Ah – our Jacaranda trees are in bloom in SoCal – a purple “reign” for temporary splendor before the flowers litter the ground. Yet – let’s focus on two other colors today – blue and red. [ We can and should add a third color – white – as it is Flag Day too. As a proud Navy veteran, I offer #thesecolorsdontrun.]
Gents – If you are like me – you wore BLUE today in recognition of this Friday of Men’s Health Week. As Americans – we honor the pink hue and invest energies for Breast Cancer Awareness thrusts for women every fall. So, let’s give National Men’s Health Week (that was signed into law by Bill Clinton 30 years ago – 1994).
So, get serious about a silent manly epidemic in America as depicted in this infographic from menshealthnetwork.org:
As a bottom line up front for me as an aspirational centenarian, Women centenarians outnumber Men by an 8:1 factor. Oy. Gents – we can do better.
We must do better – in my opinion. The impact of men’s unhealthy statistics transcend gender, as Governor Bill Richardson stressed 30 years ago,
“because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters, men’s health is truly a family issue.”
Guys – despite any inconvenience – Go see Doctors! Listen to this male call-to -action. And, think twice about this mission statement,
“teach men and boys how to fish (for health).”
Wow
I pile on with a credible and tragic metric for Men older than age 75 (I’m almost to that age…).
In 2022, 44 out of 100,00 American gents aged 75 or higher committed suicide. Women of the same ages committed suicide at a far lesser rate of ~5 per 100,000 – almost a 10:1 grim reaper factor that I wish was fake. Yet it isn’t. Check the National Center for Health Statistics to trust and verify… What are three Factors for this relative suicidal mark?
Guns
Loneliness
Social networking challenges.
As the late, great Bill Walton reminded us, “Life is easy when you’re hot. But what happens when the ball bounces the other way?”
Now – to shift downward in demographics – differences between young and adult men and women in both healthspan and lifespan are alarming to me. I suspect that the numbers that sadly count also alarm you!
all cause morbidity (5 years)
cancers
diabetes (Type I and II).
Gents – start fishing for your health! It is a matter of overcoming our “silent” epidemic. Ladies – help us fix this as only YOU can do.
Remember, gentlemen, – it takes work to overcome denial and to die harder and later. Get STRONG to SAVE, even on days when you do not Wear Blue.
With a world Cricket tourney coming to Long Island soon, with America’s game underway on countless baseball diamonds, and with pickleball gaining in popularity, why not chat about having a ball or balls?
If your devoured KABOOMER to work on your healthspan, you may recall my writings about Self Myofascial Release or SMR.
Fascinating Fascia
Before we highlight the wonders of rolling or pressing a ball on a body trigger point or region, let’s reflect on what fascia are and why we use SMR to get you ready to play ball.
Think of Fascia as thin, matrixed saran wraps around each of your muscle groups (plus each of your joints and organs).
When all is well, your fascia stretch and smooth bodily motion is supported. If and when fascia get thicker, adhesive or “sticky”, then all is not well.
Considering a prominent fascia on the outer or distal part of each upper leg – you can readily see why “tight” or inflamed IT Bands are commonplace. Have you experienced an IT Band Syndrome? Our very credible Down Under experts at the feetpeople share useful awareness and remediation techniques for this common type of fasciitis …
Shifting from a specific symptom to the general … the Cleveland Clinic advises that your spunky, liquified hyaluronic collagen layers or “wraps” can lead to these observed symptoms of “tight” fascia:
Tenderness or sensitivity
Pain when pressure is applied to a trigger point
Referred pain
Aching, burning, stinging, or stabbing pain
Reduced range of motion
Weakness in the affected muscle.
Oy, veh.You’ve been there, and experiences that at some point, right?
Inflammation in a fascia region is medically called fasciitis. Think of plantar fasciitis (PF) as one of the more painful and enduring inflammations. Avoidance is far superior than mitigating PF – I share from my 9-month experiences!
That is correctomundo, repair cycles for fasciitis can last weeks to months :(, due in part to their lower blood supplies than embedded in other vital tissues.
Factoid
Your and my Fascia, particularly those close to our epidermis, have many, many nociceptors (i.e. sensory nerve endings). In fact, these fascia have the second-highest number of nerve endings per area – after our skin.
Our fascial linings are integral to experienced pains after surgery to musculoskeletal injuries from sports, exercise, or aging processes.
Bottom Lines
Up to 30% of people with musculoskeletal pain may have fascial involvement in those discomforts, or fascia may be the root cause.
So… staying Strong to Save means knowing your body’s Fascia. Your healthspan depends on your awareness and treatment of saran wrap stickiness. Simple yet admittedly hard techniques like self-myofascial release (SMR), proper hydration and nutrition, calculated static and dynamic stretching, situational R I C E, or careful therapy gunning may help reduce fasciitis and promote proper muscle functions.
Take note that very tender or acute triggers points in your fascia should be treted gently. Aggressive remediations may only increase your discomfort.
Yes, have a hard ball – like a cricket ball, lacrosse ball, or baseball to gently roll areas – like your layered upper back muscles, Ilio-tibial bands, and gluteals. I keep varied sizes of balls and roller handy to tailor my SMR rolls to the site of my exercise-induced fasciitis. The Mayo Clinic offers a very good tutorial about this common condition for athletes called “exertional compartment syndrome.”
As a personal point, I always bring a ball on airplane flights, and keep one on my car seat to work my LPHC fascia.
Please have a Ball like I do to condition your under-appreciated wraps!
I am “here” to help you on your wellness journey. Reach out to me – Koach Dave- via email dave@strongtosave.com, or call/text me @ +1 858.925.3895.
Why do our amazing neuromuscular systems and brain get out of whack? The answer, my friends, is far too complex for me to tackle in a blog like this. Here are daunting and alarming numbers that count for Chronic Pain in the USA:
We have eight (!) parts of our brains that are in the PAIN loop.
One-quarter of all Americans have, do, or will experience Chronic Pain (CP).
I assert that the musical group, R.E.M. was right for about 100 million of us:
I can share from my own in-and-out path experiences, and add lessons from my amazing clients who endure chronic pains as they strive to get back in whack.
As you may know from my books and web posts, I find context in word origins. When Latin was spoken, PENALTY or PUNISHMENT were the word roots of the modern word pain. Those terms sounds about right – don’t they?
If you have chronic pain – how can you get out of the penalty box?
Or, can you reduce the impact of migraines, fibromyalgia, or auto-immune inflammations?
What are practical ways to mitigate PAINs that affect one’s quality of life for 3 months or more?
From the top
A Definition:
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as: “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.”
Five Common Signs of CP
a. Reactivated prior pain paths (real or perceived).
“a growing body of evidence suggests that some complementary approaches, such as acupuncture, hypnosis, massage, mindfulness meditation, music-based interventions, spinal manipulation, tai chi, qigong, and yoga, may help to manage some painful conditions.”
From, credible research, books and publications,
We have mindset amplifiers (e.g. fear or anxiety) for CP. Yet, wait, wait… there are ways to counter, dampen or stop those amplifiers for musculoskeletal and neuromuscular pains.
2.Yes, you can mitigate the flow of your “fight or flight” hormones like cortisol when you do NOT need them.
3. Yes, there are practical and proven SAFETY-IN-ME (SIM) messages of hope and change to address CP.
Trust the experts and me to find you own mediation and management tactics.
As I called out in KABOOMER and reinforced in STRONG to SAVE, stability and balance are vital insurance riders for your physical portfolio.
Injury and morbidity numbers for Falls are staggering (literally).
A third (!) of Medicare-aged Americans fall every year.
One-hundred + elders die each and every day from falls.
Women are regrettable prone to bone breaks from falls.
3 million Emergency Room visits each year for fall-related injuries 🙁
See many more unsettling (!) government statistics…
What did the Moody Blues offer in their lyrics?
learn as we grow old
there is nothing that we need (for a miracle in our life)
When you combine balance and strength and a stretch in a complex move like this Single Leg Dead Lift (SLDL), you are on your way to second-half excellence and will likely avoid falls.
I was lucky to be a two-timer expert guest for Get Set Up’s Better Balance Challenge in May, 2024. Hundreds of adult learners found that conditioning of their proprioception and toe/foot strength quickly made differences for their activities of daily life.
Yes, you can find a miracle in your life. Do not neglect your question of balance!
As nights are still cool in most of our zany world’s Northern Hemisphere, I offer a science-back and sweat-based fitness map for a good read by the fireplace or pillow.
I put full credence in the National Geographic organization for its enlightening article about the true-blue Amazon warriors.
With the bottom line up front – those very tough ladies were NOT from the Amazon region. They were from the Mediterranean area – Scythia.
May I quote from STRONG to SAVE – with its equal obeisance to strong ladies and gentlemen?
Here goes:
Feminine Feats Feats of strength were lauded in noble Olympic tradition, and through the years of history. Yet, feats of strength were not always manly.
I offer this myth-buster that champions physical feats of Scythian women who were erroneously labeled Amazon warriors. A credible 2014 National Geographic article offers that: “Archaeology shows that these fierce women also smoked pot, got tattoos, killed—and loved—men.”4 Just sharing…
No, those lady warriors did not have breasts removed to become better archers.
No, they didn’t come from Lesbos or from the Amazon region.
Yes, they adapted to horse riding in ancient Scythia. And …
Yes, their strong skills and prowess scared the bejabbers out of many Mediterranean males. Those real Amazons learned how to die hard at the expense of others.
Ladies, why not embody the physical and mental spirits of those great Scythians?
Be the strong equal of men.
Ladies, do not give in to “yes but” reasons of lesser souls who under-invest in their bodies and banks:
Social
Psychological
Lack of knowledge
Lack of facilities or motivating coach
Shortness of time.
Do or do not. Find ways or make them. Invest. Today’s great athletes (of both genders) present and “carry themselves” as did Braveheart, Ulysses, Stoics, and the Scythian females in days of yore. Aesthetic bodies are both hard and hard to overlook, aren’t they? Reflect on this timeless wisdom of Socrates: “It is a shame … to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which (a) body is capable.” Thank you, Socrates! Who among us looks away from heavenly bodies?1Do or do not. Find ways or make them. Invest. Today’s great athletes (of both genders) present and “carry themselves” as did Braveheart, Ulysses, Stoics, and the Scythian females in days of yore. Aesthetic bodies are both hard and hard to overlook, aren’t they?
Reflect on this timeless wisdom of Socrates: “It is a shame … to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which (a) body is capable.” Thank you, Socrates! Who among us looks away from heavenly bodies?
As always – PLEASE reach out if you wish sweat-backed and science-based tips for FORTIUS. Stay STRONG TO SAVE!
