TMHS 831: The #1 Stretch You Need to Do Every Day & How to Get Rid of Pain - With Juliet Starrett
Oct 2, 2024
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Juliet Starrett, a lifelong athlete and bestselling author, joins the conversation to emphasize the need for movement in our increasingly sedentary lives. She discusses the #1 stretch everyone should do daily and offers simple tweaks to enhance mobility and reduce pain. Juliet highlights the importance of integrating more movement into routines, shares effective self-care practices like using a lacrosse ball for relief, and explores how community support can aid recovery. Her message champions the belief that consistent effort can lead to stronger, healthier bodies for all.
Sedentary lifestyles contribute to increased pain and discomfort, necessitating simple strategies to enhance mobility for better physical and emotional health.
Adequate electrolyte intake, particularly magnesium, is essential for reducing pain and improving overall fitness and daily comfort.
Incorporating playful activities into daily routines fosters movement and boosts mental health, countering the effects of a busy, inactive lifestyle.
Deep dives
The Decline of Mobility and its Consequences
Modern lifestyles have led to a significant decline in human mobility, causing increased stiffness, pain, and discomfort in many individuals. This phenomenon can be attributed to sedentary behavior and the typical daily activities which promote inactivity, such as extended hours of sitting. The lack of movement not only impacts physical health by causing issues like low back pain but also affects mental well-being, as it removes people from social and community activities. As a result, finding strategies to enhance mobility is crucial for nurturing both physical health and emotional resilience.
The Importance of Electrolytes for Pain Relief
Electrolytes play a vital role in reducing pain and ensuring optimal bodily function. Specific studies show that adequate intake of electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium can significantly enhance performance during physical activities, leading to reduced muscle cramping and pain. Magnesium, in particular, is highlighted as essential for muscle relaxation, affecting almost 700 functions in the body. By incorporating proper electrolyte balance, individuals can experience not only better fitness performance but also enhanced vitality and comfort in their daily activities.
The Transformative Couch Stretch
The couch stretch is identified as a powerful mobility exercise that addresses prevalent issues stemming from modern lifestyles, especially the lack of hip extension. Despite being a simple stretch, it is incredibly effective at alleviating the negative effects of prolonged periods of sitting. Regular practice of the couch stretch can significantly improve not only hip mobility but also alleviate low back pain, which is the leading cause of missed work. This stretch is particularly beneficial for children and athletes, promoting better overall movement patterns and performance.
Reinforcing Movement Through Play
The discussion emphasizes the importance of incorporating play into both adults' and children's lives as a means of boosting physical activity and mental health. Engaging in playful activities can help combat the decline in movement that is often observed due to busy lifestyles and work obligations. Not only does play provide joy and social connection, but it also serves as a natural way to maintain movement and mobility as people age. Encouraging creativity in movement – whether through sports, outdoor activities, or simple playful interactions – can prevent stiffness and enhance overall well-being.
Empowering Self-Care Through Personal Mobility Practices
Learning to take care of one’s own body is a key theme, highlighting the power of self-administration of mobility exercises to relieve pain and improve function. Simple tools like lacrosse balls and foam rollers can be utilized effectively at home to release tension in the body and promote better movement patterns. The emphasis is placed on working both upstream and downstream of an area of pain to identify and alleviate stiffness. This proactive approach in addressing and preventing pain empowers individuals to maintain their mobility and overall health independently.
Our modern world with all its conveniences and technologies often encourages a sedentary lifestyle. And more and more studies are affirming that opting out of regularly moving our bodies is making us sick, unhealthy, and is even shortening our lifespans. Movement is a foundational practice for all life – and if we want to make our bodies work better, we have to find simple ways to integrate more movement into our existing routines.
Today’s guest, Juliet Starrett, is a lifelong athlete, entrepreneur, and New York Times bestselling author who has an important mission: to inspire people to move more for stronger, healthier, more durable bodies. Together, Juliet and her husband Kelly Starrett wrote the incredible book, Built to Move, which focuses on basic yet powerful mobility practices anyone can use to feel better and live longer.
Juliet is back on The Model Health Show to discuss some simple tweaks you can make to your existing routine for less pain, better mobility, and better health. You’re going to learn how simple practices like sitting on the floor and upgrading your walking routine can enhance your life, plus the #1 stretch you should be doing every day. What I love about Juliet’s message is that she believes that anyone can optimize their body and improve their health with consistent and intentional practice. I hope you enjoy this conversation with the one and only, Juliet Starrett!
In this episode you’ll discover:
Why kids today are more sedentary than ever.
What’s going on with the prevalence of chronic low back pain.
How pain can impact communities and mental health.
Why you should find ways to move despite injuries.
How to sit less throughout your day.
Why humans are adaptability machines.
The benefits of sitting on the ground.
Basic (and free!) ways to improve back pain.
The #1 mobilization you should be doing.
What the sit-and-rise test is, and how it relates to all-cause mortality.
How to become a more durable person.
The importance of play for human health and longevity.
Why mobility is a critical aging predictor, and how to improve it.