The spring day filled the sky with clouds and a cool breeze drifted through the air. I looked out at my garden and to my OMG surprise, bore witness to an overgrowth of weeds at least two feet high. I cheerfully accepted it was time to get to work.
Heave-ho, grab and pull, these weeds had some mighty strong roots and forced me to engage every muscle from my fingers all the way down to my toes. Back muscles, arm muscles, leg muscles, tongue muscle (ok, I had a few choice words here and there) as well the maximus of all muscles, the glutes.
All performing the job they were formed to do. Two hours later and a wheel barrow full of weeds, I stood up, took a deep breath and announced, “This garden is clean.”
Two days later I could outline my whole musculature on a piece of paper with every move I made. The adventure in my garden did utilize a sporting good amount of strength, but the muscles used were only a partial list, thank goodness.
There are over 600 muscles that do all sorts of stuff in our body, most of which we pay very little attention to until they hurt. When overused or upset, muscles can make their point in a hurry. It’s the muscles that are the major recipient of energy we break down from foods. And muscle fibers contain protein filaments that slide back and forth to produce contractions that send us hurtling out the door to work on time or fingers flying over computer keys to meet a deadline.
With three different types – the skeletal, smooth and cardiac – muscles define the shapes of our body, help move things along inside our body and pump life-giving blood through the body. One thing about muscles is they require constant use to stay strong and healthy, and in today’s world that means getting the butt in gear.
We are a spoiled society of automobiles, elevators and sit-down jobs that require more mental abilities than physical ones. Times of yore when we had to actually toil the fields or hunt the forest for food, muscles found themselves constantly used and physical strength the inherent benefit.
But the attributes of physical activity is not lost on our society and we run, walk, play sports, and work out in the gym in order to keep them in shape or built up in massive shape. But muscle health goes farther than that.
Potassium along with sodium, magnesium along with calcium play a major role in the workings of muscle health. We must watch our diet and eat plenty of fresh vegetables so the minerals found in these foods can push and pull the muscle filaments in the proper motions.
When minerals become imbalanced in our bodies, the muscles get confused and lock, producing cramps and/or fatigue. Foods high in potassium include dark leafy greens such as spinach and swiss chard, dried apricots, avocados and bananas.
Magnesium is loaded in pumpkins, sesame and sunflower seeds, dark chocolate, and dried herbs. Nettle tea is chock full of minerals and makes a good morning boost as well as drinking green juices made of kale and or spinach with some cucumber and celery for sodium balance.
Dehydration is another cause for muscles to fatigue and quality water is needed to hydrate the cells and keep the proper flow of minerals.
For overused muscles, deep tissue massages, steam baths and hot baths all relax tight muscles, move the lactic acid (by product of muscle use) out and allow the muscles to gradually heal and loose their aches and pains.
Topical applications of cayenne and menthol creams help sooth sore muscles, along with hot compresses. A simple tube sock 2/3 filled with flax seeds and lavender flowers then sewed at the bottom makes the perfect heating pad for sore, tight shoulders. Place in a microwave and heat for around three minutes or until hot enough for the skin to withstand. Your muscles and mind (the mental muscle) relax under the heat of the compress and the scent of the lavender. Or leave in the refrigerator for soothing coolness on over-strained muscles.
