Hello, welcome to the first of what will be a monthly newsletter/ blog, wanting to share updates from the last month at NW Sports massage and offer tips and advice about massage and exercise and wellness. You can also follow NW Sports massage on Facebook to keep up to date with what's going on.
It’s been a busy month for me, I have been providing massage in Tewkesbury at my own premises and travelling to people at their own homes which offers busy people and ones with a lack of time or even no transport the opportunity to still benefit from massage treatments.
This months newsletter is packed full of information so I hope you enjoy!
Text Neck
We can all guilty of sometimes spending too long on our phones but how can this negatively effect posture?
Text neck is a term used to describe the repetitive injury that occurs due to poor posture often associated with smart phone use and clocking hours in front of a computer while hunching over.
This posture can cause neck muscles to become strained, upper back muscles to stretch and become weakened and sore and chest muscles to shorten and become tight!!
Did you know… for every inch our head moves forward in posture and out of the correct alignment it increases the weight of the head by a staggering 10 pounds and all that pressure is put on the neck and upper back muscles!!
These postural issues can often be alleviated with the use of sports massage and corrective exercises!! (And a little less screen time.)
Sport in the spotlight
Each month I will be covering a different sport, this month is my very own sport and hobby Horse Riding!
Nothing beats being outside in the fresh air cantering across the countryside on a horse (in my opinion). There’s something amazing about the connection and feeling of being able to sit on and control and be in harmony with these amazing animals. Although some people may argue you ‘just sit there’ when riding a horse, you couldn’t be more wrong. It’s a full body workout, requiring and helping to improve good posture, core strength, balance and requires a good level of cardiovascular fitness. It’s likely that sitting up tall and improved posture on the horse may improve posture out of saddle. It also requires a level of resilience and dedication as we can all come tumbling off occasionally when things don’t go to plan.
The psychological benefits are great too. Spending time with horses can boost mental health and raise levels of mood boosting serotonin.
Horse riding engages many muscle throughout the body mainly ones found in legs and core, such as, erector spinae group, glutes, quadratus lumborum, psoas, just to name a few.
Muscles that can become sore, shortened or tight from horse riding may include:
Glute Medius, controls the inwards and outward movements of the hip and can become tight and overused riding
Hip flexors (e.g. Iliacus) are in a shortened state when riding due to the legs being elevated in stirrups.
Pectoralis major and minor, this is due to having arms out in front of us controlling the horse using the reins (especially if have a slightly rounded posture).
NW Sports massage can provide relief to these tight muscles as well as stretches to relieve those areas and make the work of the massage last longer!
I’d love people to share their knowledge on a sport they are passionate about to participate in the newsletter please email: nswsportsmassage@gmail.com
Moving Muscles
Each month I pick a new muscle to look at and see how it helps us move and effects posture and the problems that tightness in that muscle can cause. This time it’s the Gluteus Maximus!
There are 3 main glute muscles today we’re looking at the largest, the Gluteus Maximus!
The gluteus maximus is a powerful muscle which acts as a extensor of the thigh (e.g. straightening leg when going up stairs) and is essential for maintaining upright posture.
Sports or exercise that heavily use this muscle would be ones that involve running or sudden bursts of speed, e.g basketball, weightlifting.
Sitting for long periods can increase inhibition/ weakening of the glute max.
Common problems when glute max is tight can include pain in buttocks, hips and lower back
Specific pressure on the trigger points in the glute max can assist to release tension, and strengthening exercises such as shoulder/ glute bridge help increase tone and prevent weakness
Massage Myths
There’s a plethora of information out there about sports, muscles, and massage. I want to debunk misinformation that may be out there and confusing people.
Myth – All massages are basically the same.
There are many different types of massage, and each has their own role. Spa or holistic massage focuses on stress relief and work to more of a set routine that’s worked through by the therapist. Sports massage is useful for athletes and people of any kind. Sports massage helps to ease muscle soreness and tightness and is more tailored towards individual needs. It can involve deeper pressure to effectively relieve tight areas ad trigger points, however, it shouldn’t be painful and if you are tensing up and bracing against the pain those muscles will not ease and relax off, and you need to tell the therapist to back off a bit.
Thank you for taking the time to read this months newsletter, I hope you found it interesting.
If you'd like more information on what NW Sports massage provides or to book a massge visit the about page, call 07910689220 or email nswsportsmassage@gmail.com
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