Welcome back to the recover corner, I know we all made new year resolutions and we are just at that time of the year where we all begin to fall short. I hope that one of your goals for the year was to take much better care of your body mentally, physically and emotionally. This is the one goal that you have to stick with and can’t fall short.
My Human Touch chair is one of the starting points of my self-care and recovery routine. It allows me to take control of my life with as simple as two 10-minute sessions each day. I know we are all very limited with free time between work, family and personal enjoyment. These 20 minutes a day definitely have changed my life significantly and the best part about it is you don’t have to do any strenuous work; all you have to do is sit down. I decided to wake up just 15 minutes earlier each day so I could do a session in my chair to start my day. In my morning session I pray and visualize my day and things I want to accomplish. This allows me to just take a moment to proactively attack my day so I can become more productive and achieve more of my goals. It also gets my body ready to start the day so all the aches and pains will be less as I start my day. I’ve noticed when I feel less pain in my body, I definitely feel mentally nor confident of the things I’m able to accomplish and nothing hold me back from completing tasks.
With a higher positive emotional attitude I’ve found myself more creative and a spark of new ideas and plans at work. It’s also affected my personal life as well because I am more clear I handle conflict so much better, I’m more open and try to see the other person’s side and perspective on situations which is helping me grow as a person. I never imagined how much a 10-minute change in your routine could have such a positive effect on the rest of your day and potential your life.
Shortly after seeing the positive effects of the morning session in the chair, I decided to add an evening session as well. This session is completely different than a muscle recovery session that I would do if I was in pain or hurting. This session is very similar to my morning session, but I’m reverse.
I play my day backwards and see the things that I would change if I could change. I look at all my personal interactions and ask myself did I leave that person in a better position after the interaction than they were in before. If there was a conflict is there a better way that I could have handled that situation? Then I grade my entire day so I can be better the next day and continue to grow each day. Finally, I pray at the end of the session just to give thanks for being allowed to live another day and have a positive impact on those that I came in contact with that day.
In doing this process I found a way to critique my life and challenge myself to become better. This is the ultimate challenge of growth for my personally because I set the rules no one knows about the challenge but me and the only person who can hold me accountable is me. Taking a self-evaluation daily can be tough because you have to look at your flaws and face them head on, but it has worked amazingly well for me. This is all proof on how Human Touch can help your mind, body and spirit.
As we all reach that fall off point in our New Year’s resolution remember the one thing that can’t fall is you giving up on yourself. Go back and start with something simple, it’s ok to start all over if you have to but just don’t give up. You can take control of your life and become the new you in this new year. Thank you for coming back to the recovery corner in the next edition we will go over how to set goals that you can keep.
In this version of the recovery corner we are going to talk about tension release. We all experience different types of tension in our day to day lives. The one thing that all our tension has in common is that the origin of the tension branches out into other parts of our lives. Very rarely does tension remain in the place of origin alone. We must understand the steps of progress of tension in hopes that we will recognize it early and have a plan of action to alleviate the effects. For me the progression was tension to discomfort to pain to finally restriction. In many cases I felt the pain and discomfort but ignored them or was too lazy to address the situation with hope that it would just get better on its own. In other cases I didn’t have the knowledge to help be rectify the situation. As we all have experienced firsthand, you never understand the importance of health until you become unhealthy. It is truly one of the biggest things that we all take for granted.
Once I received my Human Touch massage chair I started a daily release regime which not only helps with the quality of life but also allows me to gain that important connection with my body. Being better connected with my body helps me better notice other situations that I may encounter along with the ability to gain more efficiency from my body.
The first step is for me to place my chair in zero gravity mode and to turn on the foot and lower leg massage setting. We have talked about daily meditation and planning in out passages but for me this is a get way to accomplish that goal. I believe that tension in your feet and lower legs are the key and origin to a lot of issues in the body. It’s the place that sees the most stress, strain and work physically on you body. I would view it like a car, if you have bad tires no matter how great or beautiful the car may be you will never get the best performance out of the vehicle. So I start my day with the lower leg and foot massage in the zero gravity position you get the blood flowing properly in my body with hopes that it aid in all my bodily functions. Better circulation helps with cardiovascular health, it can help with digestion, help with endorphin release which will help with your all around mood. Doing it in the evenings can have the exact same effects along with help with sleep and quality of rest while sleeping.
I prefer mine in the morning because it allows me the opportunity to plan out my day and set immediate goals in a state of total clarity, focus and relaxation.
Paying attention you to your feet and lower legs is a very important part of your health and quality of life. I hope that you will challenge yourself to do this in the morning or evening 3 days a week for the next month and see how it makes you feel. I believe once you begin to feel the release of tension you will find a brand new enjoyment of life. Thank you for coming to the recovery corner and reading my experiences in my journey to becoming a healthier and better version of myself. Hopefully I can inspire you to do the same along the way and give you ideas for you to try and see if they work for you as well.
One of the biggest questions and decisions for most adults “nap or keep going and crash later?” We have all been faced with this question on several occasions and obviously the answer is different for each individual based on their situation but here are a few of my experiences and hopefully you find them helpful.
I have always been an early riser so I wake up between 430 and 530 every morning so by the time the middle of the day comes sometimes I am out of gas. I have always fought with the idea of naps. What should be the length of my nap? Should I take the nap in the bed or couch? Should the tv be on or off?
When it comes to the length of my nap if always struggle, I’ve unfortunately called everything from 15 min to 2 hrs a nap and I know that’s not the case. So I looked back at the origin of problem to see what was really the need I was having so I could understand the goal of the nap. Sleep is for you body to recover but a nap is for you mind and body to recharge. I found that the longer or later in the day that I took my naps the harder it was for me to sleep that night which threw everything else off for me. So when looking at my naps I had to categorize each situation. Was my body tired and need of the recharge vs my mind tired and in need. I found that my Human Touch massage chair suppled the solution to both and had an answer to all the questions I had above my nap situation.
The length of the nap was easily addressed in the settings 10, 20 or 30 min. Each one is based on what I have going on at that moment. It I find myself mentally just frustrated or out of it but my body is good I do a 10 min session. I used the meditation setting I’ve got the calming sounds going in the speakers and I just let my mind drift and not think. This normally allows me to clear my mind and get rid of the frustration I’m having from looking at a problem the same way and not finding a solution. Some times I will even use the 20 min setting if I find myself just not being able to let it go completely. But the key for me is to mentally be in a different state when I leave the chair. My mind should be at peace and have more clarity and eventually I will find a way to solve the problem I’m having.
On the bed or on the couch, the answer is neither! Your Human Touch massage chair has the best ability to get your body in a state of being totally relaxed. The zero gravity feature allows every inch of your body to be relaxed and get the rest and rejuvenation needed. Don't get my wrong, the bed is a great place to take a nap but sometimes it can be a trap. Many time you will find yourself staying in the bed longer than you expected. This isn’t to say that your chair isn’t comfortable and that you can’t spend hours sleeping in your chair. The biggest difference is training. You have been conditioned your entire life to sleep in your bed 6-8 hours everyday vs chairs which have been a place you just relax. So you will get a nap in the chair and as it gently rocks back to the upright position from the zero gravity cradle you will have a reminder that it is time to get up.
Last question: tv off or on? You chair gives your the ability to use the speakers so you can have a variety of sounds that best calm and stimulate you. This is one of the best features of personalization because of the Bluetooth you can pair it with any device you wish to make it a truly unique experience. I like to pair it with my phone and have podcast or music playing while I nap at a low volume so it doesn’t distract me from from my recharge session. The other part that I like is just in case I fall asleep and don’t feel the chair go back to it’s upright position I will hear my alarm go off in the speakers and wake me up so I can get back going with my day.
My Super Novo chair has been such a great asset to my day to day life. I have definitely found a way to incorporate into 2-3 uses per day which has helped both my mental and physical performance. Thank you so much for reading this month’s section of the recovery corner I hope it was helpful in you wellness journey.
Maurice Allen
World Long Drive Champion
WLD Tour Champion
Long Drivers European Tour Champ
American Cancer Society Ambassador
Boys & Girls Club of America Ambassador
Former Guinness World Record Holder
The first goal when we all wake up is to have the best day possible. Sometimes this gets messed up before we even get started. We sleep through alarm clocks and are late so we are rushing the whole day. We just don’t feel right and our body is off or we sleep in the wrong position and now we aches and pains that we have to workout to try to feel better. Possibly you just didn’t have a good night sleep or enough sleep because you went to bed later than you expected.
There is a long list of reasons why many of our days don’t start off ideal which more often than not slips into us not being able to have the most productive day. I guess in a perfect world we would all wake up like the prince in the movies Coming to America. Beautiful spacious bed, perfect temperature setting in the room, just the right amount of sunlight. Laying in the perfect position with the best pillow and gently waking up to a symphony. Well this isn’t the reality for 99.9% of us in the world and definitely not the people reading this blog.
But how do you make everyday the best day possible? You do some research, play around with a few ideas and construct a regimen that works for you. As an athlete we always talk about warming up and being a our peak so we can perform. That is the same for everyone else living life as well. If you start your day in ways that put you in the best possible light you will have less stress, a clearer mind and a more joyful heart. With those three components your will be a better employee, parent, partner and person all around.
The first thing I do when I wake up every day is go and sit in my Human Touch Super Novo masage chair for twenty minutes. If you look they tell you that everyday first thing you should meditate. No better place to do than your chair! I don’t your the same setting every morning but I do a 20 min session and I always use the heat option.
During this time I mentally go over the thoughts and key points of what i would like to do that day. I try to visualize and anticipate things that may happen that day and ways to proactively deal with adversity. I also envision the success that i would like to see on that day. Many times while I’m in the chair i do drills and allow my mind to take over my body and talk to my muscles and tell them what needs to trigger without actually doing the motions fully. This gets my body ready to move, my muscles get the gentle wake up that then need so I can be at my best.
I totally understand that everyday it’s going to be perfect but if you take the to find a regimen that works for you and stick to it you will have more good days than bad. Thank you for checking into the recovery corner and I hope this was helpful to you in your wellness journey.
Maurice Allen
World Long Drive Champion
WLD Tour Champion
Long Drivers European Tour Champ
American Cancer Society Ambassador
Boys & Girls Club of America Ambassador
Former Guinness World Record Holder
So for the month of June I was on the road 26 of the 31 days. This played a huge effect on how my body reacted and recovered. Obviously being on the road I was unable to use my Super Novo massage chair as often as I liked. For this reason, I was sure to maximize my use of it while I was home by sitting in it twice per day to help my body to really recover. Between training and travel, it’s become crucial to optimize my recovery during my “down time” by really taking the time to relax and work through any built-up tension that my body is holding. I was also recently able to get my hands on the new WHOOP 4.0 wearable technology that Human Touch has partnered with, which will allow me to track my recovery to ensure that I’m making the most of my massage chair and other recovery tools. More on that next month!
That being said, all of my recent travelling has made me find new and creative ways to stretch my body out so I can perform at my best.
The first thing that I did was use the suspension trainer that was available in the hotel gyms and set a 30 min program that gave me a good upper and lower body stretch using my body weight to make it more challenging. I followed that with a 15 minute balance and awareness program to stimulate my mind and body to make sure they were aligned to start the day. I avoided all heavy pounding on my body (sprints, ect) because I knew if I got out of alignment I didn’t have access to the things I needed to help get me back to a place of peak performance. I finished with a 15 minute core strengthening program because I know my hips and lower back have been problem areas in the past.
To finish off the day I would go to the pool and walk around the pool as an active recovery and cold therapy solution. This would help reduce any inflammation that I got throughout the day also allow for a latic acid flush from my muscles.
A large part of recovery is doing the work necessary for you to feel better. It may sometimes be inconvenient but trust me there is no substitute to feeling good. Feeling good sets the tone for the rest of your day it allows you to be open to the opportunities and possibilities that the day will bring you. When you’re away make sure that you focus on the areas that give you problems so you can function at the best of your ability while you’re gone and most importantly so you don’t have huge issues when you get back.
Being on the road can be inconvenient but for so many of us it’s a necessity to earn a loving. While we don’t have all the comforts of home at our disposal it’s a time to help us appreciate home just a little more. Learn to take care of your body and your body will take care of you. Thank you for checking in at the recovery corner this week.
Balance is a term commonly used in today’s world and it’s consistently connected to energy. These terms have become catch phrases without a consensus understanding of the words true meaning.
In reference to the human body, human output, and recovery, the term balance is truly nonexistent. In the medical views we work in “range” instead of balance, this is due heavily to the fact that life is a progression. Balance is a term that only exists in a stagnant form, a stage or state of no movement and no outside influences. Everyday your environment is forever changing just as you are forever changing. By the time you finish reading this article you will have gotten older, your environmental influences can be different and your internal influences may have changed as well.
In trying to learn how to recover it is extremely important that you understand that it is a cycle. The things that you do will be extremely effective until your body builds a tolerance to that particular thing, which is when it’s important to introduce something new. Ironically, after introducing 3 to 4 new things you will be able to go back to your original recovery regimen and repeat that same cycle as long as there are no new injuries. We must remember that our body is our experience, and what works for us an individuals doesn’t have to fit into a current philosophy practiced. The most important part is that it works for you and allows you to be at your best at a most consistent base.
No one will ever not have bad days that a part of the journey and “balance” give the thought that when those bad days happen it’s because you of out of sorts. Days when you aren’t feeling 100 percent can come from a long line of things but most of them aren’t bad especially when you are training towards a goal of getting better. Growth in any arena is extremely difficult and stressful but it’s because you are pushing your mind and body to new levels. This is simply the act of you changing your threshold or range, while doing this it’s important to consume enough of the proper food, the correct amount of water as well as get the proper a mouth of rest (not sleep but rest, including recovery using products such as the Super Novo massage chair).
Over the next 90 days I will document my journey and I prepare for the opportunity to win 4 Long Drive World Championships in three different divisions. During the next 90 days I will push myself at the highest levels of all ranges to see if I can achieve this goal. It will be extremely tough but necessary to get every ounce of production out of my body. I hope you enjoy following me on this journey.
This month was a great but a bit of a nightmare. I’m finally healthy after being out 18 months due to a hand and wrist injury. Being healthy means I’m back competing, and back to competing means I’m not home much. I was only at my house 1/3 of the month so my access to my Super Novo massage chair was limited. Even with limited access I still had to find ways to recover so I could preform and feel at my best. As you all know we tend to let ourselves go when we travel and don’t stick to a routine when we aren’t in our own space. I decided to look into the things that I many not have paid attention to before and habits that I have on the road that were causing me problems.
Common Physical Recovery Issues While Travelling
The first thing I noticed was the bed, your bed at home allows you to get a great nights sleep. When you are sleeping in a hotel for a few nights your sleep may suffer because of the quality of the bed. The bed may be too firm or too soft, the height of the bed off the floor may be different, the comforter may not have the thickness you like or too thick and lastly the pillows just don’t allow you to get comfortable. I’ve learned to stay in certain hotel brands because of the consistency of the bed compared to my personal bed, this was one of the biggest helps. I also carry a small pillow which serves as a help in two ways. It first helps me on the plane keep my head level and stable so my body isn’t thrown of from sitting at an angle for hours on a plane. Secondly it gives me that consistency at night which allows me to fall asleep fast and sleep more efficiently.
The next thing I noticed that is important is to stretch for 20 minutes when I wake up and before I go to bed on the road. When I’m at home I allow the Super Novo to prep my body for the day and I also use it for decompression in the evenings. Stretching will never give you what the chair can do for you but it similar to placing a bandage on the situation, you just need something to hold you over. I normally do 10 different stretch positions for 2 minutes each in a total body series. If you have problem areas you definitely want to focus on those areas more to provide relief. If you want to step it up a little you can incorporate a roller into your series which will give you a little more pressure.
The last thing was hydration. Notice I didn’t say diet or anything referring to solid food intake. I purposely stayed away from that because your eating habits are what they are and traditionally don’t change on the road much but you hydration does change. For me I noticed I was only drinking 1/4 of the water on the road that I would drink at home. With my muscles not being hydrated properly, how could I ever expect them to perform at the level I desired? I also paid more attention to the type of water I was drinking while on the road. Making sure I take a trip to the local grocery store to get the brands that I normally drink when I’m home. Consistency is always the key, too many variables can throw you way off and mess up your rhythm. So now I have a much better system to ensure that I hydrate so that my body in the best possible condition to perform.
Hello, my name is Maurice Allen and I am a professional long drive competitor as well as a professional golfer. I have teamed up with Human Touch over the next 12 months to document my recovery methods in hopes that it will give you some ideas that you can use to help you gain a greater quality of life.
How to Use Massage Chairs for Recovery in the Right Way
In this first month I started with baseline, it’s important to know where you are to start and also to help you see improvements of any kind which will give you the motivation to continue the process. The assessment and documentation is a lot of work to be honest with you but I feel that it is a necessity and one of the first steps to truly get better. In my baseline assessment I would take 5-7 minutes every morning when I first wake up and again right before I got to bed to see how my body is responding to movement.
The key parts I check are the following:
- Feet
- Knees
- Hips
- Lower back
- Shoulders
- Neck
These are the major places that are the site of discomfort for most individuals.
The assessment is a simple series of movements that help me look at range of motion and strength. You are looking to see what feels tight, is there any sharp pain, is muscle atrophy present, inability to move, and is the movement smooth and fluid. The purpose in doing it twice a day is to see how well my body recovers as I sleep.
From my assessment I’ve learned that I need to work on:
- Ankle mobility
- Knee stability with strengthening the supporting muscles
- Loosen up my hips
- Shoulder range of motion
- Strengthening the muscles in my neck
Do I Need a Massage for Muscle Recovery?
I know that many of you reading this will say “I’m not a professional athlete so how does this relate to me?”
Recovery and wellness is something important for everyone because you can’t perform at top level without it. If you are consistently in pain or discomfort you can’t be the best parent you want to be, the best spouse you want to be or be the best worker you want be. This is a long ongoing process but it hopefully gives you all some great information that you will be able to use as well.
Each month I will tackle one issue at a time in detail using a series of methods, I will also use my Super Novo massage chair as one of my daily maintenance tools to help me recover better and enjoy life more. We'll also explore how massage helps with muscle recovery and overall recovery in general.
Thank you for following my journey, and starting your own as well!