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Trigger Point Massage for Forearm Pain From Overuse

My husband and I walked a bit in the park today [he went to the gym without me as my knees are still achy.]  My issue for the day relates to sore forearms from my kickboxing work out on Thursday afternoon.

I haven’t done a kickboxing session since the end of March when I hurt my hand and began a serious bout of traveling!  While it was great fun to be back [and a serious surprise that I was still conscious at the end of the hour] I have been incredibly sore.  My shoulders and forearms have not recovered from my trainer’s tabata rounds of push up and pull up exercises.

All the podcasts I’ve listened to so far agree that strength exercises are best.  Of course they also agree that 90 percent of weight loss is determined by diet and nutrition rather than exercise.  I am easing my way into better nutrition.  As I mentioned previously, I will start by avoiding high fructose corn syrup. 🙂   That’s harder than you’d think as we are attending a Staten Island Yankees game with All-You-Can-Eat tickets.

In the interim, I have just ordered Clair Davies’ The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief, Second Edition from Amazon.com.  I hope that I can begin to work on getting the kinks out of my legs and arms without having to go to a massage therapist.  I decided to use a small racquetball rather than purchasing any massage equipment; the foot log that I purchased a while ago may also come in handy.

I found an article online called Trigger Point Massage. Simple Self-Help for Chronic Pain  by Christian Lemburg, that seems to cover the basic points. 

Trigger Point Rules
1. Trigger points are small, localized muscle cramps that feel like hard lumps or knots in your muscles.
2. Trigger points arise at predictable places in the muscle and cause predictable patterns of referred pain.
3. Trigger points hurt like hell when pressed, and referred pain may be felt, according to the characteristic pattern for that trigger point.
4. Trigger points can be treated by massage.
5. Massage with short, slow strokes in one direction, applying deep pressure.
6. When massaging, use your elbow, your knee, your knuckles, or a ball instead of your fingers. Use a ball between your body and a wall or the floor to reach hard spots.

Read the entire article:  http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/37_05_trigger_points.pdf

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Calories Diet Exercise Fitness Kickboxing New York Reference Links sports

Suggested Calorie Intake

According to the Fat2FitRadio.com page, my suggested calorie intake is pretty generous.  Very generous compared to what my trainer tells me I should be eating.  It’s clear that my diet is really poor but baby steps is where I am starting.  My first resolution is to cut out High Fructose Corn Syrup from my diet.

Activity Level    Daily Calories

  • Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job)   1664
  • Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1907
  • Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2150
  • Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2393
  • Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2635

Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.

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Calories Diet Exercise Fitness Kickboxing New York sports

Trying Tabura

So after a few days of visiting family and throwing toys for the dog to fetch, I’m ready to start exercising again. I tried the Tabura class at Crunch gym yesterday morning and found it fairly good.  The official description off the Crunch gym site is:

  • Tabura is a Swahili name for training used in improving military endurance and strength in Africa. This intensely fun class uses kickboxing combinations and basic West African dance moves set to hot Tribal House music and a live drummer. Get ready to burn massive calories and become a true powerhouse warrior.

I had to stop a number of times because my knees were unhappy [they’d been unhappy all week so I wasn’t surprised] but overall, the class went well and I didn’t give up.  After admitting that I hadn’t eaten breakfast, the instructor made me do an additional 10 push ups…. something to remember in the future.

 I should begin kickboxing training again on Monday in Manhattan.