An explanation for how massage therapy can reduce stress and stimulate relaxation.
Author: James Maddock
Corrective remedial massage therapist based in Melbourne, Australia. I have a special interest in shoulder pain and injuries.
There’s a conventional wisdom in massage therapy: “rub where it hurts.” This is wrong.
Having an improvement mindset means enjoying that idea that there is always more to improve. To illustrate this, I’ll talk mainly about my health goals. It has been said that “if you’ve got your health, you’ve got everything.” Plus what we know from research is that when people become more fit and healthy it tends […]
There are many unanswered questions in the universe. How many decimal places are there in Pi? Is there a unified theory of physics? How does a shepherd count his flock without falling asleep? It’s possible we’ll never know. Some questions, however, can be answered. For example, if a therapeutic massage is meant to lengthen and […]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKWraWYkr9o Reciprocal inhibition is a muscle reflex that sends an inhibitory motor nerve signal to the muscles opposite those contracting. So, if your chest muscles are short (as they are when your shoulders are rolled around to the front, which is guaranteed if you drive a desk every day), then your upper back muscles (rhomboids, […]
The facts of back pain: Back pain is especially common in the developed countries – and it seems that the more developed the country, the more back pain there is.[1][2][3] The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 2021 that low back pain was the most physically disabling condition in the world, so if you have low back […]
I love working with bodies. They’re amazing. We are evolved to be as efficient as possible at all times, and strength, power and endurance are no different. That’s me, three days ago, on my fourth set of three 50 kg close-grip bench press. It was only on the fifth and final set that I struggled. Up until […]
Don’t stretch before your workouts. Yeah, I said it. Here’s why..
Do you see a massage therapist for your sore, tight-feeling shoulders? If you do, there is every possibility they are making you feel worse, not better.
A bloke named Joseph posted this question on one of my videos that got me thinking about forward head posture, also known as “chicken neck.” The short answer to Joseph’s query is the cervical (neck) extensors/erectors – the muscles on the back of your neck, for example, the splenius capitis. There is a little more […]