Having a ball?
Previously I have written my guide to foam rolling parts 1 & 2. Now I want to explore the uses for another self-massage tool, the spikey ball. I would recommend you use both a foam roller and a spikey ball the reason is that for some parts of the body it is easier to use a spikey ball, for example:
Releasing the feet
Stand on one leg use a chair or the wall for balance. Roll one foot at a time over the ball for a good few minutes. Include the heel, the outside edge and the instep. Push down stronger into any area to deepen the intensity. Do each foot separately.
Between the shoulders
A common area of tension with modern postural habits is between the shoulder blades. You can easily reach this area with a ball placed anywhere between the shoulder blades and move up and down against the wall. One tip to stop the ball dropping it to put it in a long sock or stocking, drap it over your shoulder and then hold it in your hand.
Lower back – Under sacrum and glutes
You can use the floor of resistance to press your weight into or when lying to let gravity give you a help in hand. Simply lie on the floor, bend your knees but keep your feet flat on the floor. Then place the ball underneath your sacrum – the large triangular bone that forms part of your pelvis. Now move just gently move your sacrum and glutes all over the ball. If it feels safe to do so your can bring your knees into your chest to add additional pressure. This will help release off your lower back.
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Do you go home being mentally exhausted but physically full of beans?
I know when I worked in IT I would often leave the office mentally very tired and depending upon how trying the day had been somtimes I was just mentally exhausted but often I was not physically tired. The simplest solution to this conundrum is to go down the gym and burn of the excess physical energy and going to the gym also helps to switch off from work. However there are times when we are injured or feeling run down when this is not possible, so then what can you do? Recently I have seen a few people in clinic who are in this situation. This means they are stuggling to switch off from work and relax. So I wanted to share a few tips on how to handle this if it happens to you. Depending upon the injury you can:
- Start taking the stairs at work - even if you can't walk up all the flights of stairs for example if you are based on the top floor, you can walk up some flights and take the lift for the rest.
- Go swimming instead of going to the gym.
- Get of the train or tube one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way (this obviously depends upon your commute).
- Go for a walk in park or any type of greenery.
- A lot of museams in London have a late night opening, so why not go walk around a museam.
- If you have a garden, do some gardening.
Do your friends impact your health?
In our day to day lives, during the times when we are deciding what to eat or whether to watch TV or take a walk, who is more likely to be around us, our family, friends, flat mates or a doctor? Even for individuals living with a chronic condition who will probably only spend a few hours a year with medical professionals compared to the thousands of waking hours with family and friends. Recently researches discovered that women are more likely to survive breast cancer if they have a strong social network of friends and family, whereas those who are more isolated are twice as likely to die of the disease. University of Pennsylvania have found that good health is more likely if people see fewer doctors and more of their family and friends especially if they get their support and help. They discovered that people are more likely to make healthier choices - like going for a walk over watching TV if they are around family and friends. In addition people are more likely to go to the gym if they have someone to go with. Being part of a group e.g. family, friends, book club, tennis club, social group, religious/spiritual practice seems to aid our motivation to be healthier in terms of diet, exercise, smoking or drinking. This could be because being part of a group enhances your sense of meaning in life, which in turn leads you to better take care of yourself. Or it could be down to feeling a sense of responsibility towards other or even just wanting to fit in. References D A. Asch, and R Rosin, Engineering Social Incentives for Health, N Engl J Med 2016; 375:2511-2513 Kroenke, C. H., Michael, Y. L., Poole, E. M., Kwan, M. L., Nechuta, S., Leas, E., Caan, B. J., Pierce, J., Shu, X.-O., Zheng, Y. and Chen, W. Y. (2017), Postdiagnosis social networks and breast cancer mortality in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project. Cancer, 123: 1228–1237. doi:10.1002/cncr.30440 Tarrant, M., Warmoth, K., Code, C., Dean, S., Goodwin, V. A., Stein, K., & Sugavanam, T. (2016). Creating psychological connections between intervention recipients: development and focus group evaluation of a group singing session for people with aphasia. BMJ Open, 6(2), e009652.
