Good morning. It’s Tuesday, April 29th.

In today’s email:

• Learn: What Happens When We Get a Massage?

• Try: No More Knots

• Cook: Healthy Pesto Pasta

• In the News: Cold Sore Cure

Stat of the Day

The increased load on your neck from every inch - just 1 inch - your head goes forward from constantly looking down at your phone or computer screen. (Built to Move)

Learn

What Happens When We Get a Massage?

We say it so casually - “I’ve got so many knots in my back” - that it seems normal and we don’t even question what’s going on in the body to create these so-called knots.

It’s not normal.

I just had a deep tissue massage - my first in a few years.

I limped out of the office as if I’d just run a marathon and dead lifted over 200 lbs.

What just happened? Why did I have so many knots and what is going on inside our body when we break them up?

Our body is actually really smart - it protects us when we don’t protect ourselves.

When we have to look down at an angle that stretches our neck muscles - these muscles start at the base of our head with the semispinalis wapitis and extend down through our trapezius into the top of our back.

When we constantly strain these muscles in the wrong position they contract and get stiff (we can TRIPLE the weight of our head by holding it down, even slightly).

This stiffness makes it easier for these muscles to provide the necessary support. But it’s not making them stronger naturally - it’s forcing them to overlap the layers of actions.

What we think of a knot is actually - focal muscle hypertonicity (FMH).

That’s a fancy way of saying contraction - the muscles are overlapping the layers of myosin and actin to create a stronger bond for support. 

This contraction protects us from injury, but limits our range of motion and can cause chronic pain if we don’t break it up.

In addition to my neck and upper back, I had a ton of knots in my calf muscles.

It’s not just putting our muscles in the wrong position that creates this problem - it’s any stress that increases the risk of injury and that includes exercise.

When I’m constantly running - especially without the right warm up - I’m putting pressure on those muscles in my calf. If I don’t actively relax them and give them a chance to recover they respond in the same way - by forming a tighter bond.

This bond helps prevent a strain or tear. Some experts call FMH a “pre-tear condition” because these knots are a sign that we’re on the edge of a much more serious injury.

It’s fascinating when you consider the intelligence in our body to help us stay mobile. 

But by not extending our range of motion over long periods of time - our brain stops trusting that our body is capable of that movement. So it’s not just the muscles and tendons, but our actual nerves that prevent us from moving in a normal way.

What about when we mindlessly say things like “I’ve got knots from stress”?

When we’re stressed we’re flexing our muscles in unusual ways (holding our shoulders up, sitting slouched) and creating tension that leads to the muscle getting stuck in a stiff position. 

So we get knots from working out, stress, and sitting or standing in sub-optimal ways.

Trigger Points

What are the ways to break down these knots?

When you use a foam roller or lacrosse ball, or get a deep tissue massage - you’re breaking down these fibers to go back to their natural state.

After a few hours or days, the muscles can go back to their natural state and you feel relief.

Do this regularly on your own to prevent knots - or trigger points.

But after they are formed it can be a challenge to get rid of them on your own. A trained massage therapist knows how to directly target and unlock these trigger points.

This can be painful and causes trauma on our muscles - just like working out. Which is why I was limping out of the massage studio. But trust me - it’s worth it!

The other thing I felt from the massage was an intense detox.

Now it’s a bit of fiction that massages directly detox the body. But what does happen is that the deep stimulation of our muscles increases blood flow and opens up our lymphatic system to get things moving around in the body.

When this happens your lymph can become more efficient getting toxins into your kidneys to remove the stuff you don’t need.

Side Note: our lymphatic system is one of the most underrated features of our entire body. Our lymph filters over a gallon of fluid everyday - carrying our immune cells, fats, and fat-soluble nutrients (like Vitamin D).

Movement 101

We can talk about walking, about working out, about lifting heavy things - but if we lose our range of motion or get injured then none of that matters.

That’s why to me the most important thing is to focus on HOW you move.

Stop sitting in front of your computer slouched over, with bent knees, staring down at a screen, and holding stress in your shoulders.

It’s not normal if you can’t keep your back and neck straight (see Issue #83), raise your arms to be next to your ears (see Issue #178), and get into a squat (see Issue #371).

This is just as important to longevity as walking 10,000 steps and lifting weights 2x per week.

Try

No More Knots

Three steps for dealing with FMH (muscle knots):

1. Watch your posture. No sitting all day hunched over the computer. Get your workspace dialed in for proper alignment and get up every hour. (Top 10 Tips for Thrive25-approved Workstation)

Bonus: Breathe out your stress - don’t let it build up in your shoulders or hips. Feel where you hold your stress and take 2-5 min every day breathing into those areas and clearing out the tension.

2. Fight through a foam roller. Break up your muscles with a foam roller or lacrosse ball on any muscle group where you feel tension or restricted range of motion. Aim for 3-5 min every day (Pro Tip: Make this a daily Quick Win).

Bonus: I also use the Hypervolt to break up muscle tension, but I don’t think it’s as powerful as the foam roller (but it definitely doesn’t hurt as much - I’m a wimp when it comes to this).

3. Get a massage. I haven’t been a big massage person - but if you have chronic knots or feel limited range of motion that could result in injury, then get a deep tissue massage from a certified therapist.

* For more check out Built to Move

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Cook

Healthy Pesto Pasta

Celebrate spring with this fresh and vibrant Pesto Pasta! Loaded with fiber-rich asparagus, peas, and peppery arugula, plus heart-healthy pistachios and antioxidant-packed basil, this dish fuels energy and gut health. Tossed with bright lemon and parmesan, it’s perfect warm or cold for an easy, nutrient-dense meal that tastes like spring!

H&L in the News

Cold Sores, Gone Forever?: Tired of recurring cold sores? Experts reveal what actually works, what doesn’t, and whether a true cure might be on the horizon for this stubborn, widespread virus. (NYTimes)

Memory’s Secret Spark Revealed: A 50-year journey from a rabbit experiment to the heart of memory itself - scientists are finally unlocking how the brain learns, stores, and sometimes misfires in pain, fear, and disease. (Knowable)

Brains, Beauty, and Mating Games: Could our creativity, humor, and big brains be nature’s version of a peacock’s tail? Matt Ridley explores how sexual selection - not survival - may have shaped both birds and the human mind. (Big Think)

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We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.

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