knees so that they’re slightly bent. Flex your ankle back so that your toes are toward the ceiling. Using your hand — or a belt if you can’t reach — pull back slowly on the arch or ball of your foot until a stretch is felt in the lower calf. Hold until the stretch sensation diminishes. Remove the pillow and repeat the stretch; this time the sensation of pull may travel all the way behind the knee.
For best results, stretch one calf at a time and repeat the stretch two or three times per leg. Be patient, as the calf muscles can take a while to relax. Once the initial stretch sensation lessens, you can deepen the stretch by pulling back a little more on the ball of the foot.
If you sit at a desk all day, chances are good that the muscles in the back of your neck and between your shoulder blades are a little achy by the end of your work day. A lot of the time our inclination is to stretch sore, tired muscles, but that can do more harm than good in this case. Those achy muscles in your back are the 90-pound weaklings of the shoulder girdle, griping about having to hold up your head against the force of gravity. Stretching them will only make them weaker — they’re already barely hanging on! As your shoulders shrug up and in, and your head juts forward and down toward your laptop screen, the strong, silent muscles of the chest and anterior neck shorten and pull on the opposing, weaker back muscles.
The fix: stretch the strong and strengthen the weak! Try this routine a couple of times a week, doing each exercise in order and completing the full series 3 times. Rest for 30 seconds to 1 minute between exercises. Choose weights that are heavy enough that you can JUST finish each set of exercises but not so heavy that your form suffers. Increase your weights when 12 reps become too easy.
30 Superman extensions
30 Airplane extensions
30 second plank (on hands or forearms)
12 skull crusher triceps extensions
12 single-arm bent-over rows
12 dumbbell reverse flys
12 dumbbell lateral raises
12 single-arm external shoulder rotations
Tight calf muscles are prone to cramping: the dreaded “charlie horse” that wakes you up in the middle of the night or attacks as you move from sitting to standing. The large muscles in the back of the lower leg are the soleus and gastrocnemius, both of which attach into the Achilles tendon and run vertically along the back of the lower leg. The soleus attaches to the lower leg bones, and the ‘gastrocs’ attach just above the knee on either side of the femur. Because only one of these two muscles (collectively referred to as the Triceps Surae) passes the knee, to effectively stretch them both, you must stretch twice: with the knee bent to stretch the soleus, and with it flexed to stretch the gastrocs.
Stand facing a wall, close enough that you can rest the ball of your foot against it while your heel stays on the ground. Your opposite leg should be a step behind you for balance. Place your hands against the wall and lean forward toward the wall, keeping your knee straight, until you feel a gentle stretch in the back of your leg. Hold this position for about 30 seconds or until the stretch sensation lessens. Slowly bend the knee by lowering your body a bit toward the ground, until a stretch is felt. This time, the stretch sensation will be closer to the Achilles. Hold until the sensation lessens, and then repeat on the opposite leg.
This stretch targets the biceps muscles of the upper arm that bend the elbow and flex the arm forward at the shoulder joint. These strong muscles run alongside nerves that stem from the neck and run into the arm, and when tight or swollen, they can restrict the nerves and cause pain, weakness, or pins and needles. The biceps also play a strong role in posture; short biceps roll the shoulders forward and down, increasing strain on the triceps and upper back muscles.
Stand with one arm against a wall, extending it back behind you at shoulder height, fingers spread wide. Maintaining contact with the your hand and the wall, turn your body away until a gentle stretch is felt along the upper arm or inside surface of the elbow. Slowly side-bend your neck away from the side you’re stretching to increase the stretch further. Hold for 30 seconds, then slowly relax your neck back to neutral and release your arm. Repeat on the opposite side.
This is an advanced mobility technique that uses an exercise band to increase the intensity of the triceps stretch, and helps release restrictions in the shoulder capsule – a collection of fibrous ligaments, tendons and connective tissues that form the shoulder joint. This stretch is excellent to increase or regain range of motion following a shoulder injury, and can help combat the internal (forward) rotation of the shoulders that often accompanies a rounded upper back (hyperkyphotic) posture.
To stretch the right side: attach one end of a heavyweight exercise band to the door knob of a closed door. Take the other end in your right hand, wrapping the band around your hand/wrist as need to avoid slipping and increase the resistance. Turn your body 180′ COUNTER-clockwise, fully bending your elbow so that it points toward the ceiling. Your wrist should be behind your right ear and your back facing the door, as if you were dragging it behind you. To increase the stretch, take a lunge step forward, allowing the band to pull your arm back a little bit. Keep your elbow pointed straight to the ceiling and tucked as close to your head as possible. To increase the stretch in the shoulder capsule, gently turn your palm up toward the ceiling. Hold for 1 minute before releasing.
To stretch the left side: Wrap the free end of the band around your left hand/wrist, turn your body 180′ CLOCKWISE and repeat as above.
Chronic tension in the muscles at the front and sides of the hips can contribute to low back pain and poor posture. This stretch is particularly helpful for hip flexor contracture and ITB syndrome when combined with glute strengthening exercises. Changing toe positions of the back foot helps target different muscle fibers for a more complete stretch!
Stand in front of a chair, take a small step back with the leg you want to stretch, then place the opposite foot onto the chair so that you are standing in a lunge position with the forward leg elevated. The toes of both feet should be facing forward. Press your hips forward and tuck your tailbone under, increasing the stretch felt in the front of the hip of the back leg. Hold for thirty seconds, then return to standing.
Repeat the stretch again, this time with the toes of the back foot pointed out away from your midline. The stretch should be felt along the bikini line and into the inner thigh. After 30 seconds, return to standing again and reposition the toes of the back foot pointing in toward your midline . Being careful not to lock the knee, once again place the opposite foot on the chair in front of you and press your hips forward, tucking the tailbone. This time the stretch will be felt along the front and outside of the hip. Release after 30 seconds and repeat all three stages on the opposite hip.
If you spend long hours at a computer, this stretch is for you! The muscles in the forearm cross the wrist via the carpal tunnel; when tight, they can cause pain in the wrist and hand. Stretch them by holding your arm out in front of you, palm facing up. Keeping your elbow straight, bend your wrist back so that your fingers point toward the floor. Use your other hand to increase the stretch by pulling back on your palm. Hold the stretch for at 30 seconds or until a release is felt, then repeat on the other side.
This stretch targets the muscle that shrugs your shoulders, the Levator Scapulae. It attaches to the top of your shoulder-blade, and to the sides of the uppermost bones of the neck. To stretch, first side-bend your head away from the side you want to stretch, and hold for a couple of breaths. Secure the arm on the stretching side behind your back to keep your shoulder down. Next, gently rotate and nod your head so that your nose is pointing into your armpit. Increase the stretch if desired by gently pulling your head farther into the stretch with your opposite hand. Hold for 30 seconds or until a release is felt.
