Last weekend, Julie taught the PRI Integration for Fitness and Movement Course at EXOS in Frisco, Texas. This is an advanced continuing education course offered by the Postural Restoration Institute which teaches principles to enhance athletic durability and performance, as well as assist with recovery and performance sustainment. Check out the course review here!
What is the deal with Cupping?
Cupping is a technique we have been using and it's getting great buzz this Olympics!
It's cool to see some of the advanced techniques we have been using featured and publicized throughout the media. I'm sure there will be a surge of other Massage and Physical Therapists trying to learn how to add this tool to their repertoire.
Consumers should understand there is a science and form of application which should be used to apply this technique to get the most benefit. We do several different kinds of cupping, use various size cups, and sometimes even incorporate a vacuum machine to assist with larger muscles groups (like the low back and hips). The vacuum pressure lifts the connective tissues away to soften tight muscles, decrease excessive muscle tension, loosen adhesions, bring hydration and blood flow to body tissues, move deep inflammation to the skin surface for release, and drain excess fluids and toxins by opening lymphatic pathways.
Cupping is really a great technique to incorporate in rehab, recovery, and relaxation work!
Click on the picture to get to the original article
Not all forms of cupping leave the circular marks as seen in the above picture. The marks are caused as the vacuum pressure draws up the old non-circulating stagnant blood, cellular debris, and other pathogenic factors found in injured or strained area. By bringing them up to the surface and away from the injured or strained tissue, healthy free circulation can be restored to the affected area. It's know to cleanse the area creating space for oxygen, living cells and nutrients for faster recovery.
The marks indicate that stagnation has been moved from the deeper tissue layers to the surface for the body to get rid. The darker the marks the more stagnation and toxins were stirred up and brought to the surface. If the tissue is fairly healthy, the less coloring the marks will leave on the skin after treatment. It's a great technique used both in rehab and performance, and offers both diagnostic and therapeutic benefits.
For the most part, the technique is painless and does not hurt, and just like other forms of soft tissue work, it can be applied at varying pressures and intensities.
Business Performance + Getting the Competitive Advantage
Get the Executive's Edge: Mental Performance Training for Developing Leadership & Business Performance.
Learn how to regulate your physiology to produce greater results in business and in your daily life!
Enhance your ability to perform under pressure and close important business transactions.
Rebound quickly from mistakes or less than desirable performances
Maintain confidence in challenging situations
Enhance focus and concentration skills
Improve problem solving skills
Boost cognitive horsepower by learning strategies to enhance focus, plan and prioritize time, work with body’s natural biorhythms, and process information quicker.
Think of your brain as a muscle. While it does not do the physical laborious work of our typical muscles, it is called on to do a great deal processing and cognitive work to keep us performing.
Just like our regular muscles, when your brain is overworked through high stress and repetitive distractions it becomes fatigued. Fortunately, you can exercise and condition your brain to make it stronger - just like your muscles!!
Our Mental Performance Specialists use Thought Technology Biofeedback to help you train your brain and teach you how to regulate your response and physiology in high pressure business situations.
With improved focus and ability to process information and work effectively, Mental Performance Training can give you the competitive edge you need to improve your success!
Mental Performance is not only for Athletes!
The Mental Performance Specialists at Thrive help people develop the important skills necessary to be successful in sport and non-sport performance situations.
Mental and Cognitive Skills Training helps people achieve their full potential, manage stress, and function better in high pressure scenarios.
Many people understand and recognize the importance of goal setting, concentration, and anxiety management. Unfortunately, its not always that easy to execute - especially when under pressure. Vague suggestions like “be confident” or “relax” can cause frustration and even more anxiety if it's not understood how to regulate emotions or achieve those mental states.
THRIVE utilizes cutting edge Biofeedback Thought Technology to facilitate self-awareness of performance inhibiting thoughts and behaviors, as well as, to learn strategies to optimally self-regulate the mind-body connection.
Examples of non-sport performance situations which can benefit from Mental Performance Training:
- An important job interview or crucial business meeting
- Maintaining a strategic focus during negotiations or sales
- Public speaking or giving a presentation in front of an intimidating crowd
- Testifying in court
- Test taking an important exam
- Performing a solo with a symphony orchestra
- Auditioning for a lead role in a drama production
- a Surgeon performing a tough life or death surgery
- a Pilot landing a plane in stressful weather conditions or losing an engine
- a First Responder, Firefighter, or Police Office participating in a state emergency or saving people from a natural disaster or terrorist attack
- and more...
Learn more at: http://thrivevb.com/mentalperformance
Check out Mo's Radio Interview
Mo was interviewed on 102.1 The Tide! You can click on the link to listen to her interview about the unique services Thrive offers! http://southsidedaily.com/thrive-proactive-health
What sets the high performers apart from the average
In high pressure situations, on game day, in the heat of the moment, or when we are under stress or feeling exhausted - it's the mind that dictates how the body performs and often what sets the high performers apart from the average.
Many people know how to train physically and technically but few know how to systematically train their mind. The brain is called on to do a great deal processing and cognitive work to keep us performing at high levels consistently. It can and should be trained because just like overtraining our physical bodies, when your brain is overworked through high stress and repetitive distractions it becomes fatigued. If you exercise and condition your brain you can make it stronger, improve its endurance, and help it process information faster and more effectively.
Listen to Dr. Heller explain:
Dear Runners, Triathletes, and Ironman Contenders
Did you know there is a way to objectively evaluate how efficiently you are transitioning through your gait pattern – Our bodies need to alternate turning on and off muscles for maximal efficiency and force distribution/shock absorption.
Why should you care? The fact is that when hyperactive chains of muscles do not shut off when they should – it slows us down, causes are bodies to work harder, allows areas of the body to compensate, and causes abnormal force loading on joints that can’t handle forces - which leads to premature arthritis, inflammation, sprains and strains.
Schedule an appointment today for a Biomechanical Assessment and receive 10% off any signature menu item designed to help you excel in running.
Dear Baseball Boosters + Parents:
Did you know helping your athletes maintain proper rib and hip mobility to excel in their sport can also prevent shoulder and elbow injuries!? Don't let your kids become part of the "epidemic"
The arm doesn't function alone and needs a balanced foundation to move from! It is necessary to look beyond the arm and evaluate how the mechanics elsewhere may be contributing to the increased torque causing major injuries in young and professional athletes!
We're not convinced it's a mystery -- to many people are looking for the answers in the wrong places.
#baseballlife #thrivevb #virginiabeach
The body is a system and we need to look at the whole system, not just one part of the system (i.e. just the elbow, or just the shoulder). Compensation or instability in one area will directly affect another. Taking the whole body into account and looking at how all the parts interact with one another results in better outcomes and more efficient movement for sport rehabilitation and sport performance
Wanna learn how to sleep like a Pro Hockey player?
This Article does a great job introducing the power of sleep to optimize recovery and performance excellence - Check out our Mental Performance REVIVE service line to learn more! #bproactive4urhealth
EVEN UPs - don't let back, hip, or knee injury develop because of a foot injury!
Even ups are one of those tools that not many doctors and patients know about, but can greatly impact the efficiency of healing. This great little tool helps to bring more symmetry to your gait and posture if you have to wear a cast, an orthotic walking boot or post-operative shoe.
The extrinsic shoe balancer helps to minimize compensations and is an inexpensive + quick assist to level out any leg length discrepancies and normalize walking patterns so that back, hip, or knee pain don't develop while the foot heals from its injury/surgery. Click here to learn more.
BIO Q PULSE for Pain Relief + Healing + Rejuvenation
We love when we get the opportunity to learn and visit the West Coast. This past winter we went to a continuing education course in California and were introduced to the Bio Q Pulse machine. We learned about the science behind how it stimulates reflex points in your body to increase blood flow and healing potential, boost energy production, reduce swelling, relieve tension, improve sleep, and normalizes painful nerves.
It was hard for us to pass up the opportunity to bring this revolutionary device to our home town. Countries around the globe have been using this technology since the 1960s but only recently has it been approved for use in the US. It's all natural, no drugs, and no side-effects and we are the first in the state of Virginia to offer this advanced machine and one of only 11 providers in the country!
The BioQPulse is excellent for pain relief but it's also for anyone who wants to feel younger, more energized, and stronger. Introductory session is $17, package discounts and monthly payment plans help to make it affordable. Stop by the clinic to try it out or call (757) 416-6700 to schedule a session today!
Train with intent (Mental Performance Series Part 2)
Many of Sloan’s friends also decided they wanted to be warriors, but what separated Sloan from his friends was his determination and plan of action to achieve this goal. He realized that to be part of the elite warrior group, he would need help. He sought out a mentor to help him develop his training plan. The elder asked him, “This road is not an easy one. Many try and fail. What are you willing to do to earn this honor of competing for entry into the warrior group?” Sloan knew that it would take many years and many hours of training to become a warrior. He paused thoughtfully and answered his elder,
THRIVING under Pressure (Mental Performance Series Part 1)
Chicago Course Review
This past weekend Julie traveled to teach at Chicago Primal Gym. Trainers, Coaches, and Therapists came to this course from all over the country and one attendee even traveling in from Australia! Here is the course review
During the course, Julie teaches how to screen the frontal plane hip-thorax strategy the body uses to integrate key core musculature. This strategy is important for stability in mid stance phase of gait!
