Tomorrow is Festivus Day.
Not feeling like celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or Diwali? Just not your jam?
I have a solution for you, made popular again on Seinfeld (well, now I am dating myself because this was in 1997!) by George Constanza’s dad.
Festivus!
You don’t have to fuss with a tree. Instead, an unadorned aluminum pole is the symbol of Festivus.
So cheery!
Meatloaf is the suggested dinner time main course (this is yum!) and after dinner you & your guests can enjoy “feats of strength” and/or “airing of grievances”.
Here is yet another reason to work on your muscles: you certainly wouldn’t want to be shown up during the “feats of strength”
portion of the evening.
Challenge someone to a bear crawl backwards up the stairs for instance!
That is always a big hit amongst guests. 😉
Have you tried it?
The video above shows you how!
Here’s to balance, strength for the ‘feats of strength’ contests, and lots of joyful giggling happiness,
🙂 Laura
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Happy National Caroling Day! Go on out there and sing. Why, you say? Singing helps maintain the muscles in the back of the throat, which helps maintain the space and shape of the inside of the mouth. Why is that important? Cosmetically: It can help your face to not collapse in or get a double chin. It can also help your teeth stay straight and not wreck the braces you had as a kid. Functionally: You want to maintain a nice big throat opening to avoid your throat closing at night when you sleep, so you don’t get sleep apnea or snore. The muscles on the inside of the mouth can become lax, and just like any other muscles that don’t get worked they lose their tone and shape. This is a fun way to work out muscles! AND check this out from nicenews.com : “A growing body of research shows that singing together at any occasion, holiday or not, boosts well-being. One of the reasons for that is endorphins, those happy hormones runners are always going on about. There you have it: Singing keeps the shape of your face intact, gives you an endorphin boost, and can combat the national epidemic of loneliness if you happen to sing in a group setting. WOW! The video above is my friend Tara’s choir ensemble singing one of the many holiday songs our audience was treated to this last Sunday. It is a beautiful song and a lovely 5 minute break, even if you just turn it on in the background. Happy Wednesday! Here’s to balance, strength, and happiness, 🙂 Laura |
Happy National Bake Cookies Day!
Wrists can get out of whack with lots of holiday baking and furious amounts of online ordering. 🙂
I talked about my friend the baker who needed help with her wrist and I suggested involving her shoulder blade to help use the entire shoulder and all of it’s muscles.
That is a great global technique and tip, but sometimes you need to get rid of localized tightness in the forearm in the short term.
Let’s keep this quick this week as Hanukkah wrapped up recently, and Christmas and Kwanzaa are rapidly upon us:
Today’s video is a quick follow along forearm stretcher.
Hang in there, you’ve got this!
Here’s to balance, strength, and happiness,
🙂 Laura
Remember what we were talking about on Monday?
Why you really really really need a workout buddy?
Because it is difficult for lonely people to stick to an exercise routine.
Well, my brilliant sister-in- law Linda researched it, and guess who else had something to say about that:
Dr. Vivek Murthy, the United States Surgeon General!
He created a first ever directive in 2022.
(Was it a repeat of the smoking directive? I remember cutting that one out of Parade magazine at the bottom of the cigarette ads and tearfully giving it to my dad, who clearly didn’t know. He stopped smoking later on, so I bet I made a difference. 😉
Nope: Dr. V wants to fight the Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.
What??
Loneliness is of EPIDEMIC proportions!
Epidemic.
Wow!
Quote of note: “Lacking connection can increase the risk of premature death to levels comparable to smoking daily.”
So: you might as well be a smoker if you aren’t hanging out with some friends or family or neighbors or community group.
Just because you have people around you doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t feel lonely, either.
Compelling, eh?
In the 2 min video I linked above, he has four simple strategies to help gain connections.
He’s a pretty hip S.G. and has lot of interesting podcasts out too…you go, Dr. V!
Here’s to balance, strength, and connected happiness,
🙂 Laura
Did you see this social media post the other day?
“Lonely people are less likely to be able to keep up an exercise routine” 💔
How do I know that?
My amazing University of Chicago professor sister-in-law Dr. Linda Waite was speaking on the importance of social connections & wellbeing with Ira Flatow.
20 years ago she started the “National Social Life Health and Aging Study” to explore the links between the social world and other domains of health.
The WHO doesn’t define health as the absence of disease or illness; instead it encompasses positive mental, psychological, physical, and social wellbeing. This definition was the foundation of their research.
This loneliness finding is just one of the many conclusions and outcomes they have discovered and written papers on.
It speaks to my love of accountability workout buddies in a new way: we don’t want you lonely and we don’t want that to get in the way of your physical health!
So, reach out to that neighbor or friend you’ve been meaning to go for a walk with.
It could very well be lifesaving for both of you!
The clip above is just a smidge of the goldmine of information she discussed. Here is the link to the full interview:
I will delve more into this later this week! Happy Monday!
Here’s to balance, strength, and happiness,
🙂 Laura
Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate and Happy Brownie Day for the rest of you!
Well, it is funny to me that I was just writing about if I had a dollar for every time I heard, “If I could just put my socks on without back pain”…
Because today I heard it again!
In this case, this client also presented me with another big issue: ridiculously tight insides of thighs.
The photos above of Mr. Smiley 🙂 show you what a really tight insides of the thigh looks like.
So, if this is also your problem or additionally your problem…then we need some additional strategies.
Can you cross your foot onto your knee, or will your knee stick straight up into the air?
There are two things happening: the insides of the thighs are tight, and the femur isn’t rotating in the socket very well.
The insides of the thighs are a group of 5 big powerful muscles, and it is important to keep them under control.
If they dominate the leg, they can grab the femur and twist it in, giving you the appearance of having what I call “eggbeater on land” knees.
Not a good look, and the knees really don’t like to twist like that.
Try the exercise here https://youtu.be/yiJrGstbHnU for a way to get them to calm down and make it more possible to cross your foot on your knee.
Then you can go after what we talked about on Wednesday and get the rotation in the femur or upper leg bone working again.
Here’s to an amazing FRiYAY and here we gooooo into the holiday season, so keep after your balance, strength, and happiness!
🙂 Laura
Happy Eat a Red Apple Day!
Don’t forget to take a break from all the sweets and treats headed your way this holiday season…grab an apple instead!
So I was at soccer the other night, and one of my teammates asked a question about her wrist.
She works at a bakery and one of her jobs is to actually bake, which requires whisking.
Her wrist was now getting sore from all of the whisking.
If you need to also bake this holiday season, here’s what I told her:
Remember that there are 17 muscles that act on the shoulder joint.
If you are just using the wrist to whisk (or mouse!) then you are effectively cutting off all the power and stability and strength that those 17 muscles can contribute.
See if you can get the lower part of the shoulder blade (not the top part! That will give you a headache!) involved in the whisking motion.
That gets more of the 17 muscles to help out, rather than look on helplessly as the poor wrist does all the work.
The shoulder blade is to the arm what the hip is to the leg…the anchor and powerhouse.
Are you familiar with the shoulder blade area?
I have a great < 5 minute anatomy video so you can get to know this part of your body. Being able to see exactly where the muscles are is so interesting!
Have fun baking, don’t forget to eat an apple or two, and Happy Monday!
Rabbit rabbit!
Here’s to balance, strength, and baking happiness,
🙂 Laura
Happy Put on Your Own Shoes Day.
If I had a dollar for every time someone wished they could just put their shoe or sock on without back pain, I would be a wealthy woman.
It is a relatively simple fix, and maybe one you hadn’t thought of.
Remember that the upper leg bone- the femur- sits in the hip socket.
It moves two directions: straight up when you pick your leg up off the ground, and it rotates.
What, you say?
Rotates?
Why yes it does!
It is the rotational component that everyone forgets about, and maybe doesn’t know how to tap into.
It is that rotational movement that will help you get your leg to move from the HIP, rather than trying to use just your leg or back instead.
When you use your hip, you take pressure off of your back, and then your back doesn’t hurt when your try to cross your foot on your knee to get your sock on!
The exercise I use to help re-introduce the rotational component into the hip is above.
Happy sock and shoe putting on!
Happy no back pain!
Today is my daughter’s birthday, so Happy Birthday to my favorite Sarah. 🙂
Here’s to balance, strength, and Wednesday happiness,
🙂 Laura
Wow, Hokas nation, you are a loyal and passionate group.
You drank the kool aid in a big way!
I have posted a couple videos on Instagram pointing out that Hokas are making bad movement situations worse, and oh boy the comments roll in!
It is pretty amazing.
What do I mean by that?
Well, waaaay back in 2014 when I first started blogging I wrote about shoes.
Here is the blog if you want to read it:
I had just read this book and was astounded by one paragraph in particular.
I don’t have the book in front of me, and this might be a direct quote from the book or my summation, but it goes like this:
“The major shoe companies have known for decades that the more cushion the shoe has, the less the muscles in the lower leg actually end up working.”
Translated:
more cushion = more problems.
Now, if I was smart, I wouldn’t say a thing.
This is job security and an endless source of clients for me having all these people think Hokas are great and super and awesome.
However, that’s not how I roll.
So just save both of us a lot of time and angst and potential source of injury …
JUST SAY NO TO HOKAS!
NO!
Send them to your worst enemy, maybe. 🙂
Just kidding!
Last Reminder: NO CUSHY SHOES! PLEASE!
Here’s to balance, strength, and happiness,
🙂 Laura
Do you have someone in your family that could use a little help with their muscles but you’re not sure where to start?
OR do you want something for you, but you won’t buy it for yourself or you want to buy it as a gift ‘for the house’ and that way you can use it, too? 😉
I got you, either way. 🙂
I have three ideas for gifts for the holidays that are tried and true at my house, and that I find myself using over and over.
Here are my recommendations:
1. Fascia blaster- sounds dubious but this has a cosmetic as well as athletic application
2. Infrared cupping device -aka “lazy girl cupping”
3. Infrared neoprene wrap – the best anti soreness and anti inflammatory device to complement all the icing you’ve done for decades.
I have videos for each item, and a link to expedite finding the exact one. The DGYAO infrared wrap takes you to their website, and I know you can find it elsewhere. I am not a fan of Am*zon, so I try not to send links to that company website if at all possible for a myriad of reasons.
Full disclaimer: Two of the links are affiliate links so those companies will know I sent you. However, I bought these and tested them without the companies knowing about it, so I am not unduly influencing you. These are things I really truly like and use.
I fully believe you can have an awesome home gym for under $100, and these items are non-essential, but crazy useful.
I fully believe you can have an awesome home gym for under $100, and these items are non-essential, but crazy useful.
They might make life easier faster, and muscle recovery sooner and with less soreness.
I have timed this email with big sales, so you hopefully spend the least amount of money possible and get the biggest bang for your buck.
Any questions?
Shoot me an email back, always.
Here’s to balance, strength, and ease of holiday shopping happiness,
🙂 Laura
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