As the Ravens prepare for their final regular-season game, their bodies are tired and sore.
This is especially the time of year that Barbara Depta can pay dividends.
Depta is a flexibility and mobility coach, certified nutrition specialist, and strength coach. What she really specializes in is fascia stretching, which heals tissues and speeds up rehabilitation.
She has been working with the Ravens since training camp and will have the task of rejuvenating the Ravens’ bodies and minds before they face the Cleveland Browns this Sunday with the playoffs on the line.
“The fascia system reacts to all stress – physical, mental, and emotional,” Depta said. “It gets tighter if it is not treated, and a player’s overall functionality deteriorates. It is essential for physical and mental recovery.”
Depta worked with the Ravens every day throughout training camp. During the seasons, she has flown up from her home and business, Beyond Stretch in Jupiter, Fla., to help players every Friday.
“I think she did a great job with some good tips on my nutrition intake,” outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil said, saying she changed him to more of a protein diet. “She also does a good job too of getting your hips open and getting you ready for the game.”
Stewart came to Baltimore with a long list of nagging hamstring injuries from his days in St. Louis. He hasn’t had a single problem with that since coming to the Ravens. The safety has played in every game, including 13 starts, and is coming off a game in which he nabbed his first interception of the season.
“I’m happy she’s here,” Stewart said. “With what she does, I feel like I recover a lot faster. She gets me prepared to play every week. I haven’t had any issues at all. She does well making sure my muscles are firing. She’s one reason I’m healthy for sure.”
Depta, a former semi-pro basketball player in Poland, got her start when an elbow injury cut her playing days short. She then immersed herself in learning more about the human body and recovery and studied with some of the top specialists in the field.
Depta has worked with PGA Tour golfers, MLB and NHL players, and former UFC champion Rashad Evans.
Former Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin referred Depta to teammate Ray Lewis. Depta didn’t know who Lewis was at first, but he soon became a close friend. She traveled with him during his playing days, and recalls him saying, “Wow, this is magical, a game-changer.”
Lewis was her foot in the door with the Ravens, and she expanded to helping many more players this season.
Depta also works with players on their diet and balance. The work she puts in with their tissues makes a widespread difference in their overall health and performance.
“It improves their recovery tremendously. It also improves their mobility,” she said. “If their mobility improves, their strength improves. If both improve, their overall conditioning is completely on a different level.”
It is probably not a secret to you that a wide range of minerals and vitamins are essential for our optimum health. But did you know that certain vitamins and minerals work together while others work against one another? Some of them create healthy team, some not so much. It is just like in relationships, you will not make a happy couple with whomever you meet, right? 🙂
As you may have heard some food duos do more than just excite your mind—they could boost your health. It’s a concept called “food synergy”, which I compare to “couples synergy”. 🙂
Minerals and vitamins have a role in nearly every bodily function, from building healthy bones, to energy production, and strengthening the immune system. They are just like your significant other, they can add energy to your day, make you happier, and give you support all day long.
I like to think of my husband as my perfect vitamin match. He is like that chocolate that absorbs well with raisins.
Yes, I am the raisin in this equation, and l want to keep it that way 🙂
The concept of nutrient synergy maximizes our health benefits of micronutrients because of the discovery researches made, that they work best in “teams”, just like you and your partner make a HEALTHY TEAM.
These couple of examples below can give you an idea what to combine together when cooking or eating out.
I bet you haven’t thought what vitamin your boyfriend, fiancée, or husband can stand for, right? I believe it is an interesting way to look at your relationship.
Are you the perfect match made in heaven, like an iron & vitamin C that absorb better when taken together, I hope that is the case. J
As I am at the football training camp, I decided to ask few of the coaches, and athletes that question:
“If you could compare yourself, and your partenr to some food combo, what would it be”?
And here is what one of them said to me:
”I am a street eater, and my wife is very sophisticated…”
So, I asked, “Would you say that you are like truffle fries”?
He said: “YES, that’s PERFECT!”
Well that’s a pretty unhealthy combo but I got his point.
Then, another player said to me: “ I think I am like a steak, and my fiancée is like my broccoli”, I asked “ does it mean you are the head of the family, and she is that healthy supporter”?
He replied: “Yes”. And that combo is actually well taken by the body, as the iron from stake absorbs so much better with the Vitamin C from the broccoli.
I think I am a nutrient obsessed person, who likes to take advantage of the synergies my meals create, just like me, and my husband fulfill each other needs.
We are not necessarily like peanut butter and jelly, but we are more like green tea, and lemon. I like to dissolve in his arms just like that lemon in a tea. Just like the ascorbic acid in citrus fruits, lemons helps the body better absorb the antioxidant – catechin, found in green tea.
My husband is also my spice in life, just like a cinnamon in my post workout shake, yummy!!! 🙂
It is fun to think what really connects you together, how he/she makes you feel, and what energy do you bring into your relationship.
Take advantage of the food synergies while you cook, or eat out.
Here are just few examples:
Tomato sauce and spinach = Iron absorbs better with Vitamin C.
Tomato sauce and olive oil = tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a powerful phytochemical, but needs fat to be absorbed.
Avocado & greens = good avocado helps the body absorb phytochemicals from leafy greens.
Broccoli & Steak = Vitamin C in broccoli helps the body absorb the heme iron found in meat.
Spinach + Tofu = Vitamin K in spinach helps the body absorb the calcium in tofu.
Raisins + dark chocolate = the boron in raisins helps the body absorb more magnesium from chocolate
Brussels sprouts + olive oil = Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning it’s best absorbed in a meal that contains healthy fat. That’s where the olive oil comes in.
It is pretty simple when you think about that, no single nutrient is likely to work as well, as a diet rich in vitamins. Just like your life, may not be as FUN, and filled with JOY without your significant other.
I hope you enjoyed it. Take a moment and think of what meal comes to your mind when you think about the 2 of you.
An optimum intake of vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients is the key to achieving optimum health. And remember they are as important to your well being, as your significant other is. Who not only should bring support to your life, but also energy, just like that morning cup of coffee. 🙂
Take 5 minutes to open up your body, and to release the tension penetrating around your spine. Be more conscious about letting the stress go, and allow some oxygen into your body. The biological fabric – FASCIA needs to flow freely through your body, to let you move pain free. To make the body motion easy and relaxing throughout the day, start with stretching the Superficial Back Fascia Line.
It is one of 12 fascia lines in your body. It starts from the bottom of your foot, and it is connected all the way up to your eyebrows. It is “ON” most of the day, and it keeps you away from collapsing forward into fetal posture.
This routine not only allows you to stretch your back superficial fascia line including back muscles, and hamstrings, but it also includes other muscles, like your gluteal muscles, hip rotators which are part of other fascia lines, and can contribute to lower back pain.
Fall into category of HEALTHY people, who want to start the day with ease, and smile on their back.
Enjoy it, and I am looking forward to assisting you to bring the JOY to your body.
Many people ask this question: “How to unlock your hips, create fluidity and power in your golf swing with no back pain”?
Have you ever felt that awkward tightness in your low back or your neck after an hour of practicing at the range? Maybe you can only make it 9 holes before that hip starts to flare up. Why does the pain keep you from finishing the round when you’re so close to shooting your lowest 18 hole score ever? Most amateur golfers will pop an advil, and play through the pain until they are forced to quit, but did you know that pro golfers experience the same pain? The difference is, they have a team of experts surrounding them to point out flaws, pre-habilitate injuries with training before they appear, and when they do run into problems, they have the best doctors in the industry to get them back out on the weekend. How would you like to have the same tools that the pros have available to you, and to know the golf swing, not just technically, but to really understand the movement and how to simplify the swing into it’s most basic components. Free of the pain, tightness, and soreness you have experienced so often.
How would you like to have power like this in your own hands?
Well, let’s begin with possibly the most important, but also the most misunderstood component in the golf swing: THE HIP JOINT.
There are many muscles left unmentioned here. For the purpose of this blog, I have included only the primary muscle groups necessary to cover the functional movements that are created at the hips. For more in depth information regarding fascia lines, other muscles groups, and other body segments, please join me for one of online classes or mine webinars. https://www.kajabinext.com/marketplace/courses/3412-hip-stability-mobility-in-golf
Every golfer has heard that “The hips are used in the golf swing.” You’ve heard about x-factor, separation, and using the ground for power, but have you ever really thought about how important the hips are? All over the world, players blame loss of yardage, lack of rotation and postural imbalances on their hips because that’s what they’ve been told, but they don’t understand WHY. “I have no flexibility”, “My back hurts” and “I can’t turn like I used to” are all commonly used on the golf course as excuses, not motivation.
These phrases should inspire curiosity, “How do I increase my flexibility?”, “Why does my back hurt?”, and “Why is it all my hips fault?” These are motivation, to get rid of back pain, to increase distance, increase balance, and more. If we understand the role of the hips in the golf swing, we can train ourselves to prevent back pain caused by lost hip mobility, and stability.
Our hip joint contains muscles which perform a variety of functions – flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, and rotation, but they all work cooperatively together, or should be, to achieve both mobility and stability. What happens when they don’t?
An injury to the hip joint will often affect more than just the hip; the effects can reach as far as the knee, the lower back, and shoulder. Thomas Myers, author of Body3 A Therapist’s
Anatomy Reader quotes,
“Because of the deeply cubed way this ball and socket joint fits together, and the strength of the muscles around it, the effects of trauma and injury to this part of the body often get pushed into the knee or the lower back, rather than showing up directly
in the hip. Likewise, postural imbalances in the hip tend to force problems or pain to occur either north or south of this super-strong joint…”
In the golf swing, every ‘body’ will compensate differently, most players can fake hip rotation by rotating the pelvis. The players who do that most likely have lower back issue, as lack of internal rotation in their hip will create pelvis rotation, not hip rotation. That will give them back pain, tightness, soreness – all repercussions of over pelvis rotation.
How can you tell if you are creating hip rotation or pelvic rotation?
That’s pretty easy to evaluate, and I encourage you to view my course on that subject, where I explain in several videos all the compensations taking place, and what are the corrections, and ways to create hip not pelvis rotation. You will also learn what to check and why in the hip joint, how it can help to create more distance with fluidity in your golf swing. Also you will receive drills to gain more power & strength for individual hip muscles and the entire hip joint. You will learn more about one of the most neglected systems in the body – fascia system, and how it can help your movement. Which primary fascia lines are responsible of creating the most efficient, powerful, and precise movement of the limbs.
Take your game and health to the NEXT LEVEL and sign up for this course
