Sports

3P Concept: Pain, Posture and Performance our reprieve from a seated life

March 11, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Robert Belardi 

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, daily life shifted from being on the go and active to being stuck at home. 

In many ways, this could have been beneficial to everyone. No morning traffic. No crowded subways. No commuting. 

But, in other ways, this has been a detriment to our bodies. Being seated for many hours on a daily basis is compressing our muscles, tightening our joints and making it quite difficult to presumably move our bodies in ways we moved them before. 

In light of these current predicaments, Caledon native Quinton Nurse, who is in the process of receiving his Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and registered massage therapist and owner of Araya Health Centre in Scarborough Christopher Araya, shared three stretches anyone can do on a daily basis that will help improve mobility. 

Elite gymnasts, pro athletes and jujitsu fighters use these stretches to continue to enhance their performance. As the weather continues to get better (and hopefully it doesn’t regress back to the cold), these can help your body be ready for when outdoor activities begin. 

Collapse Crawl Stretch 

Similar to the downward dog position in yoga class, the collapse crawl stretch (bottom-left of the photo), is a decompression exercise that benefits many areas of the body. 

“That one is targeting your centre-mid-back between the shoulder blades and the side. The real purpose there is to help your T spine for middle spine mobility and the other one is to test what your functionality is,” Nurse said. 

In order to perform this stretch, do not fall into the stretch directly. You must ease into it slowly. 

“You want to slowly crawl sideways with your fingertips until you feel a stretch,” Araya said. “You crawl out, stretch, and slowly side-bend sideways. You isolate obliques, lats and rotator cuff.”

This stretch that elite gymnasts perform, will enhance your posture and functional range of motion. This position helps to decompress the tightness in your back and in your rotator cuffs. This will relieve your joints and is a very common therapy. 

Median Nerve Flossing 

Just like tuning the strings of a guitar. 

Median Nerve Flossing is a technique that frees up this nerve that flows from the back of your neck all the way to your hand. 

Nurse says this technique can alleviate the cause of up to 47 per cent of shoulder pain. It can also help elbow and wrist issues moving forward. 

In order to do this stretch (diagram is on the right), you must stretch your arm out just below the shoulder. Your opposite hand is positioned on the shoulder of the arm that is extended.

“It’s a sensation you cannot pin-point. It’s not like you’re stretching one specific point. Nerve Flossing is a general region where you are achieving a bright sensation,” Araya said. 

With your arm extended outward and with your palm open, bend your hand downward to the floor and turn your neck in the direction of your arm. Following a few seconds, turn your neck the opposite way and turn your hand inward towards your body. 

Just like flossing your teeth, this is moving the nerve back and forth. When someone has compression syndrome, muscles will compress the nerve. By freeing up the nerve, it will restore its function. 

Hip Bridges 

Jujitsu fighters use this one. 

Hip Bridges are a way to take advantage of the neurological system in your body. It’s also known as “reciprocal inhibition.”

Our glutes and muscles around our hips are continuously compressed and this will help relieve tension and allow your body to extend the hip area. 

“When you flex your glutes behind the hip, the front is relaxed automatically by your nerves which allows you to go through your range of motion and it gives you the activation of the glutes which are basically asleep all day.” 

To perform this stretch (top-left), lay on your back with your hands flat on the floor. Lift your hips while flexing your glutes and hold that position for a short time and then come back down. Do this repeatedly a few times and you will see a difference. 

To book a free consultation, you can do so on www.arayahealth.com. 

For more information on these stretches and you can email Araya at arayahealth@gmail.com and Nurse at quintonnurse@gmail.com. 

You can also check out Araya’s “7 Pressure Points to Manage Soreness” e-book here www.arayaservices.com/araya-pressure-point-lead-gen1606437731723. 

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