Flat feet get a bad rap. They are the scapegoat of many aches and pains throughout the body, from the feet themselves to the knees, hips, back, and even the neck. But, what is rarely ever talked about is that your feet HAVE to flatten. Your feet have to flatten Read more…
This week on the Exercise Is Health podcast, Julie and Charlie are interviewing a Schaumburg power couple – Dr. Ray and Jean Kadkhodaian of the Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center in Schaumburg. Dr. Ray and Jean discuss the importance of relationships to overall health and wellbeing, as well as the most Read more…
A couple weeks back I published a post on the structural variations that can be seen between people and how these variations influence the ability of the joints to move. I discussed how certain sports have requirements that need to be met from a joint motion perspective, and that how Read more…
Every day on TV, in magazines, and online we see images of fitness thrown our way. Exercises to strengthen your legs, your back, your arms, your abs, and your butt are constantly being demonstrated. But, one area of your body that is often neglected during your workouts is your feet. Read more…
A couple weeks back I was having a conversation with a client when the topic of sports came up. This client was talking to me about some of the moves her sport was requiring and how she was finding it difficult to do the moves. While we discussed the role that Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) and personal training at Muscle Activation Schaumburg can play in helping her achieve her goals, we also had to discuss some of the realities that her anatomy may be applying to the situation, as well. The great thing about this discussion is that it is applicable to everybody who plays sports, not just her. So, if you participate in sports, take heed. This post is for you.
If you want to improve your health, function, and fitness, creating more margin for your muscular system is a must-do. Last week, I discussed three ways that you can go about doing exactly this. But, there’s another way, as well, and that is to cut out the bad habits that are breaking down your muscular system. Specifically, you need to cut out the bad exercise habits that are detrimental to the health, function, and fitness of your muscular system. Here are the three most common ones I see:
When you think of creating margin within your life, what areas come to mind? Perhaps you would like to create more of a financial margin for yourself. Or maybe you would like to create a greater margin with your time. You may also want to create more of a margin with your responsibilities, delegating some of those to others so you can create more peace of mind.
When the topic of “how to decrease injury” is discussed, oftentimes ideas such as stretching, joint mobility, and core training come up. While these are all fine and well, an idea this is often not thrown around is that of improving how well your muscles function. However, improving this aspect of your health could be the missing link that you have been looking for to help you prevent injuries.
Before we talk about how improving muscle function could reduce your risk for injury, we have to answer a few other questions. First, we need to identify what muscles actually do. Second, we need to discuss how they do that thing they do. Third, we need to talk about how doing that thing will actually help you reduce your risk for injury. And finally, we need to leave you with some practical application steps of things you can do to start taking action now.
When you think of exercise, what is the first thought that comes to mind? It may be a specific activity, such as running or lifting weights. It may be a physical feeling, like fatigue, soreness, or strength. It may be a goal, such as weight loss or completing a marathon. It may be an emotion, such as excitement, happiness, or possibly dread. But, when you think of exercise, is the first thing you think of “health”? Likely not, and unfortunately this disconnect between exercise being an activity you do for the sake of the activity instead of something you do for your health is contributing to you skipping a vital form of exercise.
At Muscle Activation Schaumburg, we see a wide variety of clients for Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®). We see clients who are younger and older, clients who are more physically fit and those who are not, and clients who are highly athletic as well as those whose athleticism may be lacking. But, despite this variety, there is a consistency that we see regarding the differences between our clients who are professional athletes and those who are not.
