Education

I think we can all attest to the discomfort of sore muscles after strenuous exercise. Although the pains we go through to get into shape are worth the battle, it would be nice to not have to hold our breath every time we need time we need to lift our leg above 90 degrees after all those squats, or to wince in pain when closing the car door after all those chin ups!

There is a solution to delayed onset muscle soreness- book in for an infrared sauna session followed by a massage and your muscle pain will be a thing of the past.

Infrared heat therapy has been used by physiotherapists and doctors of Chinese medicine for many years to improve circulation and relaxation in the muscles and tissues. The increased blood flow helps to purge the muscles of lactic acid which causes aches and pains in the muscle tissue. It also helps to relax the muscles, prepping them for massage therapy. Your massage therapist can then begin to work out trigger points and any remaining tightness in your muscles.

I’ve been surprised of late to find that as I continue to focus on my core muscles and proper  alignment during exercise, that formerly weak muscles are becoming short and tight in response to this change in form. This has caused aches and pains to arise where I’m not accustomed.  So even when I think I’ve gotten into better shape- there’s still plenty of maintenance to be done in order to keep my muscles healthy and to prevent injury.

So now I know I have a choice- to wince and hold my breath until the soreness subsides, or I can book in for a treatment and carry on… hmmm… that’s not such a hard decision!

Here’s a rather amusing article by Tim Dowling for the Guardian regarding his experience using an infrared sauna. Fortunately for Spruce Body Lab patrons, our sauna is a private retreat in which to relax and sweat it all out!

We’re being teased by spring here in Vancouver. One day, it’s beautiful and sunny and you feel like you’re on top of the world. The next, it feels cold and grey and like winter is never coming to an end.

Personally, I’ve found my energy levels to be waning over the past few months. The time change seems to have had a bigger impact on me, and waking up early just hasn’t been in the cards.

I need at least 7 hours of sleep to be rested, and for the most part I sleep well, but I know that I’m lucky for it. Many people have trouble getting the rest that they need, whether it’s due to a lack of sleep because of a busy lifestyle, insomnia or the quality of their sleep is poor. Sleep plays a big part in managing stress and preventing disease.

Here are some tips to help improve the quality of your sleep and increase your energy levels.

• Having a relaxing salt bath with a few drops of lavender oil in the evening before bed time. Epsom salts help to produce serotonin levels which improves sleep function while lavender helps to induce sleep and relax the nervous system. The key is to not make your bath too hot, otherwise it becomes stimulating rather than relaxing.
• Give yourself a foot massage. I can attest to the benefits of this! By giving yourself a foot massage, you’re triggering reflex points that relate to the entire body. This can help you to have a much deeper sleep.
• Get plenty of exercise. Although exercise requires energy, it ultimately improves your energy levels and reduces stress and tension in the body.
• Infrared Sauna. A 25 minute session in the infrared sauna helps to deeply relax your muscles and tissues by dramatically increasing circulation and excretion of toxins. While you’ll initially feel quite relaxed post sauna session- you’ll get a burst of energy within a few hours. The infrared sauna has been shown to speed up metabolic rates within the session.
• Massage Therapy and Acupuncture. By releasing built up tension and pain in the muscles, massage therapy and acupuncture can relieve strains that can be draining you of your energy. We all know how much pain and discomfort can take the wind out of our sales. Regular treatments to maintain optimal health is a great way to restore energy or simply prevent burnout and fatigue.
• Thinking too much? Try journaling. If you’ve got a lot on your mind and you can’t stop the chatter in your head, get it out on paper. I think a good rule is to make yourself write three full pages of whatever is on your mind. If you commit to the full three pages, you may find yourself wanting for things to write about, but I find this commitment ensures that you get everything out, and often that last page can lead to some insight that was being suffocated by other thoughts that were simply repeating themselves in your head.
• Supplements. Are you getting your all the nutrients you need from your diet? Most likely, you aren’t. It can be extremely challenging to make sure that we’re getting optimal amounts of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids every day from our diet. These elements are key to feeling energized and boosting your bodies immunity and ability to heal from free-radical assaults. A favorite of mine is the GliSODin Advanced Daily Formula which contains superoxide dismutase. It’s a big word- for a very big and powerful anti-oxidant enzyme. This ingredient is like a terminator for free radicals in our system- it just keeps going and going!

Those are just some tidbits for things that I like to do to help with energy and sleep. Do you have any tips to share about improving your energy or quality of sleep?

Well, Vancouver is back to its sedate self! It was astounding how the very next day after the closing ceremonies, it was as though the Olympics and all the people were just a dream. They were gone, it was over in a flash.

I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about post-Olympic blues, Vancouverites were high on the energy of it all, and the sudden switch back to routine had some people feeling down. Where did all the fun go? And yet there are still more people who are happy to get back into routine. Two to three weeks of partying had taken its toll on their bodies, and it was time to get back to the gym and eating right.

When I’m not feeling my best, I tend to increase my exercise, eat better and then boost it all with infrared sauna sessions. In as little as 30 minutes, I can burn up to 600 calories while sweating out toxins and relaxing my muscles. Post infrared sessions, I often feel hungry, but also very mellow, like I’ve just had a really great work out.

I wouldn’t necessarily promote the infrared sauna as a weight loss tool Anna and Christina’s Beauty Call (A W Network Series), did a feature on our infrared sauna. Anna and Christina had a sauna session everyday for 7 days. Afterwards they had both lost around 2 pounds. Hardly a weight loss miracle, but, I imagine that relieving their bodies of excess toxins and muscular strain would have had a tremendous benefit to their energy and immunity.

So if you’re feeling the need for a post-Olympic purge, I’d suggest a little time out in an infrared sauna. On a side note- here’s an interesting article from the Globe and Mail about how the Olympics has influences Canadians’ fitness levels: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/on-the-podium-sure-but-not-off-the-couch/article1496774/

This beautiful Vancouver summer we’ve been having has brought lots of opportunities for fun; longer sun filled days can sometimes mean less sleep, more activity and perhaps a few more indulgences in the food and beverage department.  

Whenever I’ve partaken a little too much, or I’ve gotten off track with my exercise routine, I can definitely feel it. My body sends out signals in the form of aches and pains- it’s an unfortunate reminder that I’m human and need to take some time out.

First things first- I book in for a some RMT massage and infrared sauna therapy. 

An infrared sauna differs from traditional saunas and steam facilities in that it uses infrared light, an invisible part of the light spectrum to trigger blood circulation.  Traditional saunas and steam rooms use heat energy which warms up the air around the body, eventually increasing circulation and sweating. This process takes some time and it can be uncomfortable for most people to stay in a sauna or steam room for more than 10 minutes as it becomes hard to breathe the hot air. Infrared light penetrates the skin by about 4mm. This creates a rapid increase in circulation to the muscles and connective tissues, triggering sweating and detoxification. Because the infrared light is not heating up the air, it is much easier to breathe and people can remain in the sauna comfortably for anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes, thus enhancing the detoxification process. It is purported that up to 600 calories are burned within a 30 minute infrared sauna session. Yes please!

After 25 minutes, I’m feeling deeply relaxed- the endorphins have kicked in, my muscles are warmed up and ready for some deep tissue massage. This massage technique targets deeper muscles- which can be painful, but the release of tension, chronic pain and lactic acid from the muscle tissues makes it worth any discomfort. 

To support further internal detoxification, I’ve used the GliSODin Advanced Detoxification Formula.  It’s a two week detox program that does not require any change in diet.  Unlike other detox supplements which have people running to the washroom- GliSODin’s formula does not contain laxatives or bulking agents and focuses on chelating metals and toxins to eliminate them from our system while providing the immune support and age prevention properties of superoxide dismutase.

So, in the end I’ve learned I can still have my fun this summer,… I’m just equipped with some damage control techniques!

http://www.sprucebodylab.com/services/infrared.php

http://www.sprucebodylab.com/services/rmt.php

http://www.sprucebodylab.com/products/glisodinskin.php

Holiday Spirit

So we’re hosting a shopping event this Monday, December 8th from 6-9pm.  Amongst all the great deals, one thing that I’m very excited about for this event is that we’re asking for donations to the Vancouver Food Bank.  Everyone that brings a donation will be entered to win a package of six, 25 minutes infrared sauna sessions.

Office Christmas parties being cancelled has been an unfortunate reality with the recent economic down turn. We’ve been fortunate to still able to celebrate with the Spruce team this year.  Usually we do a gift exchange, but in the spirit of gratitude and giving back this year we’re taking a charitable approach and asking our team to bring a donation to the food bank or socks for the ‘Sox in the City’ sock drive.  This is a local charity campaign run by Vancouver Coastal Health that I read about in the Courier this week. Sox in the City helps maintain the foot health of Vancouver’s homeless by warming up their feet with a salt bath, bandaging cuts and blisters and giving them a pair of new and more importantly, dry socks.  

To learn more about this cause, check out: http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=030239c5-acd8-4977-8002-06edc6c26772