Wiros/flickr

Anne Stein, M.S.

It can take hours to build up stress, but a simple, five-minute massage that focuses on the upper back, head and neck can quickly melt away tension – and at least for a few minutes, give you a fresh outlook on life.

We talked to our favorite massage therapists for tips on delivering a massage guaranteed to relieve stress. While some of these techniques may take a bit of practice, others are simple and work immediately. Too fancy for your liking? Check out our Moji 360 Ultimate Bundle to get your five minute massage made easy!

First, a few guidelines: These tips are for a chair massage. Second, don’t massage bone! It doesn’t feel good. Third, be sure to occasionally ask if the pressure’s ok — too much can hurt but too little’s ineffective.

Finally, giving a massage can be just as relaxing as receiving, so try to enjoy what you’re doing. Close your eyes and feel the movement of muscle beneath your hands and fingertips.

• Step one: If possible, have the person sit backwards on a chair, with a pillow placed between the chairback and the chest and head leaned gently over the pillow. Otherwise, have the person sit upright yet relaxed in a chair, with feet flat on the floor and palms gently placed on thighs.

• Step two: Massage works best if the receiver’s relaxed. Place both of your hands on the upper back and press down, gently, and repeat. Or, place both forearms, with hands facing down, on either side of the neck and press down gently. Hold a few seconds, move outwards until you feel shoulder bone, and repeat.

• Step three: Shoulder squeeze. Gently place one palm on the outside of shoulder and second hand above it along the upper trapezius (top shoulder muscle). This is an area that gets especially tense and tight if you spend time in front of a computer. Squeeze muscle gently and hold for a few seconds. Move up the trapezius an inch at a time toward the neck and repeat. When you reach the base of the neck, go back and repeat, then move to other side.

• Step four: Gentle circles. This is easy to do. On one side of the neck, make small circles with your fingers, starting at the top of the neck and moving down the shoulders. Repeat before going to the other side.

• Step five: Extensor circles. The extensors are the neck muscles that hold up your head — and hold in a lot of tension. To release these, place thumb on one side of neck and four fingers on other, gently kneading circles for 5-10 seconds in one spot. Move up slowly to cover entire neck.

• Step six: Head/scalp massage. Place fingertips gently on temples and make small circles, working your way up the scalp. Gently rub the scalp with fingertips, as if massaging in shampoo.

Other techniques for relaxation: Use gentle karate chops (sides of your hands) or gentle fists to tap the back and shoulders. Finish the massage with a few light strokes down the neck and back with fingertips of both hands.

If you don’t have a partner handy, self-massage with Moji 360 Palm is another option. Gently rubbing and massaging your hands and feet (paying careful attention to pulling and rubbing each individual toe and finger, as well as massaging the palms and soles) relaxes the entire body and mind – plus they’re easy to reach.

lepiaf/flickr.com

10-Minutes to Back Pain Relief for Mom

Kids and work take their toll on mom’s back.  Get relief in less than 10 minutes.

Sean Lee, NASM ACE – CPT, NSCA – CSCS
Fitness Expert, Barrington, IL

Question:

I’ve had occasional low back pain on and off for a few years since having children and am concerned that with age and a sedentary desk job it’s going to get worse. As a busy full time working professional and mother of three, I don’t have much time for exercise. With only 5-10 minutes a day in my schedule can you recommend a few exercises that may help?

Answer:

YES! If what you’re describing is an occasional stiff or tight back then I can absolutely offer a helpful and time sensible solution. However, if you are experiencing pain and it has become more frequent, intense, or radiates to your hip or down your leg I’d first see a licensed medical specialist who can further assess and make recommendations to meet your specific needs.

Assuming the former follow this quick 3-step approach that will have you feeling better in no time:

1. Give a (self) massage and get flexible.

• Use a foam roller, tennis ball, or massage stick on your mid and lower back, shoulders, hips, & legs.
• Self massage will reduce your discomfort by: decreasing tension within the muscles, improve circulation making the muscles healthier, and decrease the day-to-day stresses the muscles take while at work, home, and running with the kids.

2.  Strengthen your core muscles from the inside out.

• The deep core muscles often become the weakest after childbirth (sitting also promotes this weakness). To substitute for the deficit in strength the low back muscles are called upon to do more work than they should often leading to overcompensation and a back that is tight or in pain.
• The following three exercises will get you started strengthening from the inside out:
  • Pelvic tilts – Lye on your back, knees bent, hands on hips, gently tilt pelvis forward (low back arches off floor), then back (flatten back to the floor). Move slowly and repeat 10X.
  • Belly button draw – In a seated or lying position pull your naval to your spine and hold for up to 10 seconds and repeat 10X. This will activate the deep core muscles and decrease stress to your back.
  • Plank – Lying on your abdomen place your forearms and toes on the floor, lift your body off the floor so only the forearms and toes are touching. Hold for up to 20 seconds.

3.  Get moving in small ways throughout the day.

• Place a post it or set a reminder to get up every 30 minutes and go for a walk, stretch or do some light calisthenics
• Skip the elevator and take the stairs
• When out and about choose parking away from the door
• Wear a pedometer and try for 10,000 steps a day

Jeff Kubina/flickr

Anne Stein, M.S.
Sports & Fitness Journalist/Author

Whether you’re putting baby in her car seat, chasing your toddler around a playground or picking your child up off the floor, mothering involves nearly constant lifting, pushing, pulling and bending, all of which puts a strain on your neck, shoulders, and especially your back.

The key to maintaining a healthy back, says Dr. Sheila A. Dugan, a physical medicine and rehab specialist at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center, is to maintain a neutral spine.

When you bend over to pick things up, for example, whether it’s toys, your toddler, or a car seat, try not to round or curve your back. Straighten the spine and bend down from the knees; pick things up by straightening your knees. As much as you can, be aware of your posture throughout the day to avoid back strain.

The American Physical Therapy Association offers the following guidelines to protect your back during these common ‘mommy’ activities:

Lifting your child from the floor
Stand close to your child, keep back straight, put one foot in front of the other and lower yourself (kneel) onto one knee. Hold your child with both arms close to your body (just as you would with a heavy object), tighten stomach muscles and push up with both legs to a standing position.

Putting your child in and taking her out of a crib
Lower rails as far as possible. With feet shoulder-width apart, bend at the hips and pick up baby with both arms, holding her close to your chest. Don’t curve/curl your back over the rails.

Pushing a stroller
Again, stay as close to the heavy object (the stroller) as possible, keeping your back straight and shoulders back. Maintain good posture, rather than leaning and pushing the stroller with your arms and hunching the shoulders.

Carrying and holding your child
When carrying your child, hold her close to the center of your body with both arms. Avoid the one-arm, one-hip hold; it puts too much stress on one side of your body. Be aware of maintaining good posture, with straight back and upright shoulders. Consider an infant carrier that centers the baby’s weight (see below).

Picking up toys
Keep your head and back straight, bend at the waist and extend one leg straight behind as you pick up toys.

Other tips

• When nursing your baby or reading to your toddler, pick a firm chair with back support. If you nurse or read to your child in bed, don’t bend your neck or curl your back. Use a wall or headboard for back support.

• Infant carriers that are centered either on your front or back are good for even weight distribution. Infant car seats should be carried with both hands, centered in front of you. Consider using a backpack instead of a diaper bag to balance weight and avoid shoulder/back stress.

In addition to paying attention to posture and how you lift, stretching and strengthening exercises are necessary for good back/neck/shoulder health. Take at least 10-15 minutes a day to stretch, focusing on hip flexors, back, shoulders and neck, which are involved in proper posture and neutral alignment.

Strengthening exercises should focus on the abdominals, glutes, back, hips, pelvis and the scapula retractors (the muscles that pull the shoulders back) to allow the body to support proper alignment.

And while it might seem impossible to fit in cardio, aim for the recommended amount of five days a week, 30 minutes a day. Studies have shown you can accumulate this through 10-minute bouts, as well. Those few minutes spent sweating will make you a happier, healthier mom.

Anne Stein, M.S.
Sports & Fitness Journalist/Author

Is it time to say goodbye to sit-ups and crunches?

Does your back ache when you do sit-ups and crunches? Do you feel a twinge as you relentlessly work toward achieving fabulous abs?  This pain could be a sign that you’re damaging the disks in your spine.

Dr. Stuart McGill, professor of spine biomechanics at University of Waterloo, Canada, compares a regimen of traditional sit-ups and crunches and their effect on your spine to repeatedly bending a wire coat hanger: If you bend that coat hanger back and forth, it eventually fatigues and breaks because it can only take so many bends.

Similarly, the disks in your back can take only so much loading and bending.

Why it hurts

What’s damaging about sit-ups and crunches is that they add a compressive load down the spine as you repeatedly bend it during the exercise. Combined with our fairly sedentary lifestyle that includes hours sitting bent forward at the computer and in a car, this cumulative trauma to the spine can lead to damaged (herniated) disks.

“The tissues in your body heal and adapt when you rest,” explains McGill, who’s written numerous papers and books on the back. “When you work muscles, they tear at the microlevel, adapt and rebuild and come back stronger. When you load bone it’ll adapt in the rest period (in between strength training, for example) and become stronger.” Tendons and ligaments also adapt, though at a much slower rate.

The disks in your back are a different story. “They don’t adapt very well (to stress) so they keep building up trauma. If you keep doing lots of sit-ups and similar motions, the accumulating damage is faster than they’re able to adapt to, and they don’t heal or strengthen.”

Do these instead

McGill, who consults with pro and amateur athletes, suggests a range of back-saving, ab-strengthening exercises including: bridges, planks, leg extensions, bird dogs and “stir the pot.”

There’s huge variety within these exercises; for example, planks can be done face down and on both sides, and can be held from 10 seconds (for a beginner, for example) to a minute each, then repeated. An advanced plank can be done with elbows on a large Swiss ball.

For the basic bird dog, get down on all fours and keep the body still while extending your right arm in front of you and the left leg straight back for several seconds, then switch limbs. It can be made more challenging with ankle and hand weights. “Stir the pot” involves balancing the forearms on an exercise ball, then moving the shoulders in small circles.

You can also lie on your back, put your hands under the curve of your back to support it, and just barely lift the head and shoulders. “You can do all sorts of interesting progressions with these exercises,” says McGill.

A strong core’s important, and these exercises meet that goal without overloading your back. But, he says, “There’s no perfect exercise for everybody. It depends on your injury history, current fitness level and future exercise goals. The sum of all these things will help you design the safest and best program.”

For lectures, photos, and other information on Professor McGill’s research, go to: www.backfitpro.com. To learn more about back exercises and designing a back program, check out McGill’s latest book, “Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance.”

sean mcgrath/flickr.com

Anne Stein, M.S.
Sports & Fitness Journalist/Author

Waking up after a good night’s sleep is a great way to start your day, but millions of adults are more likely to wake up with back or neck pain.

The main cause of this neck and back pain is our lack of movement.  For five to eight hours each night we lie immobile—and it is that immobility that wreaks havoc on your spine. If you’re not in as close to a neutral spine position as possible, certain muscles get sore as they overwork to stabilize the body while you sleep, explains Dr. Stuart Yoss, a Chicago-area chiropractor.

Since it’s impossible to force yourself to stretch while you sleep, Moji has researched some other options.  As with sports, equipment is crucial to take care of your body while you sleep.  Making sure that you have a quality mattress, the right pillows, and proper posture in bed are good first steps to capturing that elusive good night’s sleep.

Buying a mattress

Your first step to a sore-free slumber is to have a good mattress that supports the natural S-shape curves of the spine. If you wake up with stiffness, numbness, aches and pains, if you’ve had a better night’s sleep elsewhere or if your mattress sags, it’s probably time for a new one, according to the Better Sleep Council. (Same with pillows, by the way: Replace them when they get old, mushy, or are visibly falling apart.)

Don’t pick out a mattress after lying on one for just a few minutes. It’s a good start, but Yoss suggests getting one with a 30-60 day trial period to see if it’s right for your body.

Look for a medium-firm mattress. If a mattress is too hard then hips, shoulders and other body parts that press against the mattress will be sore after long periods of lying still. There will also be gaps between the mattress and your body. If it’s too soft, the mattress won’t provide adequate spine support.

Posture in bed

Just as proper posture’s important when you sit and stand, it’s also important when you’re asleep. Avoid sleeping on your stomach, which exaggerates the low back arch, especially if your mattress is old. Stomach sleeping also creates stress in your neck, because your head turns to one side for long periods of time.

The ideal position to sleep in is on your back. The head and neck should be level with the mid/lower spine. Some people place a pillow underneath the knees to neutralize spine position. The pillow under your head should also maintain a neutral position. If you have two pillows, your head may be bent too far up and forward, which eliminates the normal cervical curve.

If you’re a side sleeper, the pillows supporting your head should be the width of your shoulders to maintain a neutral position.  If you use down pillows, says Yoss, be aware that your head may sink too far into the pillow and/or may be bent or shifted toward one side, causing neck or back stress. Side sleepers can bend their legs and put a pillow between the knees to take stress off the hip joints and maintain a neutral spine. This is especially important for women, says Yoss, who have wider hips.

Set the mood

Being relaxed before crawling into bed is another tool for achieving that elusive goal of pain-free sleep. Follow these steps from the Better Sleep Council:

• Make sleep a priority by keeping a consistent bedtime and wake-up schedule, including on the weekends.
• Create a bedtime routine that is relaxing. Experts recommend reading a book, listening to soothing music or soaking in a hot bath.
• Create a room that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool for the best possible sleep.
• Keep work materials, computers and televisions out of the bedroom.
• Exercise regularly, but complete workouts at least two hours before bedtime.
• If you sleep with a partner, your mattress should allow each of you enough space to move easily. A queen mattress is ideal for two people sharing a mattress.
• Avoid eating, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine close to bedtime. These can lead to poor sleep, keep you awake or disrupt sleep later in the night.

Other tips

If you read in bed, don’t strain the neck in an unnatural position. If you go from that position to sleeping with bad posture or on an old mattress, you’ll likely wake up with back and/or neck pain.

Along with a supportive mattress and proper posture in bed, core exercises that strengthen the abs and back are also a great way to prevent back pain in bed. We use our muscles all the time-even when we sleep-so strengthening exercises are an important part of preventing soreness and tightness after periods of inactivity.

If you do wake up with a sore neck and/or back, Yoss recommends the following stretches (either in bed or out):

• Lay on your back and gently pull one knee toward your chest, hold for 20 seconds, then switch legs (to stretch lower back)
• To stretch hamstrings, lie flat on your back with both legs straight in front of you. Slowly lift one leg toward the ceiling, using hands behind your knee to gently pull. Hold 20 seconds, lower and switch legs.
• On hands and knees, gently arch back up then bow back down (cat/camel), repeat.
• Do the child’s pose to gently stretch and relax back (http://www.santosha.com/bala.htmlChild’s pose)
• For an aching neck, gently stretch by turning head slowly from one side to the other, and moving head slowly forward and back.

If you already suffer from a back or neck injury, check with a healthcare professional for appropriate exercises.