The Integra Blog
Posts tagged "mat"
Dec
Sport vs Health
As the title suggests, we need to be careful about mixing up sport and health
As you are about to leave for the weekend and possibly do your weekend sports, football, rugby or running, etc… think about this:
Doing sport does not mean your health will necessary increase.
In fact, many sports are just not healthy for you - especially if you are late to the game.
Forcing your limbs, muscles, joints into extreme positions (with high levels of velocity) is not healthy. You need to progress your body from it’s current state slowly and intelligently.
A great quote: ‘you don’t need to run to get fit, you need to get fit to run.’ Very true.
Alongside your sporting activities, you may need an appropriate training plan to illicit a specific response (strength, power, endurance, etc), or maybe a series of Muscle Activation Techniques treatments, to ensure your body is aligned and working optimally. Either way, you need to be aware of the differing outcomes of sport vs health & wellness based activities
Dec
Why Do You Stretch?
And are you creating problems? Is it because:- You always have done?
- You read everywhere that is really important?
- You were told to do it?
- Because it is fashionable (the foam roller!)
- Because you just do?
There is a lot of research out there that proves that stretching can lengthen muscle tissue, I am not even jumping into that debate. (well, I will in an post coming up!)
What I do want to question is why are you tight in the first place? Here is a different viewpoint to the more common opinion on muscle tightness.
If there is instability around a joint, what would your nervous system want to do? Secure it down. This a natural neurological response.
All of the mechanoreceptors in the area are constantly sending back signals to the Central Nervous System (CNS) on the status of the area, if the signal goes back that there is an instability and/or weakness in the area, the CNS will orchestrate the muscular system to effectively tighten up to protect the area. So if we are getting in there and stretching or using the foam roll in the area, we are over-riding the work of the CNS - do we really want to do that?
I have been using Muscle Activation Techniques for approximately 2.5 years now and success rates have rocketed. By looking at the cause of the tightness, rather than the symptom, I have been able to achieve more consistent results across the board. MAT works by finding out what is not working, which in turn is creating the instability.
