Quadriceps Massage

If you've got quads, you'll benefit from massaging them. But this massage is particularly helpful if you run (especially up hills), cycle, ski, board, play soccer, practice karate, squat, or jump rope.

Your quadriceps are a muscle group made up of four distinct muscles which live in the front of your thigh. The four muscles are rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. But you can call them all Bob. They're probably the strongest leanest muscles in your body. They straighten your knee when getting up from a seat, walking, running, cycling or any other activity that requires you to straighten your leg. So if your knees are a problem, the problem may be in your quads. Massage them regularly and your knee may feel better, but your quads definitely will. Try it: Quad Massage: Do It while You View It.

Naked Aerobic Foot Massage

Clothing is not at option. Check out this new youtube video Naked Aerobic Foot Massage: Do It while You View It. It's intended to be a workout and foot massage, but mostly a workout. You can do it at your desk in about 2 minutes. And it really can get aerobic. Try ten reps with a minute recovery. This video is meant to be part of a series of aerobic foot massage videos. I posted the first of the series, Aerobic Foot Massage, in June. Clothing was optional in that one. Hope you like them.

Therapeutic Foot Massage and Exercise

I hope you'll try my new foot massage video, Foot Massage with 2 Tennis Balls: Do It while You View It, for foot therapy and a workout. I used it to treat my neuroma and cramping in my feet. The cramping in my feet had been a problem my whole life. The neuroma had been bothering me on and off for a few years but grew much worse in the last six months. And now both problems are gone. In addition to its therapeutic value, this video can be a pretty good workout. Do it fast, hard, and often. It'll give you an aerobic workout at your desk and get the circulation going in your feet no matter how cold your office gets.

Chest Pec Self-Massage

Since being hit by a car in July, I've been unable to run and have been doing lots of swimming and more weight lifting. As a result my pecs were sore so I came up with this chest massage YouTube video. It's done me some good, hope it does you some. Try it out Chest Pec Massage: Do It while You View It. Let me know what you think.

photo by Mylor

Hamstring Massage

Want healthier, happier, younger, snappier, more articulate hamstrings? Check out the latest youtube video Hamstring Massage: Do It while You View It. A tennis ball, a backnobbber II, and your own hands are all you need. Actually all you need are your hands but the other stuff is nice. Give it a try and let me know what you think.




photo by ijiwar jimbo creative commons license

Foot Massage Workout

If you’ve ever wanted to warm up at your desk before going out for a run, walk, or whatever, I've got a video for you. It's a short warm up you can do at your desk before going out or, if you want a challenge, it's an interval routine you can do in your chair. It comes with free foot massage. To try it now, click here

Foot Health and Self-Massage

Four million years for the human foot to evolve, 200 years for modern shoes to undo it.

Your feet are highly evolved complex instruments. Each foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, and 20 muscles. Most of the major muscles live in the soles of your feet along with more than 200,000 nerve endings. These are among the richest concentrations of sensory neurons in your body. Their purpose is to transmit information to the rest of you, especially your legs. They thrive on sensation, without it they die.

Modern Shoes
Your shoes act as sensory deprivation chambers for your feet. Sensory deprivation has been shown to be harmful, sometimes deadly. Want to drive someone crazy? Deprive them of sensory input. Want to damage your body? Deprive it of sensory stimulation. That’s what shoes, in part, do to your feet.

Information Transfer
Our feet, as evidenced by their large supply of nerve endings, are designed to transmit information about our environment. Without shoes, our feet tell us when they hit the ground so our legs can absorb the impact. Because of the cushioned shoes we wear our feet don’t get the message and neither do our legs so neither can do their job. Our whole body pays the price, especially our legs. For more on this check out this article You Walk Wrong.

To some extent your body compensates for this lack of sensory feedback by getting used to the shoes in question and calculating the correct response to each step you take. To make the calculation easier, it makes sense to wear shoes with little cushioning and be consistent in the shoes you wear.

Massage
Bare foot walking provides a massage for your feet as they directly touch a rich and varied terrain. Shoes prevent your feet from getting the daily massage they need. Unless you’re walking around barefoot, you need another way to get your feet the sensory stimulation they must have to remain healthy.

A handy way to deliver the sensory information your body needs is massage, and the handiest way to massage your feet may not be with your hands but with your balls, tennis balls that is. Just put them under your feet and run with them. You should be seated when you try it. Here, take a look at this foot massage video and give your feet a treat.

Recommendation
Keep a couple of tennis balls under your desk, and from time to time kick off your shoes and roll your feet over your tennis balls. Your whole body will thank you for it.