tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56216743502781441492011-11-27T16:31:57.617-08:00News and ideas to help you attain total muscular health.Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-85945213464839323212009-03-06T21:15:00.000-08:002009-03-06T21:24:50.388-08:00

Apparently you can. Or at least at the bottom of the mouth. Compression of this area to address the problem can be very unpleasant, but the results can be greatly reduced tension in the neck and face.If you have persistent neck issues, you may want to check it out. I'm not sure what the best technique is, but I stumbled upon the tension in my own mouth by probing the floor of the mouth on

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-70019466227876319362008-10-23T15:05:00.000-07:002008-11-28T20:59:50.432-08:00

Image via WikipediaI have some tight muscles and work on them myself. Its not always easy, but without good information, it can be impossible.Fortunately, there are great resources on the web that show you where your muscles are. Bartleby has Gray's Anatomy online and I can see all of my muscles.Sometimes a diagram does not display both ends of a muscle. Using the name of the muscle, I can

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-42978945469078167612008-08-05T18:21:00.001-07:002008-08-05T18:25:15.348-07:00

The problems of muscular trigger points and myofascial adhesions and how they interact are difficult to understand.I would love to create a flash movie that depicts what happens and how treatment can work to resolve these problems. I think it would really help a lot of people and accelerate therapies that work.I've scoped out the cost of creating something like this and it looks like it would

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-21650105369435979472008-08-05T15:04:00.000-07:002008-08-05T18:20:07.402-07:00

Both the muscle and the fascia that surrounds it can be stretched. But certain conditions can greatly reduce the ultimate length that either can be safely stretched.When a muscle has significant trigger points, many of the myofibrils are very tight and shorter than normal. A myofibril is a string of sarcomeres, the actual structures that open and close when you use your muscles.When you have a

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-45148737117091532262008-06-22T21:25:00.000-07:002008-06-22T22:53:52.896-07:00

A lot of people do. The causes are many. Sometimes the problem is muscular and circulatory.At least that's my experience. When I had tight abdominal muscles, there seemed to be a throbbing that sometimes kept me awake. My theory is the throbbing is your heart trying to force blood into the tight muscles.When I put ice on the tight muscles, the throbbing went away. Apparently the cold causes

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-85161960604579914512008-06-10T10:16:00.000-07:002008-06-10T10:25:26.164-07:00

Rolfing is a form of bodywork that pulls apart myofascial adhesions, the binding that can occur in the containers of muscles. Rolfing is much easier once the muscle sarcomeres have been opened with Qi Gong or some other method. If you've been working on your sarcomeres and find the tightness keeps returning because of your activities (or lack of activity), you might want to check out rolfing.

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-75333027804835748502008-05-31T04:35:00.000-07:002008-06-22T20:40:17.632-07:00

In 2005, The San Francisco Chronicle told the story of Maria King, who was kicked to death in Berkeley.This poor woman "tried to move a desk in her office". Big mistake."The resultant back injury would precipitate her long slide into despair. Surgeons fused her bottom three vertebrae, but it only made the pain worse." She eventually could not hold a job or afford an apartment and she became

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-32843623836314290292008-05-28T23:39:00.000-07:002008-05-28T23:39:01.389-07:00

A test that could find stiff muscles would change the game and have huge benefits for the world. Not only would problems be found and treated more, but treatments themselves can be better assessed for their efficacy.In my own experience with traditional medicine, the muscle relaxants I was given for my initial muscular complaint would be completely discredited as a valid treatment once muscular

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-528096743056961032008-05-28T16:24:00.000-07:002008-05-28T19:58:47.690-07:00

A reliable scientifically accepted diagnostic test that detects tight muscles would bring greater attention to this problem and its many effects in the body.Scientists are working on this, using the magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), which can produce images of tissue showing relative stiffness. Wikipedia has an article on trigger points and MRE. and here's the study mentioned on NIH.This is

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-9055957567392634512008-05-27T10:28:00.000-07:002008-05-28T20:00:16.956-07:00

Think about it. If a muscle is tight, blood flow through it is not as good. Its bound to get tired more quickly.Tight muscles sometimes pull on parts of the body, sometimes making it difficult to sit or stand. Other muscles have to work to compensate. This tires you out too.Tight muscles have other effects too. Sometimes tight muscles even compress nerves and veins, interfering with muscular

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-29715205613495931832008-05-26T22:13:00.000-07:002008-05-26T22:21:15.406-07:00

I walked about 5 miles today up in San Francisco. It was great. The sun finally came out a bit. Towards the end, my right foot felt a bit tired and tight. So I did some Qi Gong on it and it felt much better right away. Had to do it a couple of times but it was very helpful. The repetitive motion made it tight and Qi Gong loosened it back up.After the long drive home, the lower back was

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-22748380457220651872008-05-26T11:17:00.000-07:002008-05-26T11:22:36.801-07:00

We seem conditioned in the West to either stretch or contract. Bigger, harder, faster. That is exercise to us.But try moving without squeezing, without stretching to the limit. The extremes inhibit the flow of blood to your muscles and exhaust the life it brings. Explore your range of motion gently.Your muscles can't open up until you do.

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-20698954118887958162008-05-24T20:21:00.000-07:002008-05-24T20:36:39.358-07:00

Last post we talked about how the healthy sarcomere functions. This time we'll discuss one thing that can go wrong. When circulation of blood through a muscle is especially poor, the amount of oxygen and nutrients available to individual sarcomeres can nosedive. Without adequate oxygen and sugar, the sarcomere stops responding to the electrical impulses telling it to contract. It needs oxygen

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-62978414740557055552008-05-20T08:01:00.000-07:002008-05-20T01:35:05.750-07:00

Sarcomeres are the microscopic structures in your muscles whose contractions do the actual work of flexing your muscles. Strings of sarcomeres called myofibrils are bound together into muscle fibers. When your sarcomeres contract, these muscle fibers stiffen and a force is exerted.The contraction and expansion of each sarcomere also pumps blood in and out of it. This pumping keeps the

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-43577531731870790242008-05-16T09:33:00.000-07:002008-05-16T09:33:00.822-07:00

After Qi Gong, you will find that it is easier to stretch and massage the covering around each muscle (known as the fascia). Doing so will improve circulation in that muscle because it is no longer trapped inside of stiff fascia during sustained effort (such as hanging your head over a keyboard for 4 hours).That improved circulation prevents trigger points and lowers cortisol (the

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-79242894732306028132008-05-15T17:26:00.000-07:002008-05-15T17:49:04.489-07:00

Qi Gong is slow movement of muscles coupled with deliberate energetic breathing.The breathing increases the amount of oxygen in the blood. The movement is slow, so muscles have plenty of time to get fresh blood and more oxygen and nutrients between contractions.And because the exertion is not intense, so oxygen is less likely to get depleted and that keeps your muscle cells open.Its good stuff!

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-11649261536208251372008-05-13T20:25:00.000-07:002008-05-28T20:01:32.810-07:00

“A newborn is soft and tender,A crone, hard and stiff.Plants and animals, in life, are supple and juicy;In death, brittle and dry.So softness and tenderness are attributes of life,And hardness and stiffness, attributes of death.”Verse 76 of the Tao Te ChingIf you believe Lao-tzu, the author of the Tao Te Ching, stiffness ages you. Stiffness is why older people move slower and can't do what they

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-89414709092466780102008-05-13T02:57:00.000-07:002008-06-28T20:57:15.076-07:00

The privacy of our visitors to yourmuscularhealth.com is important to us.At yourmuscularhealth.com, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information on what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use visit yourmuscularhealth.com, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.Log

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5621674350278144149.post-73380707824508526912008-05-12T01:23:00.000-07:002008-05-12T01:30:19.820-07:00

Welcome to my new blog. Its dedicated to ridding the world of muscular tension. I'll be discussing what goes wrong with muscles and the causes, effects and solutions.I hope you find the discussion useful.

Al Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849809556416101947noreply@blogger.com0