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Did you know that May was National Bike Month? Although May is coming to a close, outdoor biking season is just beginning as the weather warms up and dries out.  Rather you ride indoors or out, cycling is a great form of exercise and a lot of fun! The bike was first created in Paris, France with a gain in popularity in the early 1800's. It quickly became as American as apple pie and baseball. It's funny to think that when kids starting wanting to ride bikes, parents were concerned that it was bad for the family. They felt it allowed too much independence and separation from each other and that it seemed physically dangerous. Like many new inventions do, it became more and more accepted and then celebrated. Now it's hard to go anywhere around town or in a gym without seeing someone on a bike and for good reason! In 1903 the Tour De France race started, giving riders a treacherous track through rain, wind, cobble stone, steep climbs and dangerous descents through ...

Ouch! The dynamic and forceful twists and turns of tennis unfortunately can lead to many risks of injury. Knees, lower back and shoulders are most prone to muscle strains for tennis players. Keeping an eye on proper form can greatly reduce problems in these areas. Understanding the causes of this can help develop strategies to improve functional movements that help reduce painful injuries and keep you on the court! Know the Source If you're having pain in your shoulders, the problem might actually originate with your hips. The legs pivot in the hip sockets, allowing the spine and shoulders to rotate and the arms to swing during the back-swing and the follow-through.  For a more powerful hit, tennis players often jump during the swing, which intensifies the stress on the body.  Ample ability to rotate the hips is fundamental to proper form for many tennis moves. If the hips are overly tight and not freely moving in full range of motion, other areas of the body compensat...

The alignment of your knees greatly affects your gait and your gait greatly affects the way your body feels. If you have genu valgum, known as knocked knees, or the opposite problem, valgus angulation, your body is going to eventually let you know that it is not happy with the situation. When that happens, it's time to act quickly to find a remedy! Just like the vehicles that we drive, when the alignment is off, the tires (or in our case feet) start to wear improperly. If your knees bend in, it puts more weight on the inner foot. For knees that point outward the opposite is true. The negative chain of events can unfortunately spread upward to hips, back and eventually the neck area when the foundation of our structure is compromised. To make matters worse, for every pound over your ideal weight that your knees are carrying around, the problem intensifies. Our bodies are amazing at adapting to less than perfect dynamics, but after a bit of time of being forced to comprise it...

When pain is felt between the shoulder blades, it would be assumed that there is a problem somewhere in that area, but it could actually be coming from your neck area. Knowing where the pain originates from can help in formulating a treatment plan to alleviate discomfort. Better yet, knowing how the problem started, can help the pain from developing to begin with. Nerves: The Struggle is Real Pain is caused by the nerves becoming entrapped within tight muscles. The area around the neck and shoulders is especially prone to entrapment due to the crowded nerves that run from the neck area down into the scapular (shoulder) area. They twist and turn in tight spaces around and through muscles that run along your spine from the base of your skull down into your shoulder area.  When the muscles become tight and inflamed they further compress and crowd the nerves. That causes the nerves to become grumpy. The grumpiness runs all the way down to the muscles between your shoulder blades. ...

The Many Benefits of Massage for Cyclists (of all levels) Tammara - Massage Extraordinaire and Cycling Enthusiastic Not only is Tammara an Extraordinary massage therapist, she is also an avid cyclist.  Tammara gets a massage at least once a month and sometimes more often if she's dealing with a particular issue.  Her philosophy,  "The better I take care of myself, the better my body takes care of me." Massage Benefits for Cyclists: Help loosen tight spots Promotes recovery by flushing out toxic chemicals Keeps your fibers smooth and limber Relieves post-exercise pain Boosts heart health Prevents injury with the help of stretching Enhances performance Feels good!! Tammara shares how massage can benefit all parts of the body , which take a beating from cycling. " Massage helps TREMENDOUSLY for a cyclist.  Anyone who spends an hour or more in the same position on a bike will tell you that their low back, neck and shoulders can start compl...

What is Integrated Massage? Good Question and Here's the Answer --- On our website, we list Sports Massage and Deep Tissue Massage as our specialties, even though our massage therapists are adept with all massage techniques.  In actuality, most massages we give are Integrated Massages.  What does that mean?  They are individualized to your massage goal and what is going on with your body that day - so it's a combination of different massage specialties.  Your therapist will talk to you before your massage begins to understand what your unique needs are that day.  She will then create a treatment designed specifically for you! Stretching being used in Integrated Massage You may decide that you would like a sports massage after you talk to your therapist since you are sore from playing tennis.  Your integrated massage may also include stretching .  Some deep tissue massage and acupressure may also be used to release chronic muscle te...

Happy Anniversary to Maddie Lavelle! Maddie just celebrated her 1 year anniversary on the Massage Extraordinaire team on September 7th -  CONGRATS Maddie! Maddie's massage technique specialties are: Sports Massage Deep Tissue Massage Trigger Point Massage Stretching Many Massage Extraordinaire clients rave about Maddie's massages and return often.  Her chair massages are the best; she is frequently requested for special events. Maddie is originally from Athens, Ohio.  She attended Ohio University and obtained a degree in Sports Management and business.  In 2011, she attended Columbus State Community College to complete her massage training. Maddie is a massage therapist for the USA Rugby teams (who will be representing the US in Rio) at the Olympic Training Center.  Recently, she was the massage therapist for the 2015 Jr. Nationals Tennis Tournament at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego. Maddie loves sports and enjoys hik...

ROBERTO ANCIRA     Roberto has been a weekly client of Massage Extraordinaire since August 2009. He has been an avid tennis player since he started playing the sport at the age of 12. Roberto is a native of Mexico.  In 1985 he moved to San Diego. Since 1995, Roberto has played in tennis tournaments -  both at the local and the national level. He was ranked #1 in San Diego and #2 in 5.5 Southern California in 2002 -  both in singles and in doubles! He plays tennis at least 5 times a week and competes in about 15 tennis tournaments a year. Roberto has received a deep tissue/stretch massage weekly since 2005! He understands the importance of stretching,  stretching for 15 minutes after he plays tennis. Roberto's philosophy on massage: "I believe that in order to keep my body healthy, pain free and flexible, I have to take care of it.  Weekly massages coupled with my chiropractor visits  allow me to kee...

TAMMARA PASQUARIELLO - 1)  LOVES San Diego - is a San Diego native and plans to live here forever 2)  Is also a Personal Trainer (since 2004) 3)  Her Personal Training Specialties are: Strength Training Balance Stability Flexibility 4)  Her MASSAGE SPECIALTIES are: Sportsmassage Deep Tissue Massage Injury Rehabilitation Stretching 5)  Works with Seniors  6)  Is an AVID CYCLIST and MOUNTAIN BIKER 7)  Loves her dogs & loves going HIKING with them 8) Tammara's Other Passions include:   Weight Training Reading Learning Theatre Tammara recently hiking the Grand Canyon