I would have to argue, the most common restrictions we see in weightlifting mobility, and most athletes are limited ankle dorsiflexion — the ability for the knee to track forward over the toe (shoelace to shin). Not only does this effect major lifts like the barbell squat, it can also limit movements like the push press, split jerk, and even jumping exercises. Due to its position in the closed kinetic chain, limitations in ankle dorsiflexion can lead to a host of compensations upstream, including knee valgus, butt wink, and effecting torso angle in lifts.

"Yeah, I hear you Sara. I don't need to work on my ankle mobility, I just wear lifters." Tracking. 

While Olympic lifting shoes do allow the ankles to perform less dorsiflexion to reach the bottom of a squat to buffer limitations in ankle mobility, but when thinking longevity, there’s no outrunning the need for full ankle mobility. I will say, investing in a great pair of shoes has a huge benefits in the sport but shouldn't be used as a crutch. 

Alright then, how do I grease the ankle grooves then?

• Soft Tissue Work
• Stretching
• Dynamic Movement
• Loading the New Range

Each one of these effects the muscles differently: physically and neurologically.  You may have to play around a little bit to explore where your limitations and restrictions are and set a game plan from there.  

Move Well. 

Sara

To book a session for soft tissue work, please email me NOW! 
sarasumnerlmbt@gmail.com

"I haven't been able to reach above head in years." "I can't put my seatbelt on or take off my bra without pain". "Both of my shoulders are so messed up, I can't even brush my hair without it hurting." 

I hear complaints like this all too often. I also hate to say this but I also hear, "I tried bodywork and massage, but it didn't help." If the therapist does not have the specific skill set, odds are pretty good that massage therapy won't help much. 

The subscapularis, or subscap, is a very difficult muscle to find and palpate, let's face it- I have never had a client that is just overwhelm with joy when we do subscap work, although they do love the benefits. As one client said to me "It is kind of like a sour patch kid. Sour then sweet but also feels like you shouldn't be in there." But the pain-free range of motion was appreciated after the session. 

Real quick, lets break down the anatomy. The subscap is a thick muscle with a broad tendon that covers the anterior portion of the scapula and reinforces the shoulder joint. The muscle functions to stabilize, internally rotate, depress, and adduct the humerus. It's a pretty badass muscle and does a lot for the strength of our shoulder (making up about 50% of the rotator cuff strength) and joint centration. It also counteracts the powerful force of the deltoid. I could go on and on about this guy. Important trigger points to remember are across the shoulder blade, down the arm, and around the wrist (this one is often overlooked). 

A lot of therapist think they are on the subscap when they are in fact palpating the fat lat or the teres major. It is an easy mistake and easy to correct, I had to learn for myself. Why is this so common? Many therapist attempt to enter the subscap far too inferiorly, which causes a roadblock by the ribcage and the lat is mistaken for the subscap. Here is my tip:
Pinpoint your location by sliding your fingers laterally to feel the lateral border of the scapula. If you are lateral to the lateral border of the scapula, you are on the lat or teres major, not subscap. This is still fantastic work, but the client could be missing out on a lot of benefits. I always think: "to palpate the subscap, my fingers must be medial to the lateral border of the scapula."

Hope this helps,

Sara

We do a lot from our phones, I bet most of you guys are reading this blog from your phone right now. Society requires a great deal of repetitive thumb use, especially from texting, swiping, and scrolling. Pair that with barbell and every other countless thing we demand from our hands, the thumbs can take a beating.

Being attached to our smart phones in this way can amplify certain inflammatory responses such as tendinitis. Your tendons are what attach the bone and muscle, when we have overuse (mhm-mhm, phone in hand activities) the inflammation sets in...welcome, tendonitis. Don't think this will only show up in the thumb itself,   everything connected always. These repetitive hand motions can lead to the pain in the wrist and forearms. Small task can become super daunting and forgetting about using hook grip in a barbell piece. Tendonitis causes wrist pain, aching, numbness, and loss of strength. However, this pain can sometimes be confused with the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome, especially when paired with swelling. 

If you are having thumb, hand, or forearm pain, what can you do?
1. Put your phone down, or just be mindful of your time you spend scrolling away.
2. Book a session. This work isn't for pleasure, but your thumbs will be forever grateful. 

Live Well,

Sara

If you really want to check where your mobility and stability deficiencies are, grab a dumbbell, lock it out overhead, and squat. For most folks, this will throw up all kind of red flags. The single arm dumbbell overhead squat (SA DB OH) is a great assesment tool to diagnose where you are as an athlete, which will in the long run help us to become better at moving. Why is this movement such a kick in the ass? In order to achieve proper position at end range of motion you must have optimal:
- Thoracic Spine Mobility, rotation/extension
- Shoulder overhead mobility and stability,flexion and external roation
-Squat mobility and stability, flexion, external and internal roation, and ankle dorsiflexion

The bottom position for most people an EXTREMELY demanding position to get into. The mobility and stability requirements are massive. If we can’t obtain optimal bottom position then we sure as hell aren't going to be stable. I would look into your squat first before we challenge the mechanics even more. Don't be ashamed to strip this down and build it back up, trust me, I was there. Once you free up new ROM, you need to use it in a controlled manner aka add weight slowly without intensity, then put it back into function (performing the actual movement).

Depending on where your challenges are, there are plenty of things you can be doing to help improve this movement:
-bottom up press
-thoracic, shoulder, and hip mobility
-kettlebell windmills
-counter balance squats
-turkish getups
-cossack squats

Getting regular bodywork and massage can help maintain range of motion and flexibility in the pursuit of better movement. In the long run, this will help mitigate injuries and keep you moving pain free. I always suggest once a month for routine maintenance. 

Remember, sweat the small stuff. Devil is all in those details. 

​Sara

It has been a long time coming, but gyms are starting to open back up and the glitz of falling back into your gym/fitness routine is in the works. However, before you cannon ball into your routine, or even something new, consider the importance of bodywork and massge therapy when it comes to your recovery. If you want to stay active, avoid injuries and improve your performance, let me give you some reasons why I think massage and bodywork is so critical for the long haul. 

Massage and Bodywork therapy has an endless list of benefits, but when looking at performance, three of my top being:

1. Reducing the risk of soft-tissue injury: bodywork and massage can help prevent soft tissue injuries by way of relaxing tense muscles, reducing adhesions and scar tissue, and lengthening fascia. 

2. Help maintaining flexibility and range of motion: by increasing temperature of soft tissue through bodywork, this helps increase tissue elasticity, reducing swelling and inflammation around the muscles and joints. With increased range of motion, this in turn helps to prevent injury and increase relaxation. 

3. Reducing recovery time after exercise: Addressing your soft tissue after exercise can help ease inflammation, improve blood flow, and reduces muscle tightness. Now, I know it isn't ideal to have a massage after each time you workout, this is why stretching and cool downs are so critical for longevity and injury prevention. 

I believe to my bones, that if people focused more on moving well and getting into a self care routine, there would be far less injuries and much more longevity of life and in the sport. You may have to strip your ego a little and re-educate your movement, but trust me, it will pay off.

Live Well, 

Sara

The understanding of our muscular systems is ever changing, especially that of fascia and its function and characteristics. I want to dive into what fascia is and how this connective tissue that lines your entire body (not just the bottom of your feet) is affecting the way you perform and live. 

Fascia is connective tissue that covers you from head to toe. Think of it as an internal mesh that holds you together- it lines every fiber, organ, and bone in your body. It has two major jobs: structure and communication, sounds pretty important, right? It is composed of collagen and elastin that allow not only extreme strength but uber flexibility. 

Why and how does something so important cause such big issues? After an injury or surgery, your body sends new collagen to the injury site to help protect, which is great. But it is done so in a very chaotic, unplanned manner and because collagen is tough it can cause deviations and restrictions in soft tissue limiting function of the surrounding muscles and joints. 

But Sara, I don’t really have any major injuries and never have had surgery?
 
Cool. 

I spend a lot of time working with folks with painful fascial adhesions due to crappy biomechanics and movement patterns.

​For example:
You strain your lat doing pull ups during Murph, sure a week later the pain goes away, but the damage is done at a cellular level. A few months/year later it will show up in the shoulder or QL. This can be more dangerous down the road and lead to unexpected major injuries. Shameless plug: start getting bodywork done yesterday and put it into your weekly self-routine.

How to prevent fascial build up?

1. MOVE- your body was built for movement. Get up out of your chair that is jamming up your hips and back. Get up from the computer screen that is causing chronic neck pain and your shoulders to round. Holding a pigeon pose for 30 minutes isn't going to correct years of stagnation in a chair. Move, AMRAP style. 
2. GET OUT OF THE SAGGITAL PLANE- rotate, bend, side to side. Tissue and fascia can also get congested and stressed out in the same line of movement. 
3. BODYWORK- muscle maintenance is critical for everyone, that is all. Don't wait until you have a major problem, put it in the routine and make it an investment. 
4. HYDRATE- our bodies are more than half water...need I say more. 

Start a routine. It isn't rocket science, but it is important. I promise that years down the road you will thank yourself. 

Just you watch!

Live Well

If you are in the Charlotte area, I would love to help you feel better if you are feeling tight or need some work done!

If you are an athlete at any level, I am sure soreness is a part of your identity now, but do you know how to tell the difference in pain/injury and muscle soreness? Here is a simple overview of the difference of soreness and pain and when to rest and recover or take other measures to get to feeling better.

Time Matters- and not just in your workouts.

The huge thing to note when differentiating between soreness and pain is time. Natural soreness from physical activity has a much shorter duration of time- typically a few days. It will typically buff out, a lot slower if you aren’t recovering, stretching, bodywork, Epsom salt baths, etc. Soreness should last anywhere from one to three days, depending on the athlete. If you have experienced pain- you know that it can come on quickly, most of the times while engaged in exercise or shortly after. Pain will typically linger after 3-5 days and make it difficult or even impossible to partake in any exercise or daily activities.
Pain isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is our bodies “check engine” light and alerts us that we need to fix our shit.

After strenuous exercise, or exercise after a hiatus from physical activity, it is natural to experience muscle soreness- you may hear someone say they have caught the DOMS (we will get into what that is a little later) Usually, muscles are tender to the touch or burn slightly with movement.

Hello muscle soreness.

During workouts, our muscles are put to the test and face fatigue. This usually doesn’t hit until a day, usually two later…DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Discomfort will gradually go away but a red flag indicator of something more serious is when the pain is persistent, during rest or fitness. This is your sign, please seek help so you can start to move, live, and workout pain free.

Okay, so DOMS. No soreness, no growth?

DOMS can be a great sign of muscle damage cause by training and as we know the body “renews” the damage to our muscle cells so that we can endure more load and intensity. Aka “muscle growth” aka “gains”. So, now that we understand on the surface what DOMS is, let’s briefly go over what DOMS is NOT. It is not the buildup of lactic acid. High intensity exercise DOES lead to lactic acid, but soon after, during rest, lactic acid is excreted or burned off. DOMS is the result of the muscle damage, mentioned above, which leads to inflammation.

Even though soreness is inevitable, how can we try to stay a few steps ahead of soreness?

First, know YOUR limits. Not your friends, not an Olympian not your mom's…YOURS. Prepping your body pre-workout and recovering, stretching post workout. I will state the obvious here: REST, HYDRATION, and NUTRITION play major key roles in recovering. Switch up your activity as well. 21-15-9 and 1RM daily aren’t the best idea. Fun? Yes, but if you are in this for the long haul, be smart. 

Live Well, 
​Sara

"Do your worst"

One of the biggest misconceptions about deep tissue massage that I have come across as a therapist, is that most people who walk through my door believe that if there is no pain, they have gained nothing, or when it is painful I hear "no don't back off, work it out."   The term ‘deep tissue massage’ actually has nothing to do with the amount of pressure that is applied, but about working the deeper tissue layers of muscle and fascia in order to correct, and heal an area of dysfunction the client is presenting with. 

As a bodywork therapist I treat a lot of athletes, and generally active people who have primed their nervous system to bare intensity.  They come in with this fixed mindset of "no pain, no gain", and some even want the session to be painful because it feels like I am "being effective". Trust me, you can be effective without experiencing pain.

When someone comes to see me requesting deep tissue massage I often find myself educating them on my goals for the sessions and keeping the nervous system happy with me. Can it be uncomfortable? Sure. But, it is never my goal to make it painful just to please the person.   A session with me  should be slow and intentional, working through the muscle tissues layer, by layer.  Giving an increased amount of attention to the dysfuntional area (typically not where you are feeling pain) and trigger points found along the way.  Many therapists make the mistake of trying to ‘force the issue’.  Any skilled therapist will tell you that they get much better results by allowing the tissue to respond on its own, and release under a slower, more focused approach as opposed to forcing it.

As with most anything, if you take the forceful approach, it is usually met with increased resistance.  Muscles will have more of a tendency to ‘push back’ against a lot of pressure, and with that you aren’t really accomplishing anything with the treatment, except maybe some bruising and soreness the following day.  

I am not saying that you won’t have any pain, or discomfort during a deep tissue massage.  Working on the trigger points and already sore, tight areas will be somewhat painful.  It is usually described more as the ‘hurt so good’ feeling though.  It should never be unbearable to the point where you feel as if you can’t relax, or breathe through it.  I always tell my clients that on a scale of 1-10, if the intensity of what I am doing goes over a 6 or 7, that I will need to back off.  Everyone has a different tolerance level, so communication and attentiveness is key during a deep tissue massage.

 And as always, remember to drink plenty of water after a deep tissue massage.