National Personal Training Institute, Washington State

We hope you have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving🦃

Attention all Certified Professionals!

As you know, as Professionals you need 2.0 (20 hours) of CEUs every 2 years. Are you keeping current?

Don't let all of the hard work you put towards your certifications expire.

Our Continuing Education Courses (CEUs) can be used with most all certifying companies nationwide.

Check out our great online courses here:
https://www.nationalptiglobal.org/courses/online-continuing-education

We can help you every step of the way in your journey towards becoming a Fitness Professional.

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Move of the week: Pigeon pose

The pigeon pose (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana), Eh-kah PAH-dah rah-JAH-cop-oh-TAHS-anna if you are so inclined, is a backbend that can relieve nerve tension and chronic pain while increasing circulation. This is a common pose practiced in various forms of yoga.

This hip-opening backbend stretches the hips, back, and shoulders. As with any pose, please exercise caution as you explore new variations and listen to your body’s limits.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS:
• Opens hip flexor muscles (psoas, re**us femoris) and groin muscles.
• Opens hip rotator muscles (gluteus medius and minimus).
• Relieves sciatic nerve tension and ease chronic low back pain.
• Increases circulation to urinary, digestive, and reproductive systems.
Pigeon Pose is a great way to access and open up through the hip area. On a physical level, having openness in the hips can help to improve posture, physical alignment and overall flexibility and agility. Tightness and tension in the hips can also lead to pain throughout the body, including the knees and low back, so creating space for the hips to release is important for overall physical health and well-being

How to Do Pigeon Pose
1. Begin in Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). On an exhale, bend your right knee into your chest and gently lower your bent right knee down to meet the outside of your right wrist.
2. Move your right shin parallel to the short edge of your mat (the right foot will move toward the left wrist) until you find an edge that feels appropriate for your body.
3. Lower your left leg down onto the mat and extend it straight back behind you. Keep the top of your left foot relaxed down on the mat.
4. Take your fingertips to the ground beside your hips and square your hips forward to the front of the room. Note the tendency for the right hip to drop here; instead, focus on maintaining an even distribution of weight across both hips.
5. Inhale here, lengthening the spine and reaching the crown of your head up toward the ceiling.
6. Feel free to remain with your fingertips at your sides; for a deeper sensation, experiment with walking your fingertips in front of the right shin, coming down onto your palms, forearms, or folding forward and resting your forehead on the tops of your hands.
7. Stay in the pose anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes depending on your comfort level. The longer the pose is held, the more the muscles around the joints will relax and begin to stretch and lengthen.
8. To come out of the pose, plant the palms down on the mat in front of you and slowly make your way back to Downward-Facing Dog (it doesn’t have to look pretty!). Bend your knees, one at a time, and gently walk out the legs. Whenever you feel ready, repeat the pose on the other side.
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Mobility is often confused or interchanged with flexibility. However, they are not one in the same. Mobility is the ability of a joint to reach its full range, as opposed to flexibility which is the ability of a muscle to stretch.

Whether or not your joints move to their full extent largely depends on factors like the tightness of your muscles, the wear and tear of a specific joint, and muscle memory. When any of these factors moves out of balance, your entire body takes note.
The lack of mobility can impact everything from how we walk, how we sit, and the ability for us to move throughout our day pain free.

Modern society has changed the way we move. And not for the better. We are attached to our phones or tablets, sitting behind a computer or a steering wheel. We spend so much time hunched over scrolling or sitting that it has created hidden weakness in the body.

One of the largest factors to compromise mobility in the human body is poor posture from sitting all day. This leads to muscle imbalances. Weak muscles caused by sitting too much can result in compensations throughout the body. This can lead to prohibited mobility, joint degeneration, tight muscles and even headaches.

Here are a few tips to create better, more mobile movement patterns-
*Get an ergonomic assessment to optimize your desk posture. A healthcare professional can provide an Ergonomic Assessment and provide customized recommendations for how to sit at a desk with mobility in mind.
*Set a timer to remind you to stand up every hour. Setting an alarm for every hour gives you a reminder to get up, do some light stretching and take a short walk about.
*Breathe from your belly. Taking big, deep inhales engages your abs and make you feel supported.
*Move like a baby. When was the last time we moved in a plane of motion that was not just standing or sitting? Remember, mobility is all about training your muscles away from habitual movements.
*Pair functional strength training with stretching. Owning your joint function is really the goal here. A proper strength training routine, along with full range of motion stretching, along with yoga are great ways to increase mobility.
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Move of the Week: Goddess Squat

Utkata konasana, or Goddess Squat, is a powerful standing yoga asana, where the lower body is in a wide-legged squat and the arms are raised at shoulder height. The name is derived from the Sanskrit, utkata, meaning "powerful" or "fierce," kona, meaning "angle," and asana meaning "pose." Thus, the name of the posture refers to the “fierce” angle of the legs, and the strength and determination built through mastering this posture.
Utkata konasana is an ideal posture from which to build both outer and inner strength and power. On a mental level, it is thought to increase focus and concentration. It creates heat in the body and is said to help one find balance inside and out.
Practicing this can tone your lower body in no time, while also challenging your balance and focus. If your hips or thighs are tight, this might be a difficult pose at first. With practice and dedication, you will gain more strength and flexibility!

Benefits:
1. It strengthens the hips, the lower back and the thigh muscles
2. It widens the uterus before pregnancy and helps during pregnancy.
3. It helps to broaden the chest and correct postural defects.
4. This asana massages the organs in the abdomen, particularly the kidneys, the ovaries, urinary system and the prostate gland.
5. It enhances the functioning of organs in the thorax and improves respiration.
6. It energizes the body, relieves stress and gives a general sense of well-being.
7. It can relieve menstrual pain and cramps.

Instructions
1. Begin standing in Mountain Pose at the top of your mat with your arms at your sides.
2. Turn to the right and step your feet wide apart, about four feet. Turn your toes out slightly, so they point to the corners of your mat.
3. Bend your knees directly over your toes and lower your hips into a squat. Work toward bringing your thighs parallel to the floor, but do not force it.
4. Extend your arms out to the sides. Bend your elbows and point your fingertips toward the ceiling; your upper arms and forearms should be at a 90-degree angle.
5. Tuck your tailbone in slightly and press your hips forward as you draw your thighs back. Keep your knees in line with your toes.

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The most common symptom of SI joint dysfunction is sacroiliac joint pain. Patients often experience pain in the lower back or the back of the hips. Pain may also be present in the groin and thighs. The pain is typically worse with standing and walking and improved when lying down. Inflammation and arthritis in the SI joint can also cause stiffness and a burning sensation in the pelvis.

Treatments for sacroiliac joint dysfunction (SI joint pain) typically focus on alleviating pain and restoring normal motion in the joint. From physical therapy to fusion surgery, the SI joint treatment field is booming with possible options. And as advances in medicine and surgery continue to be made, many of these solutions are high tech in nature.

Just the same, many people find relief, whether temporary, permanent, or both, in a low tech way — with gentle, skillful body movement.
Oral anti-inflammatory medications are often effective in pain relief. Physical therapy can be very helpful. Pain in the SI joint is often related to either too much motion or not enough motion in the joint. A sacroiliac belt is a device that wraps around the hips to help stabilize the SI joints, which can also help the SI joint pain. Other options to stabilize the SI joints include yoga, manual therapy, and Pilates.

What are some exercise to help with SI Joint Dysfunction?
*Knee to chest stretch
*Knee rotation
*Bridge
*Figure 4 stretch
*Childs pose
* Bird Dog
Try to avoid the following:
*Crunches/sit-ups
*Any exercise or activity that involves a lot of twisting or turning at the hips such as golf or tennis
*Heavy weight lifting, especially those involving the lower back
*Contact sports that could further injure your SI joint such as football or basketball
*Excessive biking or long rides can actually cause more harm than good by putting extra pressure on the sacroiliac joints


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