Mr. Ma's Hand Tapping

So I learned this hand tapping routine from one of my clients last year, and have been sharing it with friends, family, or anyone who will listen {with symptomatic and asymptomatic hand dysfunction}, and I try to do the exercises on a daily basis. Mr. Ma, a very friendly elderly gentleman originally from Taiwan taught me this tapping routine. He also sent me a website with more information that I will link below {if anyone can translate, I would love to know how it reads in English}. One thing he did tell me "It good for Bowel movement." Thats a plus!!

http://www.360doc.com/content/15/0606/08/21796938_476016147.shtml

Amazing exercise clips, am I right!?!?! I put together a video below of my routine, just a few of the hand exercises. It is simple and takes very little time. When performed daily, you may notice decreased pain, tension, or disability of your hands. I like to do these in the morning when making breakfast, or in the shower. As a manual therapist, my hands are my livelihood, taking care of them is of upmost importance,  should be the same for you. 

Everyday do 50 TAPS of each exercise below {if this is too much start with 30 and work your way up}. 

I did a little research on these techniques, they seem to be based on common acupuncture points, while the technique is similar to acupressure as no needles are involved. Depending on a practitioners background they may have different reasons for the effectiveness of a technique like this: 

• Acupuncture/pressure- or stimulation of acupressure points

• Tapotement- massage tapping technique, rhythmic percussion

• Myofascial Trigger point release- tight area in the muscle, can refer pain throughout the body

• Muscle Adhesions- thick "knot" of muscle fiber

• Meridian Tapping Therapy- focus on a thought or intention while tapping

• Tai Chi- I've tried similar techniques during Tai Chi practices

Relaxation/Mindfulness- Let's go with this, just be mindful of the sensations in your hands, recognize how valuable they are in your daily life. Try to relax as much as possible, and move with mindful intentions. Feel the relaxation move throughout your fingers, hands, wrists, arms, elbows, shoulders, neck, and head. Try not to rush through this routine, breathe slowly and focus on the activity. Use this time to relax the brain and be mindful of all the goodness in your brain and body. 

~Take Care!!

Get on your FEET

No matter where you are viewing this right now....take off your shoes and socks. Notice your feet: 

• How do they feel?
• What is their appearance?
• Does anything hurt?
• Are they easy to move?

Learn to appreciate your feet, take care of these babies, recognize the many journeys where they have carried you, this article is to raise foot awareness!!

Lets start with an anatomy lesson: 

Each ankle and foot complex is made up of 26 bones {25% of the bones in your body}. For the purpose of this article, lets group the foot into 3 regions:

• Rear-foot {Ankle}: transmits 60% Weight-bearing Load
• Mid-Foot: provides stability to the forefoot
• Fore-foot {Toes}: adapt to terrain and uneven surfaces

Supporting these bones and joints are over 100 ligaments, tendons, and muscles. LIGAMENT- connects bone to bone. TENDON- connects muscle to bone. When a muscle force {action} occurs, it causes movement of a joint {or multiple joints}. Check out the complexity of foot musculature:

Yeaaaaa...thats a lot of muscle action

The human foot has evolved into a highly complex structure{s}, these adaptations allow us to walk with an upright Bi-pedal posture {rather than crawling on all 4s}. Along with ambulation,  feet perform many job duties such as balance, force distribution, shock absorption, among other weight bearing and non-weightbbearing functions. Foot strengthening is very often overlooked by athletes, dancers, clinicians, women in heels, doctors, or basically anybody who uses their feet for ambulation{walking}. Below I will go over 2 exercises that can be added to any daily routine. 

First exercise is plantarflexion {heel raise}, or for my dancers relevé. From neutral stance, lift your heels up, while planting your fore-foot on the ground. Try a few reps and look at our feet in a mirror if possible. Did you do this??

This is WRONG.....notice how the calcaneus {Heels} translate out and the foot compensates into inversion {ankle rolls in}. This person is weak or inhibited in the deep stabilizing muscles required for weight bearing plantar flexion. 

The picture below shows 2 large Primary muscles  of plantar flexion gastrocnemius and soleus {calf muscles}. For this exercise, I want you to focus on the 3 blue muscles, these are underneath the large calf muscles. In addition to plantar flexion, the Tibialis Posterior, Flexor Digitorum Longus {FDL}, and Flexor Hallucis Longus {FHL} are primary movers for other joints in the foot. Your force will be directed through 1st Metatarsal Head {Ball of Big Toe}.

Shoutout to Visible Body for this picture. Awesome App for studying anatomy

You will need 2 quarters {Placed under 1st Metatarsal Head}. Perform 5-10 slow and controlled repetitions. 3-5 sets will correct muscle control before activity, can be performed anytime as Neuro-muscular re-education. 

Weakness, inhibition, poor motor control or coordination of the feet can migrate up the body to other joints. Dysfunction in 1 toe can lead to hip tightness, lower back pain, altered shoulder mechanics, basically it can affect the entire musculoskeletal system. The 2 exercises below focus on Toe flexors and extensors {also called foot intrinsic muscles-primary action toe flexion and extension}. Give them a try before activity to warm-up the feet and prepare for optimal performance from the ground UP. 

Thanks for taking a look at the foot with me today!!! Let me know what you think of these exercises. 

~Take Care!!

Broga

Let’s talk flexibility/mobility

• We all know how important it is. 
• We all know we should do it more. 
• We all have excuses as to why we don’t spend the time on this area of fitness. 

These are very important components of fitness, health and wellness. Many professionalsmistakenly use the 2 terms interchangeably, when in fact they affect the body in different ways. 

MOBILITY: Ability to move a joint, Range of Motion {ROM} of a joint

FLEXIBILITY: Ability of a muscle to lengthen

When a muscle is “stuck” “tight” “contracted” “limited” or “shortened” this affects mobility of a joint {or multiple joints}. Other factors that affect mobility can be joint structure, strength imbalance, atrophy, motor control, faulty movement pattern, balance, just to name a few. 

The other difference is that Mobility typically involves “Active” range of motion while flexibility is often “Passive.” When preparing the body to move whether going for a run, lifting weights, warming up for an athletic event, or just to make your body feel better for the day, you shouldwork on improving overall mobility. 

These days I try not to abuse my body as much as I did in high school, college, and throughout my 20s. Today being my 32nd birthday, I reflect on how my training {and diet} have changed as my body has become less resilient. I’ve never been what someone would consider “flexible” and there are definitely mobility restrictions that I try to address most days of the week. One of my favorite forms of fitness that addresses the mind/body mobility/flexibility connections is YOGA.

Yoga is a great way to check in with you body, your brain, your awareness, its just plain awesome. If you’ve never tried yoga it would be in your best interest to take a couple classes, get some feedback from an instructor, and become familiar with some of the basic poses. 

For those of you who have experience in yoga feel free to try my favorite daily routine….we call it BROGA. 

I’m not really sure where I learned or developed this routine a few years ago, but I’ve grown to love it as a warm-up, a morning ritual, or as a teaching tool. Many of my professional dancers like this 10 minute routine to prepare for a show. Shoutout to @the502kid @ianj_mckenzie @asielhardison @nick_guerts @kidperu @karenschuang

I would recommend watching the entire video OR watch each pose, hit pause, practice that post, then move to the next. Over time you will become familiar with the routine and it will flow nicely. Magic number here is 5:

• For the repetition exercises- perform 5 reps on each side
• For the static poses- hold the pose for 5 breaths. Try to inhale deep into the lower part of your lungs, as you exhale sink deeper into the pose. Release slowly and with control 

Have fun and keep this quote in mind when working on your mobility/flexibility:

“Flexibility is a function of releasing and relaxing rather than forcing change. Stretching is de-contracting" 

-Take Care!!