May 20, 2022

Good Vibes

 

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Amp up your workouts and recovery with some good vibrations! Vibration therapy is a powerful tool for muscle tension, pain relief, and increased flexibility — before, after, and even as your workout. Here are a few modalities to target every body part from head to toe.

POWER PLATE MOVE $2995. The Power Plate is a both a vibrating recovery and workout platform, and the space-saving MOVE offers the perfect combination of size and function. It utilizes multi-directional vibration technology that causes reflexive muscular responses for better balance, mobility, and strength development. Vibrating with a frequency of 25 to 50 times per second (25Hz to 50Hz), it works muscles harder and in a shorter time frame than with traditional methods. The Power Plate also stimulates lymphatic flush, improves circulation, and promotes faster recovery of damaged muscles, tendons, and joints.

TRIGGERPOINT MB VIBE BALL $79.95. With its spherical design, multi-directional rolling, and 3 vibration speeds, the TriggerPoint MB Vibe penetrates deep into muscles to target tightness and relieve pain far more effectively than a non-vibrating ball. Ideal for use before and after workouts, it loosens and lengthens muscles to increase flexibility, and reduce pain and stiffness. Just 4 inches in diameter, carry it with you to have on hand anytime! Read More

 

August 20, 2020

Heal Thyself

 

 

For many fitness lovers and weekend warriors, overuse injuries often come with the territory. Luckily there are chiropractors, acupuncturists, and massage therapists to get us back in action as fast as possible. When the coronavirus pandemic hit however, those practitioners’ offices closed, and with that went the treatments and therapies on which we’ve come to rely.

Though many sport and physical therapists’ offices are now open, with Covid fears and the pandemic lingering, some people are still reluctant to go, despite the safety precautions doctors and health practitioners have taken. While we can’t replace the hands-on techniques of a great physical therapist, there are a number of things we can do ourselves to keep those nagging injuries from becoming more serious.

One of my primary sport therapists is Dr. Peter Duggan of Fuel Spine & Sport in Manhattan, where in addition to skeletal adjustments, they use active release therapy, along with a variety of other muscular therapies and modalities to treat both recreational and professional athletes. He and I spoke about what recovery therapies we can do on our own when getting into the doctor’s office is not an option or as convenient as it once was. Read More

 

March 29, 2019

Strtchd & Lymbr

 

 

Stretching went Hollywood on Showtime’s Billions last Sunday when a mysterious blond showed up at finance tycoon Bobby Axelrod’s penthouse. We assumed she was there to provide some sort of service, but surprised to find out what it was. When U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades walks in on them and comments, “Here you are dry as a bone after a workout,”Ace replies, “No workout. Kelly just stretches me. She’s the best in the city.” Later in the episode, she would be seen stretching Rhoades.

While having a personal stretcher may be the new luxury for billionaires where once a masseuse’s hands would be, stretching — or getting stretched — has become one of the newest wellness trends to go mainstream with boutique stretching studios popping up across the country. In New York City, you’ve got Stretchd, Racked, and Lymbr — the latter with multiple bi-coastal locations. Nationwide there is Stretch Zone and StretchLab. Read More

 

January 22, 2018

31 Days of Wellness: The Final Countdown

 

 
Here we are in the final week of January’s 31 Days of Wellness! Our monthlong journey through the wellness landscape continues with more of the most buzzed about trends, classes, and nutrition. As you can see from above I’ve been busy with cryotherapy, hip hop yoga, thermal baths, Bulletproof coffee, infrared saunas, Spiderbands, mediation, and lots more! We kick it off this week with…
 

 
January 22: INVERSION THERAPY. Gravity boots, inversion tables and chairs… the practice and benefits of hanging upside down has been around for decades. I stumbled upon it today at a friends house who has a wall yoga set up I couldn’t resist giving a try.

For spinal decompression and traction, inversion therapy is often used to treat lower back pain. Overall, the benefits of relieving gravitational pressure on the spine and stretching the surrounding musculature are increased flexibility, better circulation, and improved posture. When standing upright, gravity pulls everything in our body downwards, most notably is blood. When you are inverted you reverse that blood flow in your body which turns on the lymphatic system to flush out toxins and boost the immune system. Read More

 

November 13, 2017

Rapid Fire Relief

 

THERAGUN G2PRO

From professional athletes to celebrities to everyday fitness enthusiasts like you and I, the secret weapon in everyone’s training arsenal these days is the TheraGun. Utilizing high frequency percussive massage, the TheraGun is a handheld, battery operated, professional grade, vibration therapy tool designed to reduce muscle and joint pain, improve mobility, and enhance performance.

Designed by Dr. Jason Wersland, D.C., a chiropractor and the founder/inventor of TheraGun, this power drill like tool uses vibration therapy to provide high frequency percussion massage to targeted areas. According to Wersland, vibration therapy works on the nervous system, in addition to the muscular system, to reset the body’s response to pain and immobility from overuse or an injury. It literally shakes it all back into place.
Read More

 

June 15, 2016

Shock To The System

 

 

As athletes, we are always on the quest for the latest innovation in sports medicine to prevent injuries from taking us out of the game. One of this editor’s go to resources is Duke Chiropractic, which offers full service sports rehabilitation. The latest innovation we discovered there is called “EPAT” or “Radial Shockwave Therapy.” EPAT stands for Extracorporeal Pulse Activation Technology, and is one of the most advanced and highly effective non-invasive treatments for neuromuscular disorders approved by the FDA.

In an overuse injury of a muscle or tendon, when we experience pain it is usually a result of inflammation. The body’s natural response is to create scar tissue to help heal the area, but according to Dr. Scott Duke of Duke Chiropractic, scar tissue reduces mobility, it is very weak and tears, and leads to the formation of more scar tissue and more pain. Probably most critical is that it lacks the blood supply to nourish and heal the injured area.

Enter EPAT, a regenerative treatment for tendon, muscle and bone disorders. Through a pneumatically controlled hand piece, compressed air produces a shockwave that delivers thousands of impulses deep within the tissue. These high frequency pressure waves feel like rapid fire zaps, and stimulate the body’s own reparative reaction, to enhance blood circulation and accelerate the healing process. Says Dr. Duke, ”With EPAT we can literally destroy scar tissue and help regenerate new tissue within the joint that prior to EPAT was too deep for our hands to reach.”

EPAT can be used to treat many painful soft tissue injuries, including Plantar Fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, acute and chronic muscle pain and other conditions. At Duke Chiropractic they also use EPAT to treat frozen shoulder, post operative rotator cuff injuries, and even hip and knee replacements where scar tissue limits mobility and causes pain.

Radial Shockwave Therapy can also help the body produce more collagen — the protein that helps give tendons and ligaments their structure. There is an analgesic effect as well that can provide immediate pain relief. But probably the best news for athletes is that patients can continue activities immediately after treatment. There is no down time for those of us for whom there is nothing worse than being sidelined by a nagging injury.

 

February 3, 2015

Cryotherapy

 
 C’MON IN… IT’S FREEZING INSIDE!

 
Last week, on the snow day that was the Blizzard of 2015, I trekked over to another frozen tundra called KryoLife on West 57th St, to try “Cryotherapy”, where I stood naked in the cold in 240F below zero temperatures.

The translation of Cryotherapy is literally cold therapy. You enter what is called a Cryosauna (a bit of an oxymoron) and for 3 minutes are exposed to arctic temperatures that have been chilled by liquid nitrogen gas. Because the air has no moisture and there are no air currents, you actually don’t perceive the cold to be as extreme as it is.

Whole Body Cryotherapy is a popular rehabilatation tool in leading medical centers, health spas, and Olympic centers in Europe, and is becoming more widely used here in the US. It has been clinically proven to alleviate pain in those suffering with musculoskeletal, degenerative and joint diseases, as well as autoimmune diseases. It has also proven effective as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory on athletes and in sport performance, for post workout recovery and injury prevention.

Cryotherapy was first invented in 1978 by a doctor in Japan to reduce pain and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis patients. He discovered benefits of cold therapy — not as it related to chilling the underlying tissue, but the nerves known as thermoreceptors that perceive temperature change. In other words, the perception of cold was optimal, as opposed to actual cold. His goal became to find a method to cool the greatest amount of skin in the shortest amount of time, without allowing the cold to penetrate the body.

For athletes, the ice bath has been the go to recovery treatment for traumatic injuries, chronic overuse, and preventative measures. Cryotherapy offers those same therapeutic benefits, and more, with rapid short term freezing, as compared to the gradual, uncomfortable and deep cooling of an ice bath. World champion sprinter, Usain Bolt had a mobile Cryotherapy unit at the 2012 London Olympic games for relief from back injury; Alberto Salazar used it coaching runners Galen Rupp & Mo Farah for the Olympic games; and soccer star Christiano Ronaldo has his own private cryochamber installed at his home. Read More

 

October 21, 2014

Rub Yourself

 

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In between massage appointments, on the road, or as part of your daily fitness regimen, every athlete and active person needs at least one self massage tool in their training tool box. Designed for warming muscles up pre-workout and relieving muscle tension and soreness post-workout, there are a wide array from which to choose, ranging from a very inexpensive ball to a foam roller to a fancier motorized sports massager. A foam roller or stick is great on big muscle groups, while a ball can work in between muscles and is ideal for trigger point release. Available in all sorts of fun colors, most are easily packable which make them ideal for travel too.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BABYBELLE BODYBUFFER $295. Marketed as a cellulite reducer, this pretty little massager packs a lot of power in it’s oscillating motion! Using the babyBelle Bodybuffer before a workout is a great way to kick-start circulation and warm up muscles. After training, it enhances blood flow to the muscles, flushes out lactic acid, and relieves soreness. It is also available in a larger two handed size for a more vigorous, deep-tissue massage.

GRID 2.0 $64.99. A foam roller is an absolute must and probably the most versatile of all the self massage tools. The longer 26″ GRID 2.0 and smaller 13″ GRID, are our favorites for their multi-dimensional surface, that roll through the nooks and crannies of tight muscles, knots and kinks.  The GRID provides a more realistic massage experience: low and flat feels like the forearm or palm
; high and firm feels like the finger tips. The GRID is also available on a stick, GRID STK. Read More

 
 

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