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This video shows you a myofascial release trick to get rid of a foot cramp and prevent it from coming back. Do this frequently, especially if you wear a lot of high heels or very tight, constrictive shoes to keep foot cramps from happening again.
This exercise is great at the end of the day to relax sore, tired feet but be gentle and careful if you have a foot cramp happening while you are doing this. You don’t want to cause extra tension and cramping.
Your neck is so stiff you can barely look over your shoulder. The space between your shoulder blades feels like someone’s got your spine in a vice grip. Your shoulders are so close to your ears it looks like you’re trying to start a new fashion in earrings. This is not a pleasant situation.
And yet, despite all the neck and shoulder stretches you do, in spite of all the neck massages you receive, the pain continues to persist. You may even have had an MRI or x-ray that showed “nothing is wrong” with your back. But if nothing’s wrong, why the heck does it hurt so bad it wakes you up in the middle of the night?
Here’s the secret…there really is nothing wrong with your neck and mid back. The pain is coming from somewhere else – your hips.
This makes absolutely no sense when we look at the body from the western medical perspective which divides the body into parts and pieces. If your neck hurts, they look at your neck, from C1 (the first vertebra in your spine) to C7 (the last “neck” vertebra). But this is kind of short sighted when you consider that C7 connects to T1 – the first thoracic vertebra – and T1 to T2, so on and so forth, all the way down to your sacrum, the triangular shaped bone at the bottom of your spine.
Lo and behold, your sacrum lies between your (drum roll, please) hip bones! So, if your pelvis is restricted, tilted, shifted or imbalanced, it’s going to travel upward, right into your neck and mid back.
Now it’s all starting to come together, right? The body is a system where each piece and part is dependent on every other piece for function and balance. So, neck and back pain sufferer, how do you address the restrictions in your hips?
First, stretch your quads. Hip flexors – the muscles the bend your knee to your chest – get really tight when you sit a lot, which pretty much everyone in western society does more than they should (yes, even if you go to the gym every day). These guys drag your pelvis forward and cause a “swayback” appearance in your lower back. Lacking support from below, your neck and mid back get really tight to keep you upright.
Second, make sure your glutes and hamstrings are working. Do glute and ham exercises, but NOT the ones that require a machine. Machines are for rehab and they don’t really give you functional movement. The best way to train your body is with body weight and free weight exercises that force you to use deep postural muscles to support the movement.
Some good examples of glute and hamstring exercises are deadlifts, squats and kettlebell swings. Body weight squats can be quite effective for anyone who has lazy glute and hamstring muscles, but I like to add in a kettlebell at chest height because it forces you to keep your upper body back over your heels. When you kip forward and point your chest at the ground, you’re just feeding the tight hip flexor pattern.
Third, get good bodywork from a structural practitioner who can help you learn your physical imbalances. It’s pretty hard to change something you’re not aware of, so if you’re blithely going about your day with a crooked pelvis for 23.5 hours, seven days a week, half an hour of glute and hamstring exercises aren’t going to change anything. Repatterning your body is all about changing your habits, and the exercises you do should carry over into every aspect of your daily life.
Lower back pain is perhaps the most wide-spread health affliction in western cultures. 81 million Americans report experiencing lower back pain at some point in their lives, and lower back pain is the second most common reason for visiting a medical doctor.
All this pain racks up a $50 billion dollar medical bill every year, but the frustrating part is that most back pain conditions are labeled non-specific lower back pain, meaning it’s generalized pain with no precise cause.
Generally, lower back pain sufferers receive prescriptions for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (pain killers) and the suggestion of light activity until the back pain goes away. Acute cases are treated with surgery.
It’s no secret that pain killers merely mask the symptoms of back pain instead of addressing the root cause. They mask the pain, your body’s signal that something is out of alignment. Clearly, something’s not right or your body wouldn’t be in pain.
It could be the way you walk, it could be the new training protocol, there are many factors affecting lower back pain, from obesity to sitting in front of a computer or training at extremely high levels for sports; even smoking has a correlated risk factor for lower back pain.
In a 2009 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, two groups of chronic non-specific lower back pain sufferers were assigned either aerobic training or periodized resistance training for sixteen weeks. Periodization is a method of cycling training to build muscular strength, speed and endurance.
While both groups saw a reduction in body fat, the resistance training group measured a 27% increase in muscular strength and a 63% reduction in lower back pain!
Resistance training has shown very little in the way of results in previous lower back pain studies, so what was different about this resistance training protocol?
The difference was the periodization and whole-body approach. In most studies, participants focus on strengthening their “core,” the muscles of the abdomen and lower back. While these are indeed important postural muscles, they may not be the ones at fault in lower back pain.
For example, weak leg strength may cause you to rely heavily on your arms and torso to lift boxes and move furniture. Thus, excess strain is placed on your lower back, resulting in pain. The solution to this problem is not to strengthen your back but rather your legs.
Your muscles do not function in isolation. Every muscle that flexes affects another part of your body; therefore, it’s not helpful to train your muscles in isolation. This kind of training – bicep curls and calf raises and the like – is born of the bodybuilding culture where perfectly toned muscles win big competitions. Unfortunately, those muscles don’t help get you out of pain, so if you want lower back pain relief, train like an athlete instead of a bodybuilder – focus on function.
Lower back pain plagues millions of Americans – and probably Europeans, Japanese and any other culture that spends copious amounts of time in the seated position. A stiff, tight lower back limits your physical mobility, puts a cap on athleticism and just plain makes you feel old.
American doctors insist on continuing to make minced meat out of our population with back surgeries and fusions. While surgery definitely has its purpose and place, its application to back pain is debatable, especially considering so many back surgeries fail that this phenomenon in and of itself has been given its very own clinical diagnosis: Failed Back Syndrome.
What causes lower back pain in the first place? In order to correct a disorder, we first have to understand it. Before we dive specifically into the structure and function of the lumbar spine and pelvis, let’s take a step back and look at the human body as a whole.
It’s common to look at human anatomy the way you would a building; there is the skeleton which gives shape to the overall form, and upon the skeleton is draped a network of soft tissue that we use for locomotion. This way of looking at the body is backwards, though, because unlike a building, humans move. We are dynamic creatures, not static structures.
Our bodies more closely simulate a tensegrity structure, conceptualized by Buckminster Fuller, where the bones are “suspended” in a matrix of soft tissue, the tension of which determines the alignment of the skeletal structure.
To visualize this, imagine a skeleton. I know you’ve seen one lurking in the corner of your biology classroom, even if he was made of plastic. Now, remember how this skeleton was presented? All the bones were wired together and the whole thing was hung from a hook, right? That’s because if you tried to stack up those bones one by one, they would just fall over in a heap. Something has to hold them together, keep them in place. That stuff is your muscles and connective tissue.
So, returning to the causes of lower back pain, now we can understand how the low back might become compromised. Instead of looking directly at the spine for dysfunction, we can look at the soft tissue matrix (muscles and connective tissue) to see where the tension is too tight and where it is too loose.
And here we have some help. Czechoslovakian Physiotherapist and Physician Vladamir Janda pioneered the field of structural medicine, discovering that muscle imbalances are predictable and involve the whole body. With regard to lower back pain, Janda discovered a common postural dysfunction that he termed Lower Cross Syndrome.
Lower cross syndrome could also be referred to as an “anteriorly rotated pelvis.” In the picture here, you can see how excessive tension in the erector spinae muscles of the lower back and the quadriceps muscles (hip flexors) of the front of the thigh pull the pelvis into a forward-tipped position.
This is the common lower cross syndrome in which the gluteus muscles of the hip and butt as well as the transversis abdominus muscle of the lower abdomen weaken while the lower back muscles and thigh muscles become hypertonic.
People exhibiting the lower cross syndrome will have a swayback appearance, and because the low back muscles are doing the work of holding this person upright, they’ll become tight and painful.
And there you have the most common cause of lower back pain.
The first step to eliminating lower cross syndrome is to loosen up what’s too tight. Structural bodywork like Rolfing can do this and accelerate your long term healing; however, this is only one half of the equation.
For long term lower back pain relief, you have to also tighten up what’s too loose, a.k.a. strengthen the weak muscles. What’s the ideal exercise to do this? The kettlebell swing is perfectly designed to eliminate lower cross syndrome.
The kettlebell swing – either a one-handed swing or two-handed – forces you to fire up your glutes and hamstrings in order to power the bell upward. At the top of the swing, there is a full extension of the hip which lengthens hypertonic quadriceps muscles and causes the transversus abdominus muscle to contract.
For optimal results, start with a weight that challenges you but is not too heavy. If you start with heavy weights, you’re likely to pull too much with your upper back and shoulders, over-arching your lower back and further cementing in your swayback. Do sets of 10-20 swings to start, working up to one and two minute sets as you become stronger and more comfortable with the kettlebell.
About Mike MahlerToday I’m honored to bring you an interview with internationally recognized strength trainer, kettlebell instructor and nutrition expert, Mike Mahler. Mike has always been an inspiration to me. He is deeply knowledgeable about all facets of fitness and is a superb teacher, having the ability to synthesize complicated scientific concepts into logical and actionable strategies for health.
Mike Mahler has taught numerous strength and conditioning workshops and seminars around the world, most recently focusing on nutrition and lifestyle strategies for hormone optimization and combating systemic inflammation. Mike has published hundreds of articles on training and nutrition and is the creator of several DVDs including Advanced Kettlebell Training and Hormone Optimization.
I’ve asked Mike to share his knowledge of systemic inflammation, its effects on physical aches and pains and its correlation with aging.
Without further ado…
Inflammation is the result of an immune response to irritation, infection, or injury. When we are under stress, eat the wrong foods, workout too much, fail to get enough deep sleep and restoration, we develop a high level of inflammation that the immune system has a hard time keeping at bay. As a result, we develop GI tract issues such as IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), joint pain, muscle pain, and ultimately serious diseases as the immune system becomes very week after years and years of fighting inflammation and no longer functions adequately. The immune system can even become confused and attack healthy tissue and this is what autoimmune diseases are such as arthritis are.
Many people have high inflammation due to too much Omega 6 consumption and not enough Omega 3. Omega 6 is pro-inflammatory and ramps up levels of AA (arachidonic acid). Omega 3 is anti-inflammatory and ramps of levels of ALA (alpha linolenic acid). According to essential fatty acid expert, Udo Erasmus you want a 2:1 ratio of Omega 3 to 6. This is especially important for people that are already experiencing the negatives of too much inflammation.
Lowering excess inflammation makes you more disease proof to cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, arthritis and IBS. I am not going to say that you will never get these diseases if you address inflammation but it definitely stacks the odds in your favor.
Some signs of high levels of inflammation include joint pain, muscle pain, GI tract issues, and low energy. You can also do a blood test for HS (highly sensitive) c-reactive protein. C-reactive protein is a measurement of inflammation.
When inflammation goes up, the body has an immune response to lower it by increasing cortisol levels, as cortisol is an anti-inflammatory hormone. The hormonal pathway goes from the master sex hormone Pregnenelone to cortisol instead of the ultimate stress management hormone DHEA and you are left with much lower levels of DHEA, androstendione, testosterone, and progesterone. Thus lowering inflammation is critical for hormone optimization. DHEA in particular is a potent anti-inflammation hormone and one that is depleted when we are under long-term stress.
It plays a big role and generally constant pain in one area is a sign of high levels of systemic inflammation. Lowering high levels of inflammation overall well help with pain that seems isolated such as elbow pain and knee pain. A high level of inflammation is a sign that we are out of balance and need to address it. Stress management or even better stress eradication is a must in addressing high levels of inflammation.
I think every ailment and disease can be correlated to high levels of inflammation. When we have inflammation that is out of control we are much more disease prone. Heart disease, asthma, arthritis, you name it. Inflammation is definitely a factor.
High sugar and processed food consumption are the primary causes of inflammation. I firmly believe that sugar plays the biggest role in all diseases and is highly addictive. Sugar addiction is not much different than hardcore drug addiction as far too many people realize. Tell the average person to cut out sugar for a week and they will have some serious withdrawal symptoms before the week is up. Too much caffeine consumption also causes a lot of inflammation.
Sugar causes inflammation by prompting the hormone insulin to be elevated all the time. Insulin is not something we want high all day long. It constricts the arteries and raises blood pressure. It causes a great deal of inflammation. What we want is insulin sensitivity, which means we only have to produce a small amount to get the job done. Insulin is a critical hormone for life and without it our cells will die and us with it. The key is to keep insulin sensitivity high by eating a good amount of high quality protein, healthy fats, and low glycemic carbs such as legumes, berries and many vegetables at each meal.
Taking longer stretches in between each meal such as 6-8 hours will also play a big role in keeping insulin sensitive and inflammation down. According to Byron Richards, author of The Leptin Diet, Insulin starts going down three hours after we eat. When that occurs, the hormone glucagon is released from the pancreas to pull energy from the liver and then stored body fat to keep our glucose levels stable for optimal functioning. Thus, we are essentially getting a snack on stored body fat in between each meal.
Regarding specific foods that lower inflammation that will vary with each person. This is why food sensitivity testing is important. It tells you exactly which foods are ideal for you. Why every diet ultimately fails without exception is that it cannot take you as an individual into account. Food sensitivities are food allergies in slow motion. I learned about this from my friend Dr Peter Rouse of the AF performance center in Santa Monica.
Yes and I have two favorites for lowering inflammation: magnesium oil and systemic enzymes.
Magnesium is critical for overall health and lowering inflammation and magnesium oil is the best source of magnesium as it by passes the GI tract and has much higher absorption. It has also been shown to ramp up the stress management hormone DHEA that I can personally attest to as it took me from low normal to high normal. Here are some key benefits of magnesium from a book called The Magnesium Miracle
Click here for more information on magnesium oil
Next I love systemic enzymes and have been using them for many years after I learned about them from my friend Dr William Wong N.D. I have tried several good brands but my current favorite is Excylzym. Here is what systemic enzymes do:
For more info on Excylzym, visit Mike Mahler’s website
Other supplements I like include resveratrol, curcumin, zinc, tocotrienols, and phosphatidylserine. However, Magnesium oil and systemic enzymes are by far the most powerful supplements to fight excess inflammation.
Find out more about Mike Mahler’s workshops, books and DVDs at www.MikeMahler.com