BMO Vancouver half marathon May 5th 2013

BMO Vancouver half marathon – Muscle pain relief

Well the BMO Vancouver half marathon is on May 5th and each year we end up supplying many runners with our pain relief Sports therapy wrap to ease those aches and pains from either the race or pre training.
Many use these heat wraps to keep muscle warm and supple before stretching and warm ups.
We are a local Vancouver company and these can be collected from our location or if mailed they will be delivered next day in Vancouver
Good luck to all runners in this years BMO half marathon
“IMPORTANCE of WARM-UP AND STRETCHING”
Remember “Everybody needs a Warm Buddy”
Warm-up is one of the most important elements of an exercise program. It is particularly important to prevent injury:
Warm-up is low level activity, such as a brisk walk or a slow jog, which should be completed prior to stretching and more strenuous exercise. The objective of the warm-up is to raise total body temperature and muscle temperature to prepare the entire body for vigorous activity. The warm-up period prepares the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, nervous system and the musculoskeletal system by gradually increasing the demand on those systems so that they are able to accommodate the demands of more strenuous activity.

Sports Therapy wrap for all your aches and pains

Passive Warm-up:
The main goal of passive warm-up is to increase body temperature, either total body temperature or local body temperature, without physical activity. In passive warm-up the body temperature is usually increased by some external means, such as wearing heavy apparel, like a sweatshirt, and/or using our Warm Buddy Sports Therapy wrap or Body wrap. One of the advantages of using a passive means of warm-up is that energy is not expended in the warm-up activity. However, for best results it’s recommended that passive warm-up be used in combination with active warm-up.
Active warm-up:
Is composed of two types: general and sports specific warm-up. The general or non-specific warm-up utilizes low intensity movements such as walking or slow jogging general warm-up, involving low level activity, is usually more effective than passive warm-up in increasing deep muscle temperature. Specific warm-up exercises actually involve the body parts that will be used in the subsequent competitive event. An example would be swinging a tennis racket in a practice stroke.
The advantage of the specific warm-up is that the temperature is more effectively increased in the specific body parts that are to be used.
THE PURPOSE OF WARM-UP: PREVENT INJURY – ENHANCE PERFORMANCE
Experts agree that the main purpose of warm-up is to increase the blood circulation in order to raise both the general body and the deep muscle temperatures, which in turn help to heat up the muscles, ligaments and tendons in preparation for more vigorous activity.
A proper warm-up provides many benefits due to elevated temperatures associated with it. The likelihood of injury is reduced. Athletic performance can be improved. The warm-up increases muscle efficiency, reduces potential for muscle pulls, improves reaction time and improves the speed of movement of muscled and ligaments.
Proper warm-up can also help reduce the severity of post-exercise muscle soreness. The higher temperatures and increased blood flow resulting from warm-up are important for delivery of oxygen to the muscles and for prevention of build-up of unwanted waste products which can lead to muscle soreness.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WARM-UP and STRETCHING: WARM-UP THEN STRETCH
There is an important difference between warm-up and stretching. Many people stretch and call it warm-up. This is incorrect. It is important to warm-up before stretching. If one stretches the muscles without prior warm-up, the muscles are cold and are more prone to injury, such as muscle tear or strain. Before exercising, begin with a warm-up period to raise the body temperature.
You want to get the heart pumping and increase blood flow to the muscles before stretching. Slow running in place, a slow aerobic dance, or a walk-jog (all with ball), and the application of an external heat pack, is an ideal warm-up regimen to help prepare the muscles for stretching.
Wildflowers Aromatherapy and Gifts                                                www.wildflowersaromatherapy.com
Phone: 604-322-9370  Toll Free: 1-866-322-9370  Email: info@wildflowersaromatherapy.com

Check out our Bmo marathon video

How to read a QR code without a smart phone

 How to read a QR code without a smart phone

You may have seen these images that look like a Maze,or pictures that if you look at it long enough you can see an image..  like the one below.

Extra savings code

These are called QR images (Quick response images) If you have a smart Phone with a reader app or similar product that can scan these and tell you what these images are saying, no problem.
For those who don’t have one of the products we have a simple means of reading them.
If you see one on line do the following (test it out on our QR code above)

1. Right click the image
2. Save the image (Remember where you saved it to, usually the desktop is the easiest to remember)
3. Go to a Free online bar code reader
4. When on that page Click Browse
5. Find saved image
6. Click send file
7. Voila you can now read the image

For those images that are not on the internet, and are on newspapers,or printed media.

1. Take a JPEG image of the code
2. Download it to your Photoshop to crop the image, leave a small border around the image to ensure everything is visible.
3. Follow the same procedures as above

Happy reading
Wildflowers Aromatherapy and Gifts
Here is a quick video on How to read a QR code without a Smart Phone

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Vancouver Sun Run 2013

 Vancouver Sun Run 2013

It is that time of year. new year resolutions and Vancouver sun run seem to meld together.
Which has the strongest pull? We have for years resolved to making Vancouverites and Canadians fit through the use of our Sports Therapy wrap.
Whilst warm ups and stretching and training are a prerequisite for this race, so are fit toned muscles.
This is where our Sports Therapy wrap comes in.
You see before you do your stretches and warm ups, your muscles are like an elastic band, if you try to stretch and old tired elastic band it will snap, this is the same with your muscles, they need to be warm and supple before you start to stretch them.

Sports Therapy wrap for muscle aches and pains

The Sports Therapy Wrap is ideal for this purpose, place it in the microwave for 3 minutes and place it on your muscles and they will relax and be more able to support the stress and strains you will be placing on them.
Now should you pull a muscle the Sports Therapy wrap can also be frozen to be used for cold therapy and use heat for the old aches and pains following the race.
If you live in Vancouver these will be delivered next day

WA+G
Check out this Vancouver sun run 2013 video

Arthritis and heat therapy

 Arthritis and heat Therapy

How heat therapy can help arthritis sufferers.
Is there anything you can do about the pain and stiffness of arthritis? Perhaps you’ve heard that heat or cold therapy can help relieve pain and are wondering if it’s worth giving them a try. Well, it is.
Many arthritis doctors recommend both heat and cold treatments to help reduce inflammation and ease the pain and stiffness that comes with arthritis. It may take a little “trial and error” to learn which therapy works best for your pain. But by staying with it, you may find the right combination of hot packs and ice packs to get the most relief from pain and make it easier to manage arthritis. If pain persists, be sure to talk with your doctor.

Body wrap warm moist heat,also can use hot or cold

How Does Heat and Cold Help Arthritis Pain?

Heat or cold therapy works by stimulating your body’s own healing force. For instance, heat dilates the blood vessels, stimulates blood circulation, and reduces muscle spasms. In addition, heat alters the sensation of pain. You can use heat — such as heating pads or — or moist heat — Warm Buddy heat packs.
Here are one of our most popular heat packs for warming joints:

Use hot or cold

Conversely, cold compresses reduce swelling by constricting blood vessels. While cold packs may be uncomfortable at first, they can numb deep pain.
Using the Warm Buddy heat packs as cold packs, just place the pack in a freezer bag and place in freezer for a couple of hours and this will help reduce pain and swelling.
Here are some more heat packs that will really help
WA+G

Heat packs for back pain relief

  Warm moist penetrating heat pain relief

Back pain relief using heat therapy

Warm Buddy make a variety of excellent heat pads for back pain.

The best heat pad for back pain

The most popular one is the sports therapy wrap this can be use hot or cold depending on what therapy is required, I usually have 2 of these wraps at hand, one is always in the freezer so I can use it at a moments notice and the other one is ready to pop into the microwave for 3 minutes and then give you an hour or more of warm moist penetrating heat that will relieve those muscle aches and pains really fast.

We do have other heat packs that are in different shapes and sizes.
Many athlete use these for their muscle maintenance as it is important to keep muscles warm prior to any warm up activities and should they suffer any muscle injury the sports therapy wrap is their wrap of choice.
WA+G
Short video on heat pads for back pain