Simply put, calcium contracts muscles and magnesium relaxes them. When our mineral balance is out of whack, we can develop criques, tweaks, wonkiness, and pissed-off muscles.
Most of us lead a life of fast-paced, on the go, or moderate to majorly stressed ways of living; caffeine to get us up, keep us going, a quick bite at lunch, and alcoholic drink(s) to calm us down after a long day.
There is no judgment about whether you do or do not live this way. One thing we can agree on, if you have symptoms (knots, tight stiff muscles, headaches, pain) then you are not recovering from your day-to-day life. A muscle knot is trying to tell you this exact fact.
Additionally, if water is not available in the body to move minerals, blood, and oxygen into the muscle cells then they are unable to repair.
If there is no water flowing then the muscle cells are unable to get lactic acid, and other metabolic waste out; creating a cell full of garbage with no room to move.
I find that when people receive massage or stretch and it is painful to them, it indicates water is not available to the muscle.
General rule: 1/2 body weight in pounds, drink this number in ounces. Add 8 ounces of water for every sugar drink (8 oz juice, soda, even pre-made sports drinks), alcoholic drink, or 8 oz caffeinated beverage (yes even tea).
Example: 180-pound person = 90 ounces of water (nearly 3/4 gallon). With a venti (20 oz) coffee in the morning, medium soda for lunch (24 oz), 2 glasses of wine after dinner (16 oz), now this person is at 150 ounces of water or 1.2 gallons of water in one day. Do you think you pee a lot already?
Now that you’re officially depressed, there is hope. I find tracking to be a fantastic tool for making changes. If you are on life autopilot, then tracking is a good way to see what it is you are doing. At first, do nothing differently, just track everything. I find it’s best to do this periodically during the day, ***use your notepad on your phone, and set a reminder (3-4xs/day) to make some observations.
Stay tuned: there is more to this story. One blog a day keeps your knots away!
