Julstro Muscular Therapy

Hi,

Often the forums I moderate will give me ideas for what to post here on the blog, and today is one of those times. A person wrote to me that he is having chronic pain in the area underneath his Achilles tendon and that all the experts are telling him to stretch, but it only makes him feel worse. He’s at a loss because he can’t exercise and his frustration increases because nothing is working to get him better.

It always amazes me how experts that should know better still recommend stretching without giving any thought to spasms tying the muscle fibers in knots. It’s so logical that if you tied a length a line into knots and then tried to stretch it back to the original length that you would make the knots tighter and overstretch the fibers outside of the knots. Plus, as you stretch this shortened “rope” it would cause an even additional strain on the insertion points at the two ends, just as a muscle does to the two insertion points on the bone.

Have you been to my website? There is so much information about repetitive strain injuries and information about the logic of the body. If you haven’t done so already, I suggest you also read the sections titled “Muscles and Pain” and “What’s Happening Exactly.”

Here’s my response to this “virtual client:”

The muscles that are most likely causing your situation are the flexor digitorum longus and flexor hallicus longus (you can do an internet search and look at graphics of the two muscles) because they are underneath your Achilles tendon and since they pull your toes down toward the floor (or curl them if you aren’t standing on your foot), if the muscles are shortened by spasms and you bend your toes up (for example, pushing off from a step or standing on your toes)you will be stretching these muscles.

I suggest you use your fingertips and apply direct pressure to the muscles, searching for the “hot spot” which will be the spasm/s causing the muscles to shorten. Of course, as you realize, you also have spasms in your calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) and those are also simple to self-treat and release by simply applying direct pressure to the knots in the muscles. Releasing those muscles will take the pressure off your Achilles tendon.

I’m happy to say that I’ve teamed up with some wonderful people within the past few weeks and with their help I’ll finally be getting out to teach some self-treatment clinics. Right now they are only planned for North Carolina, but we’re putting together one for Ft. Worth, TX, and Naples, FL. If I can find someone to help me locate space and spread the word, I’d like to do one in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas in February. In you can help in any way, or if you’d like a clinic in your area, please let me know.

Wishing you well,
Julie

Hi Everyone,

It’s been a super-busy time these past two months and I’m afraid I’ve been neglect at writing in my blog. To begin with, I’m happy to say that I’m just putting the finishing proof-reading touches to a new book I’ve written: Pain Free Skiing. Pain Free Skiing is geared toward everyone who loves to ski but ends up with aches and pains that follow them all week and could even prevent them from skiing the next weekend. Most of the models in the book are amazing athletes who are preparing for the Olympic trials and I’m so honored to be their muscular therapist (as opposed to doing massage, I concentrate on specific muscles and how they prevent joints from moving easily and without pain).

I’ve also decided to re-join Shaklee because their sports nutrition is above any that is out on the market, more about that in another blog post, but it’s taking up my time as I learn about each product – time well-spent! I’m fortunate that the man who is my Director in Shaklee has his Ph.D in biochemistry and is the professor of nutrition and biochemistry at the UNC Medical School. Steve Chaney is amazing and a real storehouse of information. He sends out a newsletter and it’s always interesting, this issue of the newsletter is about losing weight (it’s NOT a sales pitch for Shaklee Cinch) that is basic information that is useful for anyone with a goal of losing weight in 2012, as a result I’m sharing it, the following is from Dr. Chaney’s newsletter Tips from the Professor:

Most Americans – close to 70% of us – are overweight.

Many of you are considering whether or not to make weight loss one of your New Year’s resolutions.

The problem, of course, is that you have done this before. Full of enthusiasm, you have resolved to make major changes in your eating habits and lifestyle – changes that would melt away that unwanted flab.

But, alas, those major changes proved to be unsustainable and within a few weeks you were back to your old routine and were packing on those extra pounds once more.

So maybe this year you should consider the “Stealth Diet”.

Ok, there is no “Stealth Diet” – at least not one that I know about. But, an article in the December issue of Environmental Nutrition called “Top 9 Stealth Health Diet Strategies” caught my eye, and I thought its message would be worth sharing with you.

The article starts with an ancient Chinese proverb that makes great sense when you are considering a task as monumental as resculpting your body. The proverb says:
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones”.

So what are the “small stones” that will launch you on the path towards a healthier weight in 2012?

#1) Practice portion control: It’s no secret that portion sizes are getting bigger. Even simple items like bagels and muffins are twice the size (and twice the calories) as they were 30 or 40 years ago. And restaurants compete for their customers by seeing who can provide the largest meals.

The tips are simple: Prepare smaller portions at home, split your meals or ask for doggie bags when you eat out, and never snack from an open bag or box.

#2) Slip more fresh fruits and vegetables into your
diet: It’s no secret that fruit and vegetable consumption reduces the risk of heart disease, some cancers and other degenerative diseases. But, more importantly, those fresh fruits and vegetables have fewer calories than the foods they will be displacing.

#3) Be mindful as you eat: Although it may sound counter-intuitive you will actually eat less if you take the time to savor the foods that eat. Enjoy your food. Enjoy the conversation. Meals shouldn’t be a race.

Multitasking (watching television or surfing the net while eating) may save time, but it also packs on the extra calories because you aren’t paying any attention to how much you are eating.

#4) Use caution with snacks: EN says that you don’t really need to snack in order to lose weight successfully. I’m not so sure.

Some people (myself included) are genetically “hard- wired” to enjoy excellent blood sugar control. People like us don’t really need to snack.

But I have found that many other people are “hard- wired” to experience low blood sugar between meals no matter what they eat – and if you are overweight you may suffer from blood sugar swings no matter what your genetic make-up is.

When your blood sugar tanks, you will feel hungry, tired, cranky and deprived – none of which are helpful for the long-term success of your diet. For people like you sensible snacking is absolutely essential if you want to lose weight successfully.

I do agree with EN that snacks should be healthful, They recommend no more than 100-200 calories (I’d shoot for closer to 100 calories if you want to lose weight) and should provide healthy sources of both protein and carbohydrate.

#5) Leave 10% of each meal on your plate: That’s not good news for the “clean plate club”, but that one simple change will save you about 84,000 calories – which is equivalent to 10 pounds of weight loss- per year.

#6) Use an oil pump mister for cooking and salads. When we pour oils from the bottle we usually end up with much more oil – and many more calories – than we actually need.

#7) Swap some of your meat for mushrooms: I strongly disagree with EN on this recommendation.

I understand where EN is coming from. Mushrooms have far fewer calories and much less fat & cholesterol than the meat that they replace. EN is also correct in pointing out that mushrooms are the only plant-based source of vitamin D.

However, mushrooms only provide about 10% as much protein as meats, and keeping your protein intake high is essential for successful long term weight loss. I would recommend substituting vegetable protein sources such as beans and soy for the meat in your diet. That will lower you fat and calorie intake without compromising on your protein intake.

#8) Eat only when sitting: In today’s world we often “graze” while moving around and doing other things – and we lose track of how much we are eating. This really comes back to recommendation #3. The simple act of sitting down and focusing on the food that we are eating will reduce our food intake – and our weight.

#9) Use ripe avocado in place of butter: You’ll save about 75 calories per serving and you will be getting a much healthier profile of fat and micronutrients.

I also recommend almond butter in place of butter for toast. You aren’t saving any calories there, but you are getting a healthier profile of fats and significantly more protein.

There you have it – Environmental Nutrition’s recommendations (with my modification) for 9 “stealth”
changes that you can make in your diet for the coming year.

These are small, simple changes. They are do-able. Any one of these changes could lead to 5 or 10 pounds weight loss per year. If you made all of these changes you could lose up to 90 pounds over the next year – and you’ll never have noticed that you were on a “diet”.

Wishing you well,
Julie

It’s amazing that the holiday season is already upon us, it always seems to come so fast. Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

On one of the other forums I moderate a man wrote about weakness he’s experiencing in both his biceps and triceps, plus a lot of other symptoms, but this is the primary problem. So, I decided that this would be a good topic to cover today since weakness definitely doesn’t mean you need to lift more weights or exercise more strenuously.

In order for a muscle to function properly it needs to have a lot of different aspects impacting it, but the two that we’ll be discussing is the length of the muscle fibers and nerve innervation. In order for a muscle to be strong you need to be able to have it at its longest length, which will then enable it to have full pulling power. If the muscle is already shortened by muscle spasms you have taken some of the fibers out of the pull (the ones that are tied up in the spasm) and if the nerve(s) is impinged by either the tight muscle fibers or by pressure of a bone pressing on the nerve, then you aren’t getting a clear signal sent from the nerve to the muscle. This is the case that is happening when you have weakened biceps and triceps muscles.

Let’s start all the way at the base of the front and side of your neck, with muscles called lateral and anterior scalenes. It will help you if you do an internet search so you can look at these muscles. They will press into a bundle of nerves called the brachial plexus, which ultimately become the three nerves to your upper body, arm and hand, your median/ulnar/radial nerves. Usually when the scalenes are pressing into the brachial plexus you will feel burning, numbness, and tingling anywhere from your neck to your fingers.

There is a tiny bone that is part of your shoulder blade, called the coracoid process, which passes over all three nerves and also over your axillary artery. Two muscles; the pectoralis minor and the short head of your biceps, insert into the coracoid process, and when either or both of these muscles are shortened by spasms/contractions they are pulling down on the bone and putting pressure on one or all of the nerves and possibly even the artery. This will cause the nerves to send an incomplete message to the muscles, and if the artery is being impinged you will have a circulation problem to your entire arm and hand.
Another muscle that causes problems is the infraspinatus which is located along the entire flat bone of your scapula. This muscle is one of the rotator cuff muscles and when it contracts it pulls your arm back (like throwing a ball), however if it is shortened by spasms it is pulling your shoulder blade backwards even though you are trying to bring your arm forward. This not only causes severe shoulder pain, but because of the coracoid process portion of the bone, it can also be putting pressure on the nerves and artery to your arm and hand.

There are other muscles: serratus anterior, teres minor, teres major, subscapularis, levator scapulae, rhomboids, and others that will cause shoulder pain and weakness in your arm/hand, but that would make this blog turn into a book and I already have written all about it in Treat Yourself to Pain Free Living. If you’re interested, or if you already are suffering from pain and dysfunction of your shoulder, arm or hand, then I suggest you get that book and work on all the muscles of your upper body and arm.

I don’t think you need to stop working out at the gym, and I really don’t believe that just rest will solve the problem of weakness in your biceps or triceps, but I do think that treating all of the muscles mentioned will work. It’s easy, it just takes time and focused attention to each of the muscles.

Wishing you well,
Julie

Today I’m teaching a Julstro Work Shouldn’t Hurt clinic in Westchester, NY. I love teaching these clinics because people just aren’t aware that muscles cause pain, prevent joints from moving easily, and are often the cause of conditions such as sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches, and plantar fasciitis.

In fact it’s been my experience that instead of releasing the tension that is holding the bone tightly tied up in knots, most practitioners will either give you medications to stop pain or inflammation (without eliminating the source of the pain and inflammation), or some type of orthotics to bring the floor up closer to your foot (instead of lengthening your calf muscles to bring your foot down to the floor), or suggest surgery.

The clinics are fun. Everyone wears comfortable clothes without tight waistbands, and we work on every muscle that is repetitively strained while they are doing their work. Today’s group are electrolygists so they strain their shoulders, forearms, hands, low back, and even knees and lower leg (from stepping on a foot pedal repeatedly).

The best part is that there is always at least one person who was going to lose his/her career and after the clinic they are back on track to continue for years to come. It’s so rewarding.

Hope to see you at a clinic someday. If you ever want to set up a clinic in your area, please feel free to contact me.

Have a great day,
Julie