This week’s health and wellness topics: tight lats, macro coaching, and a fantastic charity.

Do you have tight lats?

Your latissimus dorsi muscles, also known as your lat muscles, are V-shaped muscles that connect your spinal column to your arms, extending all the way from your shoulders down to your hips.

These muscles are vital for upper body strength and range of motion. So, how do you know if you have tight lats, and what do you do about it?

Symptoms:

  • Ongoing upper back/neck pain or stiffness

  • Poor posture (rounded shoulders)

  • Limited range of movement in the shoulders

Causes

  • Sitting or driving a lot

  • Going too hard on a lat machine at the gym

  • Some everyday tasks like gardening or cycling

Solutions – Try these stretches:

Active Floor Stretch

  1. Kneel on the floor and sink into your hips, keeping your arms out in front of you.

  2. Slowly lean your weight onto your right forearm, stretching toward your right side, through your fingertips. You should feel a stretch along the left side of your torso.

  3. Hold the position for a few seconds.

  4. Return to the starting position, then repeat 10 times on each side.

Chair Stretch

  1. Stand in front of a chair, with the back of the chair facing you.

  2. Place both hands on the back of the chair.

  3. Engage your core muscles as you hinge at the hips and gently slide the chair away from you.

  4. Sink into the stretch and hold for 20–30 seconds.

  5. Repeat 2–3 times.

You can also use yoga (downward dog and child’s pose are great for this) or roll your lats along a foam roller to loosen them up.
 

I am thrilled to announce I now offer a sliding scale option for my nutrition counseling!

I want to make nutrition counseling accessible for anyone who needs it. If you’re struggling to get your diet in check or wondering what in the world a macro is, I can help.

Click the button below to learn more!
 

A charity near and dear to my heart

Friends, I want to share with you a charity organization I care very deeply for and want to bring awareness to.

It’s called Loaves and Fishes, and it’s a non-profit community service organization that offers hot nutritious meals to hungry and homeless families, children, seniors, and veterans.

Due to the COVID pandemic, the number of hot meals that they prepare has increased from 2,500 meals (pre-Covid) to presently 7000 meals per day.

They’re having a food donation project from August 16th through September 9th.

They’re greatly in need of the following items, hopefully in bulk:

  • Canned tomato sauce

  • Pasta

  • Dry beans

  • Rice

  • Canned tuna

  • Herbs

Here’s how to help:

As always, I’m but a button away. Contact me with your questions!