Tune Up Fitness® Self Care Blog

Simon says: say “cheese”. Simon says: pucker your lips. Simon says: knit your eyebrows. Simon says: name all the muscles of the face. Simon just zoomed from a fun-guy to a stick-in-the-mud with one innocent request, didn’t he? In Simon’s defense,…

The Yoga Tune Up® Sidewinder Minivini accomplishes both strengthening and stretching goals in one fell swoop – check it out below!  In addition, if integrating QL stabilization with core and upper body strength is the goal, explore variations of rotational movement…

The quadratus lumborum (QL for short) is an important muscle to maintain in relationship to spinal health. Inherent in the name is its shape and location – square-like and in the lumbar (low back) region. It is a large flat muscle…

“As long as you can take a deep breath in the pose, you’re safe.” How many times have you heard this phrase from a yoga teacher? You may have even heard it from me… Deep breathing has always been the fail-safe…

I call this pectineus stretch the ‘PPP’: Pectineus Pucker on a Pedestal! Lie on your side with one Yoga Tune Up® Therapy Ball on a block (or book). The self-massage ball is level with the crotch area. The pectineus is a…

The pectineus is a small, quadrangular stealth muscle that creeps up on you without warning. A muscle that wreaks havoc not only in the groin, but can cause diaphrahm pain, groin pain, and impede proper biomechanics & breathing. Have you ever…

The infraspinatus is nestled in the infraspinous fossa of the scapula and attaches the greater tubercle of the humerus.  With muscle fibers running horizontally, infraspinatus works with teres minor in external rotation, adduction and stabilization of the shoulder.  It is one…

YTU balls illuminate our body blind spots.  Body blind spots are places in our bodies we are not aware of.  We all have blind spots, and if not found they can be the source of pain and injury. They are our jagged edges.…

Try this Yoga Tune Up® pose Reverse Crucifix to stretch the rhomboids major and minor. If the serratus anterior is going to do its job holding your scapula on your back, we need its antagonist – the rhomboids – to be…