Snap, Crackle & Pop

Does your body make noise when you move? Such as:
--> Crunching when you roll your shoulders.
--> Knees snap and pop on stairs.
--> Back cracks when turning.

There’s no need to freak out over the sound of crunchy muscles. They are, however, a warning to proceed with caution. The noises come from hardness in the body, such as calcification in muscles and fascia or tight ligaments and tendons, where there’s supposed to be suppleness. It’s as though the soft tissues are turning to bone.

To avoid the crunching, many people stop moving. Unfortunately, this makes the situation worse. Nutrition starved muscles stay surrounded in metabolic waste, including calcium that forms into crystals. Ligaments become malnourished since they depend on movement for fresh blood flow. Tendons that stay still become tighter.

An “all or nothing” attitude toward exercise gets us in trouble. Ignoring the sound’s messages is just as damaging as being stopped by them. Here’s an example from my personal experience. My hips used to pop when extending my legs. How interesting, I thought. Will it pop again? Yes. And, again? Yes. After a few times it would start to hurt. This was because the iliopsoas tendon was snapping over the top of the hip joint. Each pop was alerting me to damage.
The answer was to extend my hip in a way that didn’t create a popping sound to stretch the muscle and tendon at the limit without pulling it off track.

The noises from your knees may be telling you that you’re wearing one side of the joint more than the other. Running up and down the stairs without awareness ingrains patterns of misuse. Slow down so you can pay careful attention to your alignment with the knee coming straight over the middle toes. Also try to lean forward a bit at your hips, especially when going down the stairs. Find the alignment to avoid the pains and pops and you’ll create less wear and tear.

Tension around the shoulders is so common that almost everyone has calcification in the tendons and muscles around their shoulder blades. The hardness can melt, however. This is one of the reasons people seek deep-tissue bodywork. Fluid movement such as small shoulder circles can also dissolve the crunchiness. Make circles forward and back and also sideways over your ribs.

When you hear the snap, crackle and pop of petrified tissues watch your alignment and use your movement to restore fluidity.

Exercise of the Month: Constructive Rest Position

The energy of the natural world encourages us to slow down as winter approaches. Nights grow to maximum length and facilitate more sleep. Slick roads necessitate slower speed to stay safe. Cold weather hampers outside exercise.

The social world encourages us to do more during December. Decorating, sending cards, baking, parties, shopping, trips to the post office, travel, and more are packed into the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

Finding time to rest this month will help you tune in to the natural rhythm of life and give you more energy to enjoy yourself. That’s why this month’s exercise is to practice relaxation with the Constructive Rest Position.

Traditionally, the constructive rest position is done with both feet on the floor with the physical aim to release the iliopsoas muscles. It's used to counterpose psoas strengthing exercise such as Pilates and can be helpful in alleviating low back pain. The photo above shows a variation with is more restful: raising the legs and resting them on a chair.

Steps:
1. Lie down on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor or calves on a chair.
2. Place a small towel under your head if needed to keep your neck in line with your spine as shown in this Alexander Technique description.
3. Place your arms in a comfortable position, by your side or on your torso.
4. Quiet your mind and rest for two to twenty minutes.

For me, the Constructive Rest Position is like a power nap without the side effect of waking up groggy. If you’re short on sleep or feeling frazzled, try it and give yourself a boost.

Post-Thanksgiving Exercise: Think Pretzels

Even with willpower, it's hard to avoid overeating at Thanksgiving. There is just so much good, comfort food on the table. If, like me, you overindulged on turkey, potatoes and pie, and if your blood pressure is starting to rise with all the activities planned for the next month, I have an exercise for you.

Twists stimulate the organs and also enhance the exhale, the relaxing, calming part of the breath. They can be done seated, standing, or lying down, making this a versatile pose to incorporate into your day.

As noted in this Yoga Journal article which shows three easy twists, it is best to elongate the spine the spine before twisting. It is also best to flex the spine afterwards. You can use the Personal Wave or Old Faithful undulations to accomplish both.

In her video, Strength & Spirit, acclaimed yoga teacher Ana Forrest says, "Spiral up, don't grind down." I find that good advice for any movement, especially twists.

Also, focus turning with your exhale, draw in your lower abdominals to support your low back, and initiate the spiral action from the base of your spine working up. Extending your exhale gives you the opportunity to go deeper into the twist and further calm your nervous system.

As noted in the Barber Pole undulation, the slower your movement, the more you will activate the smaller, core muscles around your spine.

Exercise of the Month: Nose Circles

The British may be known for their stiff upper lips, but Americans may be known by our stiff necks. Tension at the base of the skull, limited range of motion in the neck, and headaches are experienced by many adult Americans – especially if you sit in front of a computer. Here’s a quick and easy exercise to take the pain out of your neck, called Nose Circles.

1. Sit with good posture so your spine is aligned, shoulders are relaxed and head is not forward.
2. Put your palm flat against your nose. Draw a circle with your nose on your hand. The smoother you can make the circles, the more tension you will release.
3. Go the other way.
4. Spiral in and out.
5. When you get the hang of it, you don’t need your hand against your nose. You can just draw the circles in the air.

This contracts and relaxes the suboccipital muscles at the base of the skull so the head can float more freely on top of the spine.

This exercise is excerpted from the newly published, 7 Undulations to Relieve Office Tension, available for free by clicking on the link.

Get Rid of Your Pain in the Neck

You are probably creating stiffness and strain in your body right now as you sit at the computer. If you’re like most people, you grip the mouse and your eyes and head drift toward the monitor. You can relieve this muscle tension by taking a minute here and there throughout the day for a special set of exercises that counteract the effects of sitting in front of a computer.

You can do these simple exercises right in your office; some you can do even when you're commuting. Each one can be done in a cubicle and several can be done while sitting---at a desk, in a car, even while stuck in the middle seat on a cross-country flight or on the bus.

Are you ready to tackle the slouch, the sore shoulders, the tingling fingers, the pain in the neck? You can protect yourself from carpal tunnel syndrome and relieve the pain of early arthritis by downloading 7 Undulations to Relieve Office Tension for FREE. Within minutes you can be flexing your spine and shaking out stress.

The exercises will help you to:
1. Reverse the slouch of poor posture,
2. Flush stiffness from your fingers,
3. Add flexibility to your spine,
4. Free your shoulders,
5. Wake up your core muscles,
6. Shake stress out your fingers, and
7. Relieve that all-too-common ache at the base of the skull.

Download your Free copy of 7 Undulations to Relieve Office Tension now.