Tune Up Fitness® Self Care Blog

If we want to smartly “bend like a reed in the wind,” be it physically in our yoga practice or athletic pursuits, or figuratively as we mentally flow with the winds of life, how happy we are in our bodies will…

“To bend like a reed in the wind — that is real strength.” – Lao Tzu All athletes and movement artists know the importance of the spine as the central axis for human movement. And even if we’re not athletes by…

The Adductor Magnus is the deepest of the hip adductors and lays just anteriorly to the hamstrings. These muscles can be neglected in our everyday lives as we move in only one directional plane, forwards and backwards (walking, sitting, running, cycling,…

One of my fondest memories of growing up in Canada is ice-skating with my dad. Every Wednesday night, we would attend family skate hour. My dad would just skate the perimeter while I tried to emulate my favorite skating idols. Back…

Back in 1999/early 2000, shooting, burning pains down my left leg were diagnosed as piriformis syndrome. That was ultimately a good thing, first of all because it wasn’t sciatica, and second because it started me on the journey to rebalancing my…

Around thirteen years ago, after recovering from a fractured radius (a long story involving a moped and cobblestone Key West roads), I somehow managed to injure my left hip. Shooting, burning sensations lanced down the back of my left thigh, and…

Given that the erector spinae run the length of the back and play such a vital role in supporting the spine let’s talk Yoga Tune Up® poses to stretch and awaken these upper and lower back muscles. Stretch the erectors in…

The erector spinae (EE-rec-tor SPEE-neh) muscles are primary movers and shakers (okay, not shakers) in backbends. Why? Because it’s a set of back muscles that runs the entire length of the spine connecting the hips, spine, ribs and noggin (that’s the…

Is hip pain altering your disposition? Disrupting your sleep? Or simply slowing you down in your daily routine? Well, an often neglected yet important hip muscle known as the gluteus medius may need some special attention. The previous blog illustrated the…