FREE NEWSLETTER
The Body-for-LIFE e-newsletter keeps you up to date with exciting news going on with Body-for-LIFE Success Stories, new products, cardio and weight training articles and delicious recipes that are healthy!
Speak to our experts
1-800-297-9776
|
|
 |
It’s all in Your Shoulders, and Your Back, and Your Toes
Calm your senses and reclaim your body with massage.
By Beverly Burmeier
If your calendar is overloaded with social and personal obligations, you can’t find time for regular workout routines, and the dreaded tension headache strikes, it’s time to calm your senses and reclaim your body. 
Living a healthy life requires learning to control stress. Headaches, fatigue, insomnia, diarrhea, moodiness and a host of other symptoms can take turns disrupting your life, and exercise alone may not be enough to overcome the added pressures of holiday hustle. The best advice: Get a massage.
Abigail Anderson, 29, of Nyack, N.Y., needed preventive relief from migraines that prescription medications couldn’t give. "Massage gets to the source of my tension and prevents immobilizing build-up in my neck and shoulders," Anderson says.
Massage helps the body heal itself and promotes general well-being. Since about 80 percent of disease is estimated to be stress-related, according to the American Massage Therapy Association, massage may be a necessity more than a luxury for some people.
Healthy cells—healthy body
When your shoulders ache what do you do? Rub them, of course. Massage, one of the oldest methods of health care, is something we do naturally. Blood flow to internal organs improves during massage. With increased circulation, more nutrients are supplied to cells, and oxygen capacity of the blood is improved by 10 percent to 15 percent. Therapeutic massage by a professional can increase lymph flow, which reduces toxins and impurities blocked in muscles and tissues.
The skilled hands of a professional therapist can locate sensitive spots in the body and areas of muscle tension. By manipulating soft tissues with kneading, holding or stroking techniques, a therapist can improve functions in almost all systems of the body. When the body is massaged, blood pressure is lowered, respiration slows, heart rate is reduced and metabolism increases—all indications of a relaxed, healthier body.
Rev up your fitness program
If exercise is your main means of relieving stress, massage can help you perform more effectively. Massage helps reduce muscle fatigue and aids recovery from the exertion of working out. During exercise lactic and carbonic acids build-up in muscle tissue, causing pain and fatigue until these acids are reconverted to glycogen, which is stored in the liver, or excreted. When Anderson feels muscle tension from her regular gym workouts, she says massage lessens fatigue and soreness.
Do your joints feel stiff or sluggish after exercise? The strokes and movements of massage release muscle tension and free connective tissue that binds joints, a principle recognized in 5 B. C. by Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine." Runner Stacy Klemetti, 34, of Gainesville, Fla., has found that the sprinting she does results in a sprained ankle for her almost every season. "Massage helps the ankle heal faster and has solved some hip problems that resulted from the ankle injuries," she says.
Although she is very fit—cardio workouts six times a week and weights four times a week—a neck injury incurred several years ago first brought Klemetti to massage. Now it’s a lifestyle habit. "Massage makes me more aware of my body and how it feels," she says.
Although 20 percent of adults in AMTA’s 2002 Consumer Survey say they would get a massage for reduction of muscle soreness, greater joint flexibility or injury recovery, the good news is that routine massage can often prevent the need for rehab.
By stretching both muscles and connective tissues surrounding the muscles, massage helps keep tissues elastic. "Even if a soft tissue injury, such as a muscle strain, isn’t severe enough for medical intervention, massage, along with heat and ice, can reduce discomfort while shortening recovery time," says Sheri McGaugh, rehab occupational and massage therapist, of Austin, Texas.
Overtraining for distance running resurrected problems from an old knee injury that plagued Julie Ferber, 30, of Nyack, N.Y. "Deep tissue massage helped tremendously to relieve pain and speed the healing process," she said.
Massage enables you to raise performance level while lowering stress on your body. Increased endurance allows you to train better, with longer, more effective workouts.
Here’s a bonus beauty benefit: Massage can help soften skin and resist wrinkling because it directly improves the function of oil and sweat glands, which keep the skin lubricated, clean and cooled.
The nurturing touch of massage, from a therapist or partner, can provide needed emotional support during stressful times. During her pregnancy, Ferber found massage very grounding. "Massage takes me to a relaxing, meditative, nirvanic place. I knew I was giving such benefits to my baby as well as myself."
The mind/body connection
"Healing takes place on many levels, and the mind is equally as powerful as our physical bodies in determining health and emotional well-being," McGaugh says.
Nearly every body process is degraded by stress factors, leaving you vulnerable to a variety of physical ailments such as migraines, hypertension, depression or ulcers. Even fertility can be affected by stress. Because stress causes blood vessels to constrict, the heart must work harder, breathing is less efficient and digestion slows. When stress no longer hampers your life, you won’t need chemicals like caffeine, alcohol, tobacco or drugs to restore balance and general well-being.
Whether from a professional or partner, massage is a means of silent communication and shared energy. Soothing touch provides warmth, reassurance, and peace of mind. As physical health improves, so does emotional health. Irritability subsides, and concentration improves.
So get a massage and kiss stress symptoms goodbye.
What happens at a massage?
- In an initial interview, the therapist will ask about your health, tension and comfort levels.
- You will be asked to disrobe only to your comfort level and draped with a towel or sheet, which allows for fluid, integrated movements by the thrapist. You may wear a bathing suit or underwear, but clothing should be washable since most therapists use lotion or oil for easier flow.
- Stretching and deep breathing before the session increase stress release and healing.
- Drink plenty of fluids before and after the massage to quickly eliminate toxins released from muscles.
- Therapists use candles, soft lighting and soothing music to create an atmosphere conducive to relaxation. If you dislike any of these sounds or scents, tell the therapist.
- A lightweight blanket may be provided if you become cool as muscle tensions release.
- Therapists use long sweeping strokes from ankle to hip, from hand to shoulder, and from thigh to top of shoulder. Pressure strokes increase blood flow in the veins. Therapists knead, squeeze and probe for tightened muscles in need of release.
- A thorough full body massage takes at least one hour. If time or your needs are limited, the therapist can focus on a specific area. Chair massages provide quick stress relief and are becoming a popular business perk.
|
|
Print
Article