Training Goals

photo by gisarah

Goals are those terrible things that cause you to smash into obstacles because your eyes are on the finish line and not the race.

###

A determined young woman seeks to become the world’s greatest martial artist.

She travels to a remote province in China to learn from the world’s foremost teacher.

After training with the Master for a week, she asks, “How long will it take me to become the world’s greatest martial artist?

"Five years," he whispers.

"That’s too long,” she responds. “What if I were to work harder than anyone else?”

"Ten years, he whispers."

"Ten years? she repeats with astonishment. “What if I practice more intensely than even you? How long will it take me then to become the world’s greatest?”

"Twenty years," he whispers.

"Master,” she shouts, “why whenever I say I’ll double my efforts do you say it will take me twice as long to reach my goal?"

"Because my child, when you focus one eye on your goal, you can only
focus one eye on your training."

How to Choose The Best Self-Massage Tool

The most important thing to look for in a massage tool is one that will leave you feeling better than when you started. Just how much better determines how effective the massage tool is. In Part III of this series of posts called "Massage Tools that Work," we’ll take a look at some alternatives to the foam roller, in search of the perfect massage tool, or at least my idea of one.

Here’s what I look for in a massage tool:

Power: Does the massage tool let you control the intensity of the stroke?
Precision: Does it enable you to direct pressure to the precise muscle that needs it?
Reach: Does it empower you to reach your back body and the bottoms of your feet?
Relaxation: Does the tool let you relax while delivering intensity?
Release: Does it enable you to effectively release trigger points?
Portability: Is it easy to carry around? The smaller the better.
Aesthetics: Is the tool cool looking or frightening?
Ergonomics: If it’s meant to fit comfortably in your hand, does it?
Versatility: Can you use it to massage everything from your toes to your head?
Final Test: Does it leave you feeling better than when you started?

Massage Tools that Work
No doubt, hands down, the best massage tools are your hands. The tools listed below are intended to make your hands even more effective. Here are some of the massage tools I’ve tried with varying degrees of success:

The®Stick is the best marketed massage tool on the market but fails my first rule. It doesn’t make my hands more effective. The stick suffers from many of the same problems the foam roller does. It lacks precision, and unlike the roller it does nothing for my back body.

The Trigger Wheel® is powerful and precise. I’ve found it effectively releases trigger points. It’s a little short on reach and style.

The Dolphin massage tool is aesthetically pleasing and can be used to effectively release trigger points, it too lacks reach. But its snout, fins and tail make it fairly versatile, powerful, and precise.


The Knobble II® is a pleasant looking tool that comes in bright colors. It feels good in your hand and can be used to effectively resolve trigger points. It fits in your pocket so you can take it any where. And while you can rest it on the floor and lean your back into it to release trigger points it is not as effective as other tools for delivering a back massage. On the other hand, it can be extremely precise and powerful.

The Bongers are a fun drumming massage tool used to deliver a pleasant stimulating stroke. I don't find it a particularly effective tool for releasing trigger points, but it leaves me filled with energy. It feels good to bong yourself or a friend.


AccuMassage: This tool has by far the most interesting design and is surprisingly effective at releasing trigger points in the neck and shoulders. And if that is your only purpose in owning a massage tool this is the one for you. But it won’t do much for your back or feet. Use this tool in public and you’re guaranteed to attract attention.

The Ma Roller is a terrific tool if all you want to massage are the muscles on either side of your spinal column. It will also work on your hamstrings, calf muscles, and glutes but it’s less effective on your front body and certainly not on your face or hands. It suffers from many of the same drawbacks as the foam roller, but I like it better than the roller because it can be much more effective on your erector spinae muscles and it’s more powerful.

The Foam Roller lacks precision, isn’t particularly portable, and is not effective at releasing trigger points. I think of it more as an exercise tool than massage tool.


The Theracane® has reach, power, and precision. You can relax while using it, and it effectively releases trigger points. But it looks like a weapon and is not particularly portable.


The Body Back Buddy™ is like the Theracane®, it has reach, power, and precision. The large one I have looks like the Theracane® on steroids so it too lacks portability.


The Backnobber II® may have it all: reach, power, and precision. You can relax and allow your body's weight to press into the tool. It does an excellent job releasing trigger points on your back, the bottoms of your feet, pretty much anywhere you've got them. Its “S” design is simple and pleasing to the eye. And because it snaps into two smaller pieces it’s more portable than the Theracane® or Body Back Buddy™. Its two halves can be used independently of each other if you’re in cramped quarters. It’s only drawback: it won’t fit in your pocket.

*If you know of any tools I should try please let me know.

Conclusion
While no massage tool is perfect, there are many good ones to use depending on your needs. The ones I find myself using most often are the Knobble II® and Backnobber II®. Try them all, find the ones that you like best, and let me know what works for you.

This is the third of a three part series called "Massage Tools that Work."

Why Foam Rollers May Still Rock

Pain
If foam rollers are ineffective why did they become such popular massage tools? I think the answer is uncomfortable. The foam roller’s chief claim to fame may be pain, not the masochistic kind, but a kinder gentler pain. It is probably this “good-pain” that rollers produce that’s made them such a hit. Every time you roll on one it causes mild discomfort. The pain coupled with all the positive press about rollers conveys the illusion that something beneficial is happening.

Endorphin Cocktails
Pain releases a flood of natural chemicals collectively called endorphin cocktails, which includes serotonin, adrenaline, anandamide, dopamine, endorphins, and more into your bloodstream. Your body mixes this cocktail to mask the pain. The endorphin mix produces a slow release from pain which feels like pleasure. The fact that you feel enormous relief getting off the foam further convinces you that the roller did more good than it has. Pain is very persuasive.

Effective Marketing
Another reason for the rollers’ popularity is that they’re easy for professional health care providers to recommend. Foam rollers are inexpensive, look like fun, and have a good reputation. They’re unlikely to cause harm to those athletes who roll on them. They’re also effectively marketed by a talented sales force. And finally, rollers don’t offer much competition. No health care provider has ever lost a client to a foam roller.

Why Rollers Remain Popular
While they may not be great massage tools, foam rollers still rock because they make cool exercise tools. I’ve found they can be very effective props in Pilates and other exercise classes. They are fun to experiment with. They do provide a compression massage which does improve circulation. By placing the large muscles you wish to compress on the roller and allowing your your body’s weight to press them into the hard foam, you not only improve circulation, you release endorphin cocktails, always a pleasant perk. Rollers come in different color coded densities some of which feel better than others. If you do get one, I suggest that you stay away from the white ones which quickly flatten and lose their roll. And if all else fails, Carrie Sauter suggests you can always use the foam roller to rest your head against while lying on the floor watching TV.

This is the second of a three part series called “Massage Tools that Work." “How to Choose The Best Massage Tool” is Part III

Why Use a Foam Roller?

A foam roller is a good alternative to repetitive trips to the massage therapist.
Running Times

On a Roll
Foam rollers may have reached super star status among athletes. Runner’s World has favorably compared their benefits to those of deep tissue massage. They hang out in the best running stores and health clubs. They’re celebrated by massage and physical therapists. They can be seen in YouTube videos beneath the hamstrings and glutes of attractive models.

The foam roller’s ubiquity has made it obligatory in gyms and any serious athlete’s arsenal of workout equipment. Michael Boyle, best selling author of Functional Training for Sports, has called it “the poor man’s massage therapist.” It’s not hard to see why: rollers are easy to use, reasonably attractive, and almost inviting. They’re part tool, part toy. But can they really give you as good a massage as their proponents claim?

Rolling Off
I recently reexamined my relationship with the foam roller and found to my surprise it is far less effective than other tools available for massage. It’s particularly ineffective on trigger points, those tiny knots that form in your muscles. I used to like foam rollers because they came so highly recommended. While I didn’t experience much benefit from them, I did experience sensation as pain, and reasoned it must be doing some good. I thought surely all the experts who recommend them must be right and my body must be wrong. I figured I wasn’t using it correctly. An entire industry can’t be wrong, can it?

After years of experimenting with them, attending workshops and classes, reading about them, and watching instruction videos, I have to conclude foam rollers just don’t work, at least for me. Trust your body, that’s the lesson here. If you try the foam roller and you find it a dud, it is. If you use it and it works stick with it no matter what I say--you know your body better than I do.

The Point
Here’s why foam rollers aren’t effective massage tools. For a good massage you need to be able to relax. When you get on a foam roller your muscles tense. Massage therapists want their patients to relax during a massage, foam rollers make that all but impossible. Even if you can get past the tension, foam rollers lack precision. Their wide ride covers too much surface area to press into the small knots of muscle that are trigger points. Precision is why needles are used in acupuncture and dry needling to resolve trigger points. But you don’t need needles to dissolve most trigger points and receive the benefits of massage.

For trigger point release, you need a tool that is more precise than a roller and shaped at least in part like a small ball or knob. The roller compresses the whole muscle without offering the offending trigger point the exacting pressure required to release it. The reason rollers are usually recommended as massage tools is the belief that they release trigger points This they fail to do by a wide margin. That is why Clair and Amber Davies in their excellent work, The Trigger Point Workbook, made no mention of them. They recommended tools with knobs and blunt tips like the Theracane, Backnobber II, and the Knobble II. Using a foam roller to activate trigger points may be like using a broom to brush your teeth.

This is the first of a three part series called “Massage Tools that Work”

Sixteen Cool Google Tricks

photo by kimbalina

I always feel better when I learn something new. Hopefully some of these Google tricks and links will be new to you too. Give them a try and see what you think:

Google Fact Finders
Google for Airline Tracking
Try it: Type the “airline” and “flight number” in the search box and hit enter.
Example: United 714

Google as Calculator
Try it: Use the symbol “+” to add, “-” to subtract, “*” to multiply, “/” to divide. Type the left side of the equation in the search box and hit enter.
Example: 2+2 2-2 2*2 2/2
note: for more functions click: http://www.soople.com/soople_intcalchome.php

Google as Dictionary
Try it: Type “define” and the “word” you want defined in the search box and hit enter.
Example: define natatorium

Google for Movie Schedules & Reviews
Try it: Type “movies city state” in the search box, hit return, and then on the next screen click “Showtimes”
Example: movies boulder colorado
Click Showtimes

Google for Music Information
Try it: Type the “name” of a musician or band in the search box, hit enter, and the first entry on the next screen will usually contain info on the band’s music, albums, etc.
Example: Holly Cole

Google as Package Tracker
Try it: Type the tracking numbers of packages sent via USPS, FedEx or UPS in the search box and hit enter.
Example: for USPS type: 9876 5432 1098 7654 32
for FedEx type: 98765432109
for UPS type: 1X 9876T 543210987654

Goggle as Phonebook White Pages
Try it: Type a “name city state” in the search box and hit return.
Example: jane smith boulder colorado
or
fleet feet sports boulder, colorado
Google as Phonebook Yellow Pages
Try it: Type a “product or service city state” in the search box and hit return.
Example: pizza boulder colorado

Google for Shopping
Note: Product Search is Google’s shopping search engine.
Try it: Go to Google Product Search or Shopping
and type a product description, name, or model number into the google search box, hit enter, and voila pages of product information appear giving you all the information you need to find the best price and product to meet your needs.
Example: Click here
Type: Self-Massage for Athletes

Google for Stock & Mutual Fund Quotes
Try it: Type the stock or mutual fund symbol in the search box and hit enter.
Example: NKE

Google as Weather Report
Try it: Type “weather city state” in the search box and hit return.
Example: weather boulder colorado



photo by manfrys

Google Search Tips

Google empowers you to increase the size of its typeface
Try it: For macs hit the “command” key and “+” key simultaneously. For pc’s hit the “control” key and “+” key simultaneously. Use the “-” key to shrink them and hit the appropriate “command” or “control” key.

Google answers questions
Try it: Type a question in the form of a statement in the search box and hit enter. Use “*” to represent the missing fact and limit the statement to ten words or less.
Example: * won the 1991 New York Marathon

Google lets you find the precise phrase you need
Try it: Put quotes around the exact group of words you want to locate.
Example: "how to train to run a marathon"

Google lets you exclude a term from a search result
Try it: Insert a “-” in front of the word you wish to exclude from your search. The following example is if you want pages about running but not racing.
Example: running -racing

Google lets you narrow a search
Trick: If your original search term doesn’t get you the exact information you need, use the Search Within Results link at the bottom of the google page to refine your search by adding a new search term.
Example: Search term #1: Running shoes
Search term #2: click the Search Within Results link and in the search box and type: black

Google’s Cheat Sheet
Try it: to view some of these and other tips type “google cheat sheet” in the search box and hit enter.
Example: Click on this link: http://www.google.com/help/cheatsheet.html

Soople.com
Try it: to view some of these and other tips type “soople.com” in the search box and hit enter.
Example: Click this link: http://www.soople.com/