How to reduce the pain after training

I re-discovered the pleasure to look like good

By Carlos Porro

Special to ChulucanasGym.

I worked out many years ago much motivated, strong, passionate. However, the motivation missed and I left the wonderful world of exercise. I accostumed the bad habits turned me into its slave.

So, it was when I decided to be normal. I ate out of my time or sometimes I didn’t eat neither, let’snot speaking about my bedtime, I went overnight daily. Fat never lacked, the terrible fast food. The alcohol never lacked in my ‘glorious’ normal life.

I woke up tired everyday, headache, sick. The gastritis was advancing as much as my great life advanced. I thought my body improved at a some moment itself. I was waiting for that ‘big miracle’ (in other words, immersing me into the mediocrity of something falls me down from the sky).

I was too sank into my normal life, what I was not hoping to leave out, because I enjoyed to disobey the needs of my body, I felt pleasure to know I would be “approved” by everybody. But upon a day, I decided to change by the invitation of my great friend David Saldarriaga Noel, who ever helps me to be better.

Everything was a challenge to me. From eating healthy to sleeping at my time due to insomnia, getting away the alcohol. Nothing was easy. However, I started to progress, I already felt no pain, I felt pleasure to see my progress, these little trials in context were what defined my advance (whether tiny or huge), I was proud of my changes. Later, I reminded the power of perseverance. I was becoming disciplined not thinking about, coming back to this wonderful world.

At the same time, I was tired because I never had done functional exercise, I was following up the routines everyday, until the Super Online Challenge event  happened, which I felt very comfortable because everyone looked for the same like me – a better physical as well as mental version, a life out of the normal, a life out of the stress, a life made fit to me.

The motivation shared in the group is unique. It feels that joint power that motivates you to follow “the extra mile.” They helped me to change my habits avoiding to be one of these normal people. That’s about to follow forward, whether few, whether regular. I’m advancing, it’s my goal line, they’re my dreams, I set it up well and I did not give up.  These are the results of not giving up!

The photos on this entry are courtesy of Carlos Porro.

How to succeed despite the difficulties

 Mario Kanashiro has got an excellent justification to celebrate. He just upgraded as a Master Trainer for the entire Japan in shaka-dance, dance classes combinating hip-hop, African, music hall  with acardio-vascular workout plan. In this new position, he’s in charge of granting the licenses for trainers who teach it.

“Here In Japan, there is more work life than personal life or to relax,” this Peruvian born in Lima City, on November 12^th, 1990, comments. He had to migrate with his family when he was just 5 years old. Today, he’s an athlete full of charisma and love, but almost a decade ago, he was totally opposite – sedentary, apathetic, selfish. What happened to his life that brought him out from darkness to light?

Until he was 21 years old, he worked in NTT, one of the largest Japan’s phone companies, translating from Japanese to Spanish and viceversa. “I didn’t, had no intrest on any sport neither; in fact, I had no physique.”

Since he was 20 years old, he began to feel the whole right side of his body lulled: “I felt pain from the neck to the right hand, and I was losing power and sensitivity in my right leg and foot.” He attended two hospitals for an exam, but the surveys didn’t find problems in his muscles and bones, as the first suspicious was. In fact, he has them well formed.

There’s ever a before and an after

The surveys showed a rare anomaly in his neck’s veins just around his second vertebra: they were very narrow, complicating the blood flow, so they didn’t favor a good oxygenation of the body. The surgery was the only way to correct it. However, this procedure was not enough for him to recuperate the mobility of his ends. That’s why he had to go to physical rehabilitation, and the sport was the solution: “I started to build muscle in arms and the hand for having strength when I catch by using low weight; I also did stretches”

During the process, he took a zumba class, he realized he could dance –very well—and he liked it a lot: “I didn’t know to dance, it didn’t provocate me, it didn’t call my attention neither, despite I played the electric guitar between 16 and 20 years old… I performed rock and metal, I even play it good today – I’ve not lost the technique.” He followed to develop as a trainee until he prepared to be a trainer, and the rest is history.

“As for playing guitar you must listen to the drums and the bass, your ear achieves sensitivity for bass ranges, and it’s the same guide I use for creating choreographies,” he explains. “I’m going to be 7 years this year, holding dance classes and training that – I continue to do stretches, I do functionaltraining, and I play video-games in my free times to relax.” Inclusive, Mario sometimes trained weights.

The benefits to his organism have been dramatic: “Before, I ran 1800 feet or 3300 feet and I got tired, I run 4 or 6 miles today and I don’t get tired – I developed a good physique,” He smiles.

Growing takes much time

When Mario gave his first class, nobody attended. The next one, two persons attended. Then, five, seven, until he got his first 20-people group. Today, his groups are until… 40 people! Although it depends on the gymnasium he goes to, but his minimum doesn’t fall down 20 people. Even he lives in Nagoya, his work brings him through several gyms across the island, and getting a way was not simple to him due to the Japanese public prefers to support the Japanese trainers. The effort costed him six years.

“When I began, there were teachers who suggested not to attend my classes because I was a rookie, or the people could injury or I knew nothing of fitness,” he remembers. “Today, I’m the teacher of those teachers, and many get wide open mouth when they see the change, because I became better than them.”

“everyday, I can give classes to 80 to 100 people about,” he tells.  “70% of my pupils are women, so in a class, there are 3 men for every 10. When it’s morning or afternoon, the most are 30 to 60, 70 years old, but I have younger people at night, between 20 and 40 years old.”

Mario describes his pupils like in constant learning mode, like they’re attending to the school, and there’s something new to know everyday. “When I give three continued clases, I have the same pupils. For example, the first class is cultural dance, the second is fitness dance, and the third is hip-hop.” The cultural dances are those ones not available at the disco or in its original country, “and we put them difficult steps, so they can take until two months to learn an only choreography.”

And if he highlighted at dance classrooms, his mixed look has noticed too. One day after attending an event, somebody proposed him to be a model.  The only experience he had up to then was to be the cover boy of his high-school in promotional flyers and posters as well when he was a teenager.

“I signed up a talents school three years ago and I started to have many courses becoming to model HiBowl’s clothes. I was modeling until two years ago, but my career as a trainer became more exigent, so I do it very rarely.”

His casting was exigent too. His face or his body weren’t enough. As they learned he knows to dance, they included that test. But maybe the difficult part was an interview before five judges who examined absolutely everything: his best insights, his skills, even how he mannered. From 1000 people, only 80 passed.

“I’d like following to model clothes, but as I do sports, I’d like to model sportswear or dancewear, as much as I’m becoming known across Japan. If the chance to feature it appears, it would be great.”

 Bad times serve to improve

Mario sustains his better achievement until now has been learning to dance. Critics he had in the beginning pushed him to learn more, to get out his town and having classes, to perfectionate his style, to give his best to his pupils: “I take the critic to improve my work,” he affirms. “If the pupil says you something not to like, it’s not to bother but for you to improve.” He adds if when his work began he was very criticized, it was because he interested to many people.

“We live because of the clients – if there are no clients, there is no class, so you ever have to know how to listen to them,” he states. “There’s still people who prefers a Japanese teaching Latin music instead of a Latin teaching Latin music. I did mind it very much, but I learned now that if the people want to learn Latin music with a Latin guy, and they want to have my class, so have it. If not, they miss it.”

His veins narrowness faced Mario to his lifetime plan, and the answer was to encourage, although that was not easy in the beginning: “The doctor said me raw straight on my bare face that if I did not do the treatment, I was becoming worst. Then initially, more by the pushing of the doctor instead of myself, I went to the gym.”

Despite he overcame his condition so successfully, some sequels are remaining – his right hand is weaker than his left hand (so he prefers to carry stuff with the second one). Sometimes, he feel  an inner itch in the right arm followed by a redness, what can happen when he drives his car or when he’s holding a class. Fortunately, he attends his controls every two years (initially, they were monthly and they were elapsing progressively), and he continues to meet the doctor who encouraged him to take the control of himself – Sensei Izumi.

 You grow when you validate and share what you learn

“My another achievement is my trainee has become a trainer, that has taken the same motivation and the same opportunities,” he comments proudly. “Four of my pupils are trainers now.” He specialized in shaka-dance, got his license, and became to give classes with that same discipline’s creator Samira Talha, across Japan in July 2019. And Talha herself was who chose him to go with her: “ I felt happy and nervous as well, because I never thought  I was to work so.”

While we were producing this story, Mario was upgraded to Master Trainer. “I couldn’t believe it, but I understood that everything turns around, that it was because of the time I hhad dedicated to my work,” he says us in exclusive. “When I see in retrospective, I realise that everything happened to arrive to this very moment, and I follow to learn. Samira says us that we must follow to study and go up, despite the position we get.”

“Up to before my illness, I used to be very selfish and negative. I got angry to the people who loved me. When I got sick, I knew what my family and my friends –two— were, who never missed me to visit, despite I knew a lot of people. That was when I realized who loved me and who didn’t, and I started to value more my family and true friends, I started to change because I felt I might give back all that love.”

Business are business… until certain point

“When I began to work, I had no explanation about why the people paid 500 yens, equivalent to 5 dollars, to have a class, when I was not sure if I was doing it well, until a female pupil said me that she came to my class because she felt she was learning. Then, I realised I was rounding myself with people motivated to learn, who saw me to make a new step, and asked me how to make it,” he meditates. “I understood  that for the people, it’s important what I can teach them.”

“That made me to opened my heart, and I turned back to believe in the people, because I left to believe in the people,” he adds. “And that made I valued myself much more, because inclusive I came to think I wasn’t important.” His pupils affirm Mario has a very special energy, that allows him to empathize and feel comfortable with any person, even who envy him, and even them who have come to enter his classes for getting him out of the way, unsuccessfully.

“That’s why we never have to give up, ever have to follow learning,” he says. “There are people who can do some things and can’t do other ones, but to get them, you have to practice them. That learning and that love I put it on is what the people like.” Mario also encourages his pupils to develop their own style instead of copying his, and to practice it hard until getting it. “And they play their part.”

“Another issue is this is a business for real, and there are teachers who study to make money, but you have to identify in your work what thing is actually money and what thing you have to study to have a profession. I can have one only person in my class, as well as having 40. Of course, if one attends, I can dedicate 100%, and if more arrive, I have to deliver it, but ever focused on giving my best.”

In fact, Mario shares his art on his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts. So if your want to learn more about him and he does, contact him, no matters wherever you are.

If it pains you, work out again

By ChulucanasGym

Art by Franklin Juárez – Exclusive for ChulucanasGym

Is anything worse for a guy who has dedicated a good part of his life to intense physical activity? Yes, there is. And we’re not talking about not to do it often or anymore, but the consequence after a long or short period without activity – pains in muscles and joints. Depending on the type of training that you have done, the annoyance uses to appear besides the neck, the shoulders, the arms, almost all the back (especially the lower part), the upper side of the gluteus (and its lower zone, eventually), the thighs, the knees, and the calves (look at the figures).

It’s true that the massages help, but if is the pain recurrent? Many followers told us that they have started to feel back pain particularily, and all focused in the lower part. That brought our attention, so in the process to research  the background of physical activity, we found in all cases that you did weights, aerobics, dance, and even football.

Every person who asked us don’t meet each other nor live in the same location, but we had the reference of the intense physical activity, so we asked what would happen if they retake it. The ones who did it experienced a gradual remission of the pain at the point to disappear.  “It pained even when I rested, but when I played football again, it was giving up,” Franklin Juárez, 32, told us in Tambogrande, Peru, who contributed us to illustrate this article too.

What is the principle behind the relief? When we do intense physical activity in a periodical term, we submit the body into a constant renovation of muscular tissue, getting it ready for conditions of stronger moves than the simple walk or shaking arms and legs. Then, we program our body to do that renovation in a continous way due to every fiber suffers from a atrophy process or modification, that makes the work we do much efficient.

If we leave to do it, that atrophy reverses slowly because the muscular tissue is elastic. And as we are not doing the voluntary process of pushing it and pulling it yet, this ends to retract, sending a switch to the brain that is interpreted as pain. Remember that the same happens when you build muscle – as the fiber breaks up, it inflamates, and it uses the same alert system for notifying that something is modifying inside there.

So our choices are keeping stopped or keeping to move. If we decide the first one, it’s probable the pains continue until the muscular atrophy reverses; if we go for the second one, the muscular atrophy continues and the brain holds the programming to have the body ready for the type of activity that we do.

And what about the overweight that is experienced when you leave to do an intense physical activity? Because of our body programs to assimilate more glucose, which we use as energy for the muscular work, as we don’t use it anymore like a kind of fuel, we trend to accumulate it as fat tissue. However, health specialists who reviewed our  report denied a relation between pain and overweight.

Nevertheless, many of you who retook the intense physical aactivity have reported that as you lost weight, the pain resumed even to disappear. The specialists explained us that sensation is rather because we have reactivated the atrophy process for that we had programmed our body, as we told up before.

In conclusion, if you did intense physical activity, you leave it suddenly for a few or a long time, and the muscles start to pain, try to work out again like before. And it’s probable that annoyance resumes. Don’t forget to ask your doctor if this seems to involve other organs of your body, and never prescript yourself. While we follow to report, share your experience on the comment box right below or on our Twitter account.

How to help when somebody has a problem

By ChulucanasGym

The existent public pressure over a bodybuilder or an athlete in general could be as high as this person had built a brand, and that brand means achievement, knowledge, or popularity. But the problem comes in when the carácter over that pressure is applied is not ever consonant to the person playing that role, and when it happens, the reaction could be self-destructive.

When that comes to happen, the reaction of the public uses to be mixed according to the degree of sympathy or antipathy to the character, which has to born, grow, and keep many times  in a vertiginous way, responsing much to the market commandments in spite of the own processes of personal building. And the justification of many athletes is that, before everything, they have to response to a sponsor, if they have one, or adapting to the conditions a potential sponsor imposes them, if they find one. And if the person has not been prepared mentally for understanding those exigences and knowing until what point he can put a limit, the frustration, the sadness, the anxiety can manifest anywhere until blasting in different grades.

Many sports careers got frustrated when that no-return point has manifested suddenly or become public, and if the self-destructive trend was already manifested on the top of the wave, it can be stressed once it breaks and the vicious circle ends to sink who be inside it again and again.

That’s how much important the psychological assistance is key in the work and life of any athlete. However, many sponsorship programmes don’t include it and many trainers or people recognized as mentors don’t have all the tools for serving as an emotional support because they think it is not a part of the work, because they think it corrects alone, or because they are also into that self-destructive trend. And what is worst, the own bodybuilders and athletes prescind of this kind of service alleging they are not mad nor freak.

Then, the key here is breaking up that vicious circle and the work is not only bodybuilder’s or athlete’s. It also has to be his possé, particularily other bodybuilders or athletes having some clarity for detecting when someone as them begins to bring down, and could be gathering energy that can blast in the less expected moment. As this problem uses to be more common than many people think, although they don’t speak about it, we go to draw here a possibly useful protocol for you.

If somebody claims for help is because somebody needs help

A basic rule consists in differentiate between the person who needs help and the person who looks ffor help. The first one shows evident signs that his things are going wrong but prefers to keep them inside or prefers to ignore them. The second one learns that something goes wrong, like a lost ship, and he ever will be seeing who can help him from the shore for correcting the course. Get focused in this second group of people because they are who really would get out the hole.

Then, if you see that somebody seems to be in trouble, keep expectant and try that he has it in clear. A friendly “you ever stand by me” said privately will be enough at all for that person in trouble to be aware of, when he decides to step ahead, he really will have whom ststands by. Of course, don’t make them empty or diplomatic words but a real promise.

So, what to do if the person needs help and doesn’t look for it. Unless you think you are enough able to asume a whole adbisory and companion process, the best is waiting for him to change his attitude. If you still think you have to pitch him a “you ever stand by me”, do it, but don’t feel frustrated if nothing happens after the “thanks”.

If you are in trouble, look for someone who is going to say you the clear things to get it out, not who is going to say you what you want to hear and cheating you that nothing is happening.

Detect the phrases, anticipate the main topics

Very few people uses to ask for help with the “This happens to me, I need some advice” formula. Generally, the person uses to project the problem and uses a formula like “What do you do if this could happen to you.”Surely if the person uses the first formula, means his decision to face and solve his problem is strong… although this is very relative.

Whatever the formula is, the first you must do before replying is to verify if the space is right and the time is enough (see the next step). If the answer is affirmative, try to answer sincerely and briefly. Remember that, at the moment, who has the problem is the another person. Although that doesn’t remove you ccan be passing through the same too, or another different situation, it could be right you learn to respect each individual case.

If the space and the time are not adequate, act sensitively. A “It’s a very interesting question and I’d like to answer it, but would you like if we talk about it much calm?” can work, maybe underlined by a gesture meaning “it’s not good to talk here”, a warm hand on the shoulder, and a smile. Yes, all that is a powerful pain relieving.

Another thing you must consider is anticipating to that person is going to tell you. Put in every scenario, imagine the phrases he can release, and prepare answers (look below in those tips). There’s no worst feedback for that person than putting a face of surprise, devastation, or thriller.  You simply will contribute to stress the idea that he has no relief, and that’s not true – not first hand. Surely it works better if you know to keep your mind open. If not, the best will be you say a “I got it – may we talk about it later?”, and solved case.

Unlink the world, relink inside

Once you agree to meet for talking about the problem, you have to consider two things: first, having all the possible time for the person to expand; second, the place where you are going to meet has none distraction. Also, regarding the technologic hegemony, it has to be a space and time you can prescind it at the most.

It’s not a social meeting, it’s a private conversation, so while the less distracting elements you have, you could concentrate more into the issue. Consider it’s about a respectful attitude to that person, himself, and yourself. If you are going to depend on a turned-on cellphone, the best is you take it another time later, because there’s not much baffling than opening the heart and suddenly a call or a message impossible to elude break up the whole thread.

About the time, obviously look for that one when you have nothing to do. The weekends are ideal because they are ever dedicated to rest. About the place, as we said, look for somewhere that avoids the distractions and that favors the comfortability of the another person in all case, not the yours. Although our advice is looking for a place like the countryside or a beach, if the person feels more comfortable indoors, respect his decision.

The first time is for relieving

When somebody has a problem and never has spoken about it to somebody else, experiences something called catharsis or releasing the inner me. The worst you can do is to cut off this process, so let it happens without interruption. Allow that person to take confidence, relieving what he feels, going to build his story or his argument totally free until he takes everything off. That’s why we insisted on the importance to care the space and the time.

If you detect he has difficulty to do that catharsis but he wants to experience it, you could create some kind of a simple task helping to that purpose. If you learned meditation exercises, those use to be pretty good. If you don’t know both techniques, you can write us down at chulucanasgym@gmail.com for bringing you some ideas.

About your body language, what the psychologists recommend is you set comfortabily as close as you trust each one, face-to-face as well as besides. It’s important there is an intimacy environment that favors to relieve. If your degree of trust is high (especially if you’re buddies), a hand on the shoulder or an arm over both shoulders with a quiet face are amazing, so don’t miss to experience the physical contact. But if the person rejects it, don’t insist.

Listen to without judging

We said before that one of the things you must do when somebody asks your for help is to anticipate for knowing how to react. It’s not about filling with prejudges, it’s about making you stronger to provide right the required help. So, when that person begins to relieve and wwhile he does it, don’t disturb him to say if what he did or said was good or bad, just let him to do his process. Once he finishes, you can evaluate caring to be very sensitive and firm at the same time.

We said before you need to have a widest mind for facing what he has to tell you, and in this respect, consider that any controversial issue can appear in the conversation. In our experience, the probable scenarios forming very hard emotional charges for any person are: his family or economic situation, consumption of forbidden or addictive substances, some chronic health condition, stalking or violence, some legal trouble, a repressed sexual orientation, or a few conventional, extra-spor either, job decision.

It could be complicated here to say you how to react before each scenario because the problems are different from person to person. However, we insist that your serenity, your strength, your affection, and your common sense (especially) are going to be much helpful.

Advise honestly, learn to set limits

One of the most valuable things  when you expose your point of view is saying what you think honestly, not what the another person would expect to listen, if not why did he look for you? However, even when the another person has the whole intention to solve the problem, it’s probable he sets some resistance in the beginning. If that happens, don’t work on him to change his mind because it will be worst. Just expose your point of view, let him that after the conversation, to meditate himself and to take the most adequate action course.

Once both of you have nothing more to talk, close the moment naturally, friendly, happy, that the whole moment you stood feels like something releasing, not like something uploading more for you or for that person because it’s not about it.

If both of you think a session won’t be enough, arrange a new meeting for talking and hearing as the role is, but indeed, warn him of your available time for a sense of respect also exists from his own process. Remember him you will agree to listen to him, thank him for trusting in you, encourage him for stepping to solve what concerns him. This has to be clear everyway. The same thing about the personal spaces - You can’t invade  them when any of both wants so!

Don’t let for any reason that your participation turns into a dependence of any kind. That would be harming for real. One thing is the humankind and the sense of solidarity, but one another is taking advantage for submitting body and soul. Don’t allow that, and wwhen you feel that is happening, stop it and take the best decision for both, including to get out apart.

Your help doesn’t replace the professional help

As we said in the beginning, many bodybuilders and athletes prescind a professional assistance from a psychologist or a psychiatrist, just in case. But they are also clear that in many times of their life they require to have their mind healthy (as much as or more than their body). It’s that time when your help as an emotional support works right. However, one thing you must have very clear is you don’t replace the work of a psychologist or a psychiatrist, unless you are, what means a double advantage for who asks your for help. But if you are not both proffesionists, your work consists in complementing and supporting the therapies or the treatments when they are ordered.

In that sense, your responsibility as an emotional support is including into your advisory package  that the person asking you for help to attend one of those health specialists. Inclusive you could go with him the day of the consult.

So, no all the cases have to end before a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but those ones what your resources as a support and the resources of that person for healing himself are limited, when you sincerely see there is a barrier  that the simple advice is not going to overcome. That’s when one has to be brave and accepting the professional assistance.

If in your community there’s no sports psychologist, look if there are clinic psychologists or psychiatric doctors. It’s good to have their phone numbers so easy and ask for references to serious persons for the sessions to be really healing, because –it’s good to say- many mental health specialists use to be badly mad than an average guy.

Educate about, accumulate wisdom

Do you remember when we talked about anticipating to the conversation? It’s probable this step you make base don the information you already know, but how much accurate is that information? If you are who loves to read everything and to have a general culture above the average, it’s probable you get more criteria width to understand what the person asking you for help is going to say you. That affords much.

However, no matter how much you anticipate, there will be issues out of your range. It’s not your fault because we can’t know or guess all. When that happens, help inside your skills, but get committed to search and learn about the issue on reliable sources that you can find now even on the Internet. If you get that researching and educating process to be made with the person asking you for help, the better. It’s probable that both realize that the solution was much more simple to find.

Anyway, have a time and a space to continue learning about the issue that involves the person asking you for help. If possible, ask serious specialists, try to educate around you, especially your training place – you know very well it’s one of the places where the prejudges are abundant, and many times the ignorance kills more than the own problem. Even it can save your own life.

Remember you’ll help to solve a problem, not that you are going to solve the problem on behalf of the another person

As we said before, a fatal mistake when an emotional support is provided is letting the person who asks you for help to leave the whole problem up for you to solve him, or generating dependence ties through that person is not going to move a finger unless you request it. Both scenarios are not adequate nor healthy, so you have to avoid them from the beginning of the process.

A “Look – I’m going to help you as much as I can, but who is going to solve the problem is you” said friendly, firmly since the first moment is a good beginning. Never let to include this disclaimer. In the same way, when you feel that person pitches you a “Do it on behalf of me” or similar formulas, you answer with the same attitude something like “That wwas not we agreed” or “It’s like you would be Mr. Universe but I work out instead of you.”

Ever encourage the person that although you can give some tips or ideas to find a solution for the problem, its that person who has the exclusive responsibility to solve it. Don’t give up to the emotional blackmail  of “If you were my friend” or “But you said me.” Remember him and remember that every guy has freedom to take own decisions, so the success or the defeat are on their hand, not your hands, nor nobody’s hands.

What he says you is a secret

One of the requirements of any emotional support is the confidentiality. Everything talked, the way how reacted, the content of the conversation is something that must keep only between you. Nobody else has the right to know it, and it’s the person asking for help who has to decide who and how shares it to what is happening him anyway.

Even if the contact is made by social media (what is a valid possibility), never go to use the virtual public spaces for making contact or advising. Instead, use the chat, that offers some privacy, although as much as you can, the better is the face-to-face contact.

If you have to congratulate the person for advancing on the process or closing it, try to be in private. If the person, despite your caution, wants his problem to become public, is his right. Decide too if you want to get out to the open as the person who helpsbut make it whenever the another person request it to you. Never take the initiative to highlight yourself because you’ll bring down all the healing process and it will be seen as a very disgusting action.

As everytime, any doubt you have, wwrite us down at chulucanasgym@gmail.com or follow us on our Twitter account.

The ChulucanasGym founder team appears on this entry.

Should You Have A Massage?

By ChulucanasGym

George  has finished his training routine for today. He had legs, and squads concentrated a big part of his time. While he warms down a Little before taking a shower, he notices there is some corner  in the back part of his waist, the lower back to be more specific. And this is not the first time ever, apparently.

He comments it to his trainer, who does a quick exam and notices the muscle is evidently resented. “You should check it up with a specialist, although you should treat the pain with a masseur,”  he advices. While George walks on the gym’s showers, his trainer reviews other similar cases. It seems the waist pains  were a common illness among his pupils. Maybe, he is not so far away the truth.

Many trainers we have talked to, coincide in this type of injury – the lower back’s. And in some cases, they add knees’, independently if it’s about a power or resistance training or the mixed ones as functional training. The causes could be a bad pose, a wrong movement, or the excessive weight in power trainings. It could be the George’s case, maybe. But what about the advice of having a massage?

JonatanChero is a Piura, Peru-based masseur and has a clear answer about: “yes, depending on the case.”  When somebody works out, especially heavy, trends to break the muscular fibers at mycroscopic scale. In compensation, the body segregates lactic acid and repairs the mycro-injuries. And if proteins were consumed, those go to be part of the new tissue. That is in brief the principle of muscular reparation and the building of new muscular fibers.

But, how does a massage help? It can be very effective to calm the effects of the intense exercise because it has the ability of decreasing the muscular spasms, relieving the muscular pain, and accelerating the recuperation process. “It removes the accumulating liquids to cause inflamation, helps the blood circulation, and shifts the reparation of muscular fiber,” Chero adds, who warns it doesn’t ever work in all the cases.

“We have to see the injury degree that the patient has,” he clarifies. “When it is much severe, it is not recommendable.” That means, when there are too much broken fibers. “That can be verifiable by the swelling level, and over all by the pain and the movement ability the patient has.”

Chero also discards the prejudge that a massage can increase the muscular mass.  It is only a very punctual therapy that, instead, reduces the muscular fatigue, what means a minor recuperation time between training routines, that favors a better performance during them.

When  To Have A Massage?

For bodybuilders and athletes in general, the massage is a very usual activity as the training routine, the feeding, or the rest time, and there are two moments its application must be considered: just finished the training session, in a preventive way, and when there is an evident injury, in a therapeutic way.

In the first case, do your training routine as you accostum. Once finished, warm down about 5 to 10 minutes, go to take a refreshing and relaxing shower, and just when you get dry, put yourself under the masseur’s hands. Usually, a session lasts from 15 to 20 minutes, although it is relative according to your needs. In the preventive procedure, the key is letting not to spend the time but doing one activity after another.

The therapeutic procedure does have another timing. “It’s never good to have massage just the injury is evidenced,” Jonatan Chero warns. “The best is letting to spend some hours; for example, if you injure at night, attend the next morning; if it happens in the morning, go in the afternoon; if in the afternoon, have the massage at night.” In this specific case, it’s better a specialist exams you before the massage, as a traumatologist or similar, and proceed only if he prescribes it to you.

Finally, Jonatan Chero shares us some key tips regarding the massage sessions, those can be useful for you.

Before the massage:

• Preferently schedule your date when you are completely free, maybe at the end of your day, or don’t accumulate many activities one after another for the next couple of hours.
• Think deeply about it will be good for you.
• Attend after take a meticulous bath.
• Turn off your cellphone or turn it silent. Avoid the technology to distract you.

During the massage:

• Relax, breathe deeply. Get disconnected from your problems.
• Trust in the therapist, only provided his experience is certified.
• Let get involved by the sensations that the experience produces in you. It’s part of the therapy.

After the massage:

• Have a time to rest deeply.
• Avoid the episode that produces you stress or injury.

Don’t forget to share your experience giving or having a massage at chulucanasgym@gmail.com, or on our Twitter account, or leaving a message just right below.

Jorge Ramírez has been the model of this post. Photos distributed by FACTORTIERRA.NET

The dance of life

By Martin Saavedra

At Xpressions Dance Studio, in Sullana City, we saw the dance sequence  what our students embrace their inner through the groove, communicating their emotions and fears on the mirror, transformingh the moment into a living experience shared in group. Photo by Martin Saavedra.

Nowadays, children and youth bring a busy life that is reflex of adults’ life, and the amazing thing is we guess as unavoidable  what a child has the same labor hours than an adult. There is a very important stress degree on them.

Often it is said they are children or youth with hyperactivity or attention lack, but we also could say they are persons with stress – someones become to make anxiety or agressiveness attacks because the rhythm they carry on.

The biodance is especially recommended for them because, throughout the music, the groove and the group, specific living experiences generate those influence possitively on their physical, emotional and mental groth due to its structure is according to a scientific model.

We find out it develops our human potential in five big living lines: stamina, sexuality, creativity, affectiveness, trascendence. Those five lines cover our whole life and their expression and development point out our health and integration degree.

A space is created in biodance for the person to receive the chances to practice and develop in a steady way, favoring to unfold personal confidence and a bigger self-estime. It also results for them into a very much easy relationship with the others from solidarity and resppect because it is organized according to a theoretical moderl and structured be an excercises group  which moves , music and meeting chances generateopportunities for evolution, contributing conditions to each person for finding healthier ways to live, those incorporate health, pleasure, happiness, creativity in all its expressions, affectiveness, self-estime, contact and communication.

Biodance itself is not just about dancing but activating through certain dances  the affective and communication  potentials those connect the human being itself , to the others and to the environment.

It is not about a simple axiological reformulation but a true cultural transference. It is a learning that allows an essential modification for the human being, and it also looks for the persons to access to a new lifestyles.

Read also: Turn it on green

Post-producido por Sheyla Benavente.