Rolfing Massage - Session 1

So, I think I began my first Rolfing session. Last week, I met Rolfer, Kelly Armstadt for potentially the first session in the Rolfing 10-part series. This was the direct result of writing down some of my non-travel related bucket list items for the new year, which included experiencing Rolfing. (And I love me a list to cross off.)

Just in case you don’t know, Rolfing is a special type of massage therapy which focusses on myofascial release for lasting pain relief, and for radically restructuring bodies. After undergoing the regimented 10-part series, people’s posture, and general biomechanics are purportedly more aligned and more efficient. Search the internet for “Rolfing” and you will see an abundance of before-and-after pictures. It is also known for: (1) humiliating photos in one’s underwear (see left picture), and (2) being very, very painful due to the deep restructuring. Kelly reassured me, however, that she had stopped taking photos of patients long ago, and that she would be attentive to when the pain wasn’t being beneficial. 

Rolf Body Alignment Before-And-After

Massaging the rib cage

I undressed down to my bra and a pair of hot pants and stood in front of Kelly so that she could see how my body was aligned. As she viewed me from the front, side and behind, I felt surprisingly comfortable, albeit excited to explain to her why I was seeing her: I had some minor pain in my right lower back that nevertheless was limiting my mobility, and I had some concern about improving my body alignment so as to avoid hip problems as I got older. (My mother received hip replacement surgery for both hips.) I finally explained that I am just generally enthused and curious about learning about all forms of bodywork and experimenting on my own body. (I am also entertaining a career as a massage therapist or physical therapist in my retirement, although I didn’t tell Kelly that.)

She explained that she saw some forward pelvic tilt, and some arching of my upper back to compensate, which wasn’t news to me and was what made me want to see a Rolfer in the first place. But she also saw some right shoulder drop, and some flat footedness, which wasn’t something that I had really thought could be addressed with Rolfing. 

After laying down on her heated massage table, I was kind of half hoping that there would be some pain, because my belief is that there is no real improvement unless there is pain, and I wasn’t disappointed. She interspersed soothing strokes with strong pokes with her out-stretched fingers in so many weird places that I couldn’t help but involuntarily yell out in pain. Notably, she didn’t use any massage oil, I think, because fingers need to stick to the skin in order to shear and separate the myofascial tissues connecting skin to underlying muscle.

This first session was about opening the breath. What this means is getting massaged around your sternum and rib cage, which wasn’t as ticklish or invasive as you might think. Nevertheless, it made me nauseous and I asked Kelly to stop so that I could sit up. Kelly told me that my nausea was probably due to being unaccustomed to being opened up in that way. After a few sips of water, I felt better and was ready to continue. Here were the things that were most interesting (read: painful) to me in my first session:

1. Quadratus lumborum - this spot is better accessed from the side, and when she dug her thumb into this area, I yelped. As a part of my self care, I found a near analogue by lying on the ground and using the hooked end of my Therastick as a lever to poke around that area. You need extra leverage because this area is incredibly thick and stiff.
2. That spot on my wrist between the ulnar and radius bones in my fore arm. My left wrist had been in pain, and I hadn’t even addressed that with her. But she found that spot on her own and bore down on it. Afterwards my wrist felt much better,
3. The gluteus medius - this was so painful that it felt like she was bruising me rather than massaging me. But the pain is so worth it because you can feel your hip lengthen, and oddly you feel super sedated after being pushed down on this area.

After the session was done, I noticed a dramatic change in the way that I was feeling. And that feeling translated to how I stood. My pelvis was not as forward tilted and my torso also felt longer. I felt like my lower back pain was noticeably improved as well. Unfortunately, a week has passed, and most of the stiffness and pain came back, probably due to sitting a lot at my job, and also due to some of the emotional patterns that I continue to manifest in my body. I have a feeling that undergoing the Rolfing 10 part series, may not be sufficient. However, I will still proceed with the Rolfing, just to satisfy my own curiosity, and to continue learning about my own body and methods for self-care.

  

Tried Reformer Pilates for the first time

I love traveling by myself because I get to try new things I wouldn't necessarily try at home. When I am at home, I'm too cheap to try new things. Travelling tends to free up my wallet some.

Flex Pilates Studio in Chicago

I've been travelling to Chicago a lot recently to deal with family issues, and I have been having a great time discovering workouts that are popular there.  Unlike Mountain View, the Gold Coast area in Chicago has Cross-fit gyms, Yoga studios and Pilates studio on every corner.  The classes are more expensive but there are a greater variety on offer. Many of these studios require logging in and paying for a spot before even stepping foot inside. This seems like a rather high barrier for trying a new class, but somehow this scheme works in Chicago.

One of my favorite studios in Chicago, which I first discovered in June, is Indigo Studio (http://theindigostudio.com). They offer a lot of dance classes with creative names like "Boot Camp Ballerina", and "Thrill from Brazil".  You can read my Yelp review of Indigo Studio here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/indigo-studio-chicago-2.

This week, I decided to branch out and tried Reformer Pilates for the first time. For those of you who are not familiar with Pilates, it's an exercise that emphasizes toning the "core" or abdominal, back and hip muscles. It's popular with dancers, and Hollywood actresses because it purports to give you long, lean muscles. There are two major types of Pilates, (1) Mat Pilates - performed on a yoga mat on the floor, and (2) Pilates requiring Intimidating Equipment that look like torture devices.  One of the most popular types of equipment used is the Reformer, which looks like a Medieval rack. 

I used to do Mat Pilates because it was offered free at my company.  Mat Pilates is also offered at a lot of gyms like 24 Hour Fitness. Even if you have to pay for a Mat Pilates class, it is usually fairly affordable starting for as low as $12-$20 for a class. Reformer Pilates, on the other hand, starts at $40 per session for small group classes  and as much as $75 for a private session.  Class prices are more expensive to adjust for the smaller class sizes and to recoup the cost of the $2000+ equipment. I think the expensive price is why I never bothered to try Reformer Pilates.

I decided that since I was travelling, I would try Reformer Pilates, even though it would lighten up my wallet.  Flex Pilates in Chicago (http://www.flexpilateschicago.com) has rave reviews on Yelp with reviewers reporting that the workouts were very intense and made them sore. Anyways, I tried it, and every muscle in my body was trembling. Not only did my core become sore, but also my back, my butt, my hamstrings, and my arms. I loved it. I think that Reformer Pilates can be a better all over workout than Mat Pilates because your body rests on a frictionless platform and thus you have to work harder to stabilize your body. In addition, whereas in Mat Pilates, you rely on your body weight to create resistance, Reformer Pilates relies on body weight AND springs, so you get more resistance.  

The internet has opposing opinions on whether a beginner should start with Reformer Pilates or Mat Pilates.  Pilates is one of those exercises where if you are not performing it correctly, it won't be as hard, nor give you the same benefits. For example, one of the core principles of Pilates is to suck your belly in and to keep the small of your back imprinting down at all times. This is more challenging because it forces you to engage the deeper Transverse Abdominus muscles rather than the superficial Rectus Abdomens muscles, or "6-pack" muscles.  This encourages a leaner, less bulky look. So, If you do a crunch without using the correct form, I.e. Without sucking your belly in, you would bulk up instead of lean out. I think it might be easier as a beginner to learn correct form on the Reformer than with Mat Pilates due to the greater resistance offered. The greater resistance allows you to better feel the correct muscle engagement.  Also the smaller group sizes or Reformer classes translates into more one on one time with an instructor, which would help the beginner.

All in all, I'm not sure I would shell out $40 on a regular basis to do Reformer Pilates.  I suppose if I were a billionaire, or if I made my living off of my appearance, my opinion might change.  However, I really enjoyed it, and if I ever come across discounted Reformer Pilates on Groupon or whatever, I would definitely jump on the opportunity.

P90X --I took a break, but I'm back

OK, so I didn't even finish 1 week of P90X before taking a break. But, I'm back now.

Today, I did pullups and pushups for 1 hour (Chest and Back). I was grunting at the end, so I'm pushing myself pretty hard, right? Then it was "Ab Ripper X", which is not getting any easier. The oblique exercises are just killing me. This was the worst session yet.

P90X - Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X

Today, I am feeling sore in my hamstrings and my back from overstretching some muscles during yesterday's yoga session.

After a long day at work today, I finished the "Legs and Back" program. The hardest parts were the seated wall poses and the chair pose. The "back" aspect of the program consisted of mostly pullups. I did pull downs with an elastic band - which wasn't very challenging,. Maybe I should invest in a pull up bar.

Although, it has been only one week, I feel a difference in my body already. And I feel great. After my stressful day at work, it was such a stress relief.

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In other news, I've locked down our refinance interest rate, which was disappointingly high.

I am saving the world at work, too. I was told repeatedly by the VP of R&D today that my project is the highest priority, and that I'll get any resources that I need. That makes me feel less motivated, and more scared. But I'll plod along like I always do, and I think I am doing a good job, and I can only do my best.

P90X Day 3 - Yoga X

So, let it be known that I have been doing yoga for years off and on. I think I'm pretty good. This Yoga X program kicked my butt. I had sweat dripping into my eyes, and the sun salutations just went on forever. I stopped the 1 1/2 hour program with 1/2 hour left to go to work on our house project. Then I had dinner, watched "Big Bang Theory", and before I knew it, it was 10:30 PM, and I did not find the energy to finish the program. Oh well. On to the next. Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X tomorrow.

The Beginning of P90X - Plyometrics, Shoulder and Arms, and Ab Ripper X

As of yesterday, I have started the P90X workout program. My husband and his coworkers have been doing it. As a woman, I felt hesitant to try it at first. The workouts seemed a little militaristic. I prefer dancey, or body/mind programs like yoga, pilates, or Zumba. Also, the workouts seemed hard. I tried the first program, Chest and Back a few months ago, it's really a full hour of pushups and pullups, and I was so sore and intimidated, that I stopped for a while.

Well, now I am going to begin for real. My local gym shut down this past week. And I also found out that I gained 10 lbs over the last 8 months! This is like, 10% of my body mass! I thought I had been exercising a lot, but apparently, I need to rev it up a notch, so here I am.

Review so far:

Yesterday, I did the Plyometrics program as the opening of my program (I did not want to start with the suggested "Chest and Back" because I've already done it twice on separate occasions previously and I don't want to get bored). I managed to finish the whole thing, which is better than the first time I tried the program when I had to stop with 20 minutes to go. This time, I modified the jumps a little bit so that my feet barely left the ground, and I was able to finish it. But I was still out of breath and dripping with sweat. Today, my hamstrings and abductor muscles are feeling pretty sore. My calves are also feeling a bit tight.

Today, I did the "Shoulders and Arms" and the "Ab Ripper X" according to the program. I don't have a plethora of weights at my disposal, so I used my rubber band. Note to self, must wear sneakers. The band hurt my feet, and one time the cord slipped and snapped and hit me in the inner thigh. That hurt. The rubber band was hard to calibrate to get the right amount of repetitions (I am aiming for the 12 to 15 rep range). I am actually not certain that I worked my arms enough. But I won't be able to know until tomorrow when my muscles get sore. I had a bit of difficulty completing the Ab ripper X, which is a 15 minute blast of stomach exercises. But my stomach was sore from working abs 2 days ago. I have tried this program previously with my husband and I have been able to complete it in the past, due to my months and years worth of pilates training. (When I went to my gym, I used to also to to 1 hour of abs class, so that certainly helped as well.)

All in all, I am excited, and hopefully I can keep this up.

Turkey Saga, and Relaxing Sunday on the Peninsula

This Sunday was all about relaxing with Mark. Unlike me, he has to work tomorrow, so I made sure he had time to relax after his less-than-ideal dive on Saturday.

The morning started with grocery shopping at the Mountain View Farmer's Market, where we bumped into our friend Joann and her sister, which was a welcome surprise.

I then embarked on a 17 mile bike ride with Eddie and Mark, more for exercise rather than for fun. Also, it was a statement of doing things that Mark enjoys, because he suffered through the scuba diving yesterday, which I enjoy. But I had fun inspite of myself, it was such a beautiful day.

While waiting for the guys at Peets Coffee, I submerged myself in newspapers, pretending I was one of those politically savvy types who read multiple newspapers a day. I realize that I had stopped avidly reading the news since Bush Jr. ascended to the presidency. Why read news, when all news is bad news? Now that we will have a much better president (Republican or Democrat), I vow to read the news more frequently.

In other news, the 3 year old frozen turkey turned out well. Next time, I would like to brine the turkey longer (overnight instead of 6 hours) so that it tastes more salty and is more moist, also, I think I will roast the turkey for 1h45 breast side down, and only 30 min breast side up so that the meat is more tender, or at least until the center of the thigh is 120 deg F.

Right now, utilizing the turkey leftovers in creative ways has been occupying my brain. The Moroccan turkey stew that I created the other night was quite the success. (Next time, I would like to use less water, use golden raisins instead of the yam, use green Middle-Eastern olives instead of the black Kalamatas I used, and eliminate the chickpeas.)

Moroccan Turkey Stew Ingredients:

1 Turkey carcass

1/4-1/2 cup golden raisins

3-4 carrots, sliced in 1/4" pieces

4 celery spears, sliced in 1/4" pieces

3-4 handfuls of turkey meat, chopped in 1" pieces

1 cinnamon stick

2 tbs cumin

2 tbs of curry powder

1 tbs of cardamom

sugar and salt to taste

2 cups of cooked couscous

1-2 cups of halved, pitted Mediterranean, preferably Middle Eastern green olives

2 medium onions, cut into 1" slices

3 cloves of garlic, diced

1 handful of chopped Italian parsley

Moroccan Turkey Stew Instructions:

(1) Place turkey carcass, or large turkey thigh in large stock pot. Fill stock pot with water, maybe 8 inches deep. Cut carcass into smaller pieces if necessary. Boil vigorously, and then lower temperature to simmering. Leave on simmer for 1.5-2 hours. Remove carcass and bones. Skim fat off of soup surface if it exists.

(2) Over medium-high heat, fry the onions, garlic and cinnamon stick for 5 minutes or until soft. Pour onions into soup stock. Let stock simmer for another 10 minutes.

(3) Place chopped celery, and turkey meat into stock pot. Let stock simmer for another 10 minutes.

(4) Place raisins and carrots into stock pot. Simmer until carrots are done. Season to taste with sugar and salt. In parallel, make two cups of couscous according to couscous cooking instructions.

(5) Place 1-2 inches of couscous at bottom of bowls.

(6) Ladle over with the Moroccan turkey stew. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Birthday Biking - Stage 1 in Sausalito

It was President's Day, and my birthday, and despite the fact that we were still in town, and not on a far flung vacation, I had a blast.

Mark and I got to observe Stage 1 of the 2008 Tour of California, which began in Sausalito. The peleton took 3 slow rounds around Sausalito downtown before taking off full blast for Santa Rosa, 100 miles away. To our pleasant surprise, the riders, including our old friend Paolo Bettini (see previous post) were giving low 5's to the fans as they slowly rolled by.After catching the enthralling race beginning, Mark and I biked from Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. This was another activity that I can now cross off my life's list. As I am not much of a climber, or a bike handler, the ascent up, and the descent down were physically trying. But the end view was well worth it. Notice the "Let Levi Ride" t-shirt on me, and the Peet's jersey on Mark.

After a wonderful, sun-soaked caffe latte and hot dog at the "Warming Hut", we rode back across the bridge into Sausalito where I observed some interesting marine mammal behavior. Below, you can see sea lions and harbor seals pilfering fish from the fishermen's net. Unlike dolphins, who can't wrap their minds around jumping over the nets, these seals and sea lions repeatedly glided over the net and casually ate the silver fish that lay within. Below, a sea lion(?) is about to swim over and into the net. These mammals went in and out of the net so often, it almost seemed like they were mocking the situation.
In the below photograph, you can count 7 seals or sea lions feeding within the net, with sea gulls dive bombing their heads from above.

Tour of California - Palo Alto Prologue - Brushes with Greatness

For the third year running, Mark and I are closely following the Tour of California race. Mark is a big cycling fan. As a result, I have a very good working knowledge of rider's faces, cycling team gossip, and even racing strategy. This year showcases the best cycling talent to come to California since the inception of the race. And due to the relative unpopularity of cycling in America, we got unprecedented access to the world famous racers.

The following photograph was taken at a private cycling event, "An Evening with Levi Leipheimer and friends" in Palo Alto on Valentine's Day (am I the best fiance ever or what?). Levi, left, who is the 2007 Tour of California champion, and the 3rd place finisher in the 2007 Tour de France, looked he could have blended into the crowd with his back turned hat. He and the ever entertaining and witty Chris Horner (left) both got a kick out of signing a photograph that we took of the both of them warming up together at last year's Tour of California.

Mark (center) with super-domestique, Chris Horner (left)

and Tour de France 3rd place winner, and 2007 Tour of California winner

Levi Leipheimer

Mark, with 2007 World Champion, Paolo Bettini,

who obligingly allowed us, and many others to take photos with him

Before the Prologue in Palo Alto, we checked out the cyclists before the race. Paolo Bettini, who is a superstar in Europe, allowed a small group of fans to take pictures with him while he discussed intricacies of his bike set up with coaches and mechanics.

Mina, with France's darling, Thomas Voekler, who fended off Lance Armstrong from obtaining the yellow jersey for an unprecedented 10 days in 2004

I practiced my rusty french when I asked if I could take a picture with Thomas Voeckler, who looks pretty handsome in this picture. Thomas Voeckler, by the way, is one of the most famous French riders in the world.

Familiar faces and voices to American cycling fans, (from left) Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen, and Bob Roll, kicking back on Palm Drive at Stanford UniversityFinally, a shot that could have been taken in Italy, but wasn't. Here was our breakfast before the Prologue at Cafe Del Doge on University Ave. in Palo Alto.

Macho Throwdown - Pull Up Contest

Some coworkers and I are organizing a pull-up contest for April. A pull-up is where you hold onto a bar, knuckles facing in, and pull your whole body weight upwards until your chin is level with the bar. We haven't figured out the format of the competition, or the prizes yet, but so far there is a lot of enthusiasm. There are tons of coworkers wanting to get involved, including at least one other female coworker other than myself. Also, my female weight-lifting instructor at my gym, who does 100 pull-ups/day could probably best all of the guys participating. She is also going to participate. Another words, this is going to be a macho throwdown designed for girls to beat the guys.

As for me, my personal goal is to do at minimum one pull up, with my stretch goal to do three pull-ups. I can not do one as yet.

Some of the muscles utilized for a pull-up:
Latissimus Dorsi
Brachialis
Brachioradialis
Biceps Brachii
Teres Major
Deltoid muscle
Infraspinatus
Teres Minor
Rhomboids
Levator Scapulae
Trapezius Lower
Trapezius Middle
Pectoralis Minor