Author: Admin

General Diet Advice for Success in the New Year

Posted on by Admin

I’ve been saying for a long time, that with too much sugar; the body will begin to burn sugar instead of fat. And that even if, your body is burning fat instead of sugars/excessive carbs; you definitely want the good/HDL fats over the bad/LDL fats that are harder for the body to deal with.

I’ve read a few articles that talk about getting the body to burn fat instead of sugar by modifying workouts and diets. Though nothing is quite as effective as simply avoiding processed sugars and excessive carbs in the first place. Though how in the world today do we actually do that? Of course simple is not always easy.

There’s an article, that I cant find to reference though will include later if or when I find it, from a Navy SEAL trainer who said the key to having the mental/emotional and physical edge over sugar, our diet and our lives; is realizing and coming to grips with the fact that eating sugary/bad food is literally built in to American and now many global cultures. And that we, need to choose on our terms when, not if, we indulge; and to truly enjoy the occasions when we do – so our bodies/minds release positive endorphins instead of stress hormones when we remember the last occasion of indulgence and the thoughts of our future encounters; during the times we’re restricting sugar/bad things from our diet and really working hard to achieve our goals and dreams.

“Simply” understanding this alone should give you enough of an edge to persevere to achieving your goals. Though just in case you’d like a, No BS Approach to Effective Fat Loss, with cool calorie, protein, carb and fat calculators – here you go!

All the best in achieving your goals, and I hope you’re having the happiest start to the new year!

Daniel Dunn, LMT
Owner & Bodyworker
Body Zen Massage & Health Sciences
813-863-4895
TheBodyZen.com


Happy New Year!!!

Posted on by Admin

I’ve been posting few ‘blog posts because I only want the best information I can put here without creating so many posts that no one can read them all. So here are two more that are definitely worthy of adding because of how important the information is to keeping commitments and actually being able to reach the goals you set.

I found this video so inspiring I want to share it with you here. Many of us have heard a lot of this information or similar information before. Though the life stories Mr. Schwarzenegger shares with us and the way he means what he says, gives enormous encouragement and motivation to everyone making the necessary sacrifices working hard to earn success and victories. Here’s the video!

And if you really feel ambitious, here’s a $100k body transformation challenge from bodybuilding.com! Register before January 27th!

happy new year from Body Zen massage tampa

Women’s Self Defense Course – Introduction Lecture Parts 1 & 2

Posted on by Admin

 

I will be teaching a womens self defense course in the near future, though before the course is officially being taught – I want you to have this fundamental overview so that you have the important knowledge that can save your life or anothers if necessary, and, so you have the fundamental concepts needed to learn the physical techniques most effectively.

This is a very quick overview of the basic fundamentals. Yes, even 30 minutes of lecture is fast for covering what you need to know to stay safe and alive when you need to protect yourself. And in the near future I’ll be making another video with some movement exercises that will tie the lecture material together in application.

Like I say in the video, being comfortable with this knowledge is imperative to being able to use the movements efficiently. So I recommend getting very familiar with these concepts so everything else you learn will be effective when you need it.  Thanks for watching and of course please let me know any questions or comments!

Repatterning Exercises – Feet, Legs & Hips

Posted on by Admin

 

These are two of the most commonly needed repatterning exercises that I recommend, because so many of us have lower body imbalances that affect the whole body. These are relatively simple and effective when done correctly, and like just mentioned; can benefit the entire body by gently focusing on the lower half.

What is neuromuscular repatterning and how do these work? When we learn how to perform any motor function, like crawling, walking, running, carrying things, and so on; our nerves form pathways and connections to muscles, to increase our ability and skill to perform these functions. And from injuries, improper form and or function, lack of or excessive motions, and so on; our neuromuscular function can be debilitated, imbalanced or excessive. So when we carry out motor functions in a specific controlled way, we can retrain these nerve pathways, neuromuscular junctions and muscles to perform the motions we need them to be able to do with more balance, skill and proper function.

Knee Bends

To begin the knee bends, stand in a structurally aligned posture (as mentioned in a previous post), with feet facing straight forward/parallel, even to eachother, about one of your foots width apart from eachother, with about 80% of your weight distributed evenly over each heel. Then while not aiming to do a full squat, only a mild knee bend where we can feel the ankles reach the end of their range of motion; we slowly, begin lowering ourselves down by bending the knees – keeping our focus on maintaining an even balance, weight and cadence to the entire motion, down and up.

The key to getting the most out of this exercise is to keep equal effort on the part of each leg while keeping equal weight over each heel, and stopping and correcting before proceeding when the effort and or weight becomes imbalanced.

When first beginning these, one two count repetition down and up, can take several minutes and leave you feeling like to may need to shake out your arms or legs; though that’s a good sign that your activating and retraining your body.

The more we focus on finding and correcting imbalances in a slow and controlled motion, the better these exercises will work and the better we’ll be when performing motions and functions that demand much more effort and intensity.

deep tissue massage tampa

Toes Up Foot Up

To begin this exercise, simply sit comfortably on the floor with your back against a wall or strong vertical surface to give your back support, with the legs bent comfortably at the knee with the heels close to our glutes; then lift the toes and foot of the exercised leg toward the ceiling/sky (curl the toes back/up and lift the foot the same way) and then slowly push your heel/leg forward as if you’re doing a forward heel kick. Once the leg is straight along the floor with the toes and foot still curled and lifted back; we then point the foot and toes straight forward (similar to how a ballerinas foot looks standing on the toes) for about two to three seconds, before lifting the toes and foot again and then bringing the heel close to our glutes again, and relaxing back to the starting position.

This is a six count exercise, where we first lift the toes/foot, extend the leg/heel, point the toes/foot, lift the toes/foot, retract/pull back the heel/leg, and relax the toes/feet back on the floor again.

Body Zen Massage Tampa

Conclusion

The key again to getting the most out of the exercises is to find and correct imbalances by moving in a slow and controlled motion, that may feel awkward and strenuous at times. And again the more time and focus we take using these exercises to correct our neuromuscular patterning, the more ability and skill we’ll have later with more weight and intensity when we need it. Moving too fast to get more reps is the opposite of what this exercise is about.

I hope you enjoy this simple and straight to the point approach that you can hopefully use better and get more out of, though as always if you have any questions, feedback or any other thoughts you’d like to share always feel free to let me know!

All the best in good and better health,

Daniel Dunn, LMT
Owner & Bodyworker

 

Side Lying Hip Flexor, Psoas, Quad, IT Band, & Glute Stretch!

Posted on by Admin

 

This is a stretch, or series of stretches in the side lying position, that I’ve been wanting to put out for a while now. I really wanted to do the video myself to show you what I mean with all the meaningful instruction, though after two cameras and even my laptop camera not recording, recording blurred images and not working at all; I finally decided to use some images online and give you an overview like I’ve previously done.

This is a really great sequence to know and use if it works for you, because with 3 stretching motions in the safe and comfortable side lying position, we can effect the primary muscle groups, muscles and muscle/tendon that are directly related to lower back pain, hip pain and mobility, knee pain and dysfunction and even lower leg and neck and shoulder issues.

The whole sequence is done lying comfortably on the side, with the grounded leg slightly bent at the hip and knee in front of us and the top leg *held at the lower leg not the ankle or foot by our top arm, then the knee is extended behind us to stretch the hip flexors, psoas and quads, then touching toward the ground with the femur parallel to the spine to stretch the tenor fascia latae/TFL, gluteus medius and IT Band, then up toward the shoulder to stretch the gluteus maximus.

 

Hip Flexor, Quad and Psoas Stretch

Once in the side lying position, we form the fetal position, cup our hand like a hook or praying mantis/jujitsu hand and hold around the tibia bone/muscle of the lower leg, and then straighten our spine and hips while letting the quads, hip flexors and psoas groups relax and enjoy the stretch. To get the best stretch, keep the abdominals tense to stop the hips from extending backwards, while allowing the psoas group and quads to relax and let the femur extend backwards.Sports Stretching Tampa

The quads are stretched when the knee is flexed and the hip flexors and psoas group are stretched when the femur is aligned with the spine and especially when the knee is extended behind us past our hips. Again, hold higher/closer to the knee on the leg and extend the whole back and middle shoulders with a relaxed neck to get a good stretch, instead of holding the foot and flexing the shoulders against the quads.Sports Stretching Tampa

 

IT Band, TFL and Gluteus Medius Stretch

Just like the stretch above, we hold the lower leg, or keep it held, align the femur with the spine so the spine and femur are in a straight line, then either allow the knee to drop toward the ground or flex the adductor muscles on the inside of the leg to pull the knee for a couple seconds. If the muscles and IT band are really tight, we can use the foot of our ground leg to pull the knee down while keeping hips from rotating. And again, to get the best stretch we need to keep the hip bones from moving while we allow the hip joint to gain mobility with the stretch. So flexing the obliques by the sides of ribs as the joint and leg is relaxed is the way to go.

Sports massage tampa

The TFL, glutes medius and the gluteus maximus (particularly a band of muscle of the g. maximus) create the predominant tension of the IT band. Tension created by the big outside quad muscle underneath the IT band, the vastus lateralis, creates most of the rest of it’s tension. So we can experiment moving the knee slightly behind the hips to hit the TFL more, or in front of the hip to hit the g. maximus more.

Sports Massage Tampa

Glute Maximus Stretch

This stretch is very commonly done lying on the back and pulling the knee to the same or other side shoulder, by putting the ankle of the stretched leg on the knee of the other leg to pull the knee up to stretch, and by keeping the stretched leg bent big at the knee on the ground underneath us so we can lean our body-weight on the muscles to stretch (cycler stretch and pigeon pose).

best massage tampa

However it’s very convenient while we’re already in side lying position to pull the knee up and over to get the same or very similar stretch. If the glutes are really tight we can touch the knee toward the ground slightly in front of the hips like the It band stretch. Tip: experiment with the angles of the stretch to see if you can find a particular one that really hits the muscle right where you need to.

sports massage tampa

Stretching Durations

There are six types of stretches with four subsets to those, so we could spend a while going over stretches. Instead I’ll cover some simple basics that can be helpful with really tight muscles. I’ll cover general stretching and types of stretches in another entry.

Before working out, dynamic stretches where we don’t stop moving the joint or joints being stretched is better. After working out, static stretches where we do hold the stretch for a couple to many seconds is better, largely because of minimizing the risk of injury due to over stretching the muscles about to be used during the workout.

Most dynamic stretches involve taking the muscles through the same or very similar range of motion that they’ll go through during the workout, with a slower speed and broader range to give them time to adjust and room to gain mobility. However stretches for individual muscles and muscle groups can be used also, just keeping the motions smooth and fluid without stretching the muscles to far.

The static stretches that I’ve found to work the best for really tight muscles, are a type of stretch called active isolated stretching; where the stretch is held gently and only for two seconds at a time, while progressing a little further and further each time, totaling about 3-4 stretches per set. You can clearly hold the stretches for longer depending on how you feel and how tight the muscle is. The longest stretches are held for 30 seconds to 2-3 minutes depending on the desired result, though I recommend stopping at 30 seconds max unless you have a plan for stretching the muscle so much.

Conclusion & Thank you

There are other really good ways to stretch the hip flexors, psoas and glutes in the same general position like the lung position or pigeon pose, though this one done side lying is great because it’s comfortable and you don’t need to balance while you’re doing them. And by the way, a pillow or bolster for the neck while doing these is a fabulous idea.

As always, healthy function and development is the goal, so having an even balance of mobility and tension is good to keep in mind when exploring and or continuing to use these or any stretching exercises. So getting comfortable with calisthenics squats is a great way give your body a test run before and or after your stretches depending on how long you use your stretches (another ‘blog topic for sure!). And always consult your doctor or physician before beginning or altering your diet or workout regimen 😉

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I wanted to have a simple and informative video though I hope that this was also enjoyable, to the point and very helpful to you. Thank you for being my client and I hope to see you again soon!

Yours in keeping great health,

Daniel Dunn, LMT
Owner & Bodyworker

 

Neck Stretches

Posted on by Admin

 

I try to make the most of the time that we have during the massage session, so here are some neck stretches that you can do wherever that will greatly help the work that is done during the massage. Just remember to use gravity as much as possible instead of muscle strength and be more gentle than you might think that you need to avoid strain and get the most our of your stretches.

The neck stretches are basically like nodding the head “yes” and “no” and moving the ear towards the shoulders. The muscles of the neck and shoulders are commonly very tense, so only holding gentle stretches for 2-3 seconds at a time, and progressing a little further with each one until the muscles feel stretched is the best way to go.

It’s best rotate the head down and up using the auricle of the ear as the horizontal axis point, to avoid crunching down on the atlas and axis (C1 & 2) and get a small stretch in the back of the neck when looking down; before we let gravity take our head down. Using gravity is best, if we use muscles to pull we can pull to hard and cause the spindle cells to stop the stretch and create a proverbial game of tug-o-war and possibly strain the muscles.

To stretch the back of the head, neck and even shoulders, we can relax and let gravity take the head forward and down, using the auricle of the ear as the horizontal axis point. After the back of the head raises up as the front of the head goes down, let gravity continue to take the head forward and down until you feel a good easy stretch. The best way to recover or return to our beginning/zero posture, can sometimes be tilting the spine backward to let the head roll out of the stretch; instead of using already aggravated and stretched muscles to pull a heavy back to position. To stretch the front of the neck, which is important, we can look directly up toward the sky or ceiling and extend our head vertically. It’s very important to release a stretch slowly.

Body Zen Best Massage South Tampa

We can also look to sides at 45′ angles and or over each shoulder to stretch the sides of the back of the neck, by using the same down and up looking motions, of course rotating from the auricle of the ear and the spine. To stretch the front sides of the neck, we can look up instead of down at 45′ angles then let gravity take the rear facing ear towards the back of the shoulder. Again, it may be easier to tilt the spine to help the head roll back to zero position instead of using the stretched muscles to pull the head.

Body Zen Best Massage South Tampa
​

​To stretch the sides of the neck directly, we can of course act as if, we are going to touch our ear to our shoulder with the head looking straight ahead. And again it’s best to only use gentle stretches for 2-3 seconds each proceeding a little further each time until the neck feels stretched. As always, it is best to use slow, gentle stretching using gravity to take the head down instead of muscles, and returning to zero posture slowly by tilting the spine if necessary.

Body Zen Best Massage South Tampa

I hope you enjoy these stretches and that they help you become and stay more relaxed. And more stretches and good advice is on the way.

Enjoy the weather out there and I’ll see you soon!

Kind regards,
Daniel Dunn, LMT
Owner & Bodyworker

Structurally Aligned Posture

Posted on by Admin

 

The posture assessment I do to aid with pain and injury relief and health cultivation, can easily take more than an hour if we talk about everything that goes into it. And it can be difficult to remember all we will or did talk about. So to help save us time during your appointment and remind you about the details, here’s an overview of basic structurally aligned posture that you can reference when you need to.

I normally say that it’s easiest to remember and realign ourselves into structurally aligned posture, by remembering; feet, hips, shoulders and head. The same way that we build a building is how we properly build our posture. With a proper foundation from the feet, stacking our joints over each other and being tall like we’re being pulled from the top of our head, we can literally pull ourselves together.

 

Pain Relief Massage Tampa

 

I like to point out that we wont always be able to be in good posture all the time. And that being able to slightly improve our posture when we can’t can reap huge dividends in pain and injury prevention. And being able to align ourselves back into good posture (instead of overcompensating with more bad posture) after we’ve been in bad posture, can reap even bigger benefits over time.

Said in perhaps the simplest way possible, structurally aligned posture is;

Feet; even and parallel to each other, about one foot width apart from each other, aligned straight front to back from the back of the heel to the front of the second toe.

Hips; even side to side and front to back, measuring from the bony points on the front of the hips and the body knobs on the back of the hips (anterior superior iliac spine ASIS and posterior superior iliac spine PSIS).

Shoulders; even left to right at the tips of the shoulders (acromion processes) and even from to back from the top of the sternum (jugular notch of the manubrium) and the bony point that sticks out at the bottom back of our neck (spinous process of C7).

Head; jaw slightly down like a boxer with the head aligned with the rest of the body by aligning the auricle of the ear over the side of the shoulder (head of the humerus), over the side of the hip (greater trochanter of the femur), over the side of the ankle (lateral malleoulus).

There is clearly much more that I can continue to talk about though this here is much of what is covered in the assessment. So having this available before and after your visit we can save time during your appointment and make greater use of the massage therapy and keep you improving over time.

Again this is ‘just’ an overview of basic structurally aligned posture and much more will be covered during the assessment. Thank you for choosing me and Body Zen and I look forward to meeting you or working on you again soon!

Most Common Advice

Posted on by Admin

 

I’ve had the distinguished honor of fixing injured bodies for more than five years now, and there is a list of things that I wish all my hurting clients knew and did that would make life a lot easier to prevent and deal with injured muscles. Most of you are doing really well, though most of us are not always perfect. So, with no further delay;

  • Stay away from soda!   Unless you like stiff painful muscles
  • Drink plenty of water
  • Replace electrolytes if you’ve lost and drank lots of fluids
  • Get away from what stresses you,   before Wall Street the Doc’ used to basically say, “go home, drink fluids and rest”…
  • Get some rest!   It’s well known in sports medicine that most athlete’s do not get enough rest. Want to ever heal?
  • Use gentle & slow,   dynamic stretches (don’t stop moving) before you exercise and static stretches (hold for a bit if it’s comfortable) after your workout
  • Get regular exercise but don’t over do it,   less is definitely more when your getting back in the swing of things
  • Eat quality foods,   farm to table is best, though avoiding over processed ‘foods’ with high sugar is a start
  • Get regular massages!   You’d be surprised how much pain and money you can spare getting regular massages
  • Roll your shoulders back and down,   when we’re stressed and defensive our shoulders climb high, so bring em back down after you’re out of the woods
  • Meditate,   simply sitting comfortably where you’re not going to be bothered and feeling yourself breathe is one of the best things for you

There are a ton of things I could continue to list and go on about, though this is the core of what I continually see people needing to prevent and deal with pain and challenges. If you make enjoying these things part of your regular life you’ll reap the benefits of great health and have the ability to recover from injury and deal with stress much easier.

Best wishes, kind regards and Happy Holidays!

Daniel Dunn, LMT

Specials

Posted on by Admin

 

The Neck, Shoulders & Reflexology Massage is only $35 for 1 hour & $55 for 90 minutes!

And, return a 2nd time in 30 days & get $10 off the full body treatments!

Around the Town

Posted on by Admin

Aside from having my location in south Tampa, I will sometimes travel to clients that can’t visit me in house. Thanks to a friend I was able to help fix performing artists from Alabama and Iron Maiden at the Amalie arena. My special thanks to everyone with the tours and Amalie arena who were so kind while allowing me the honor of fixing such great people. Whether you’re an international celebrity or a lesser known amazing person, feel free to contact me for an appointment and I’ll be happy to help you!

Alabama   May/2017

. Iron Maiden   June/2017