Stretching, Massage, and Toxin Release

The more I farm the more I've come to love stretching,  using a foam roller,  and getting occasional massages.  I've really come to appreciate all this for personal care routine.

One thing I hear is that these practices have the potential to remove toxins and lactic acid. I've tried to research this out of curiosity but have found conflicting reviews. I'm curious to hear what other permies think about this. It occurred to me tonight as I was thinking about it that quite a few people on here are professionals in alternative medicine.

For anyone new to growing food, I urge you to consider these practices for self care regardless of toxin release. Without them I really think I would have a lot of physical health issues now. Labor can wear on your body more than people realize

The problem with a claim like ‘X removes toxins’ is it is completely unverifiable. What toxins are you even talking about? What does it mean to remove them?

I prefer to focus on tangibles. I get really REALLY stiff legs and back, to the point that I frequently have disturbed sleep due to the pain. When I get massages, do yoga and stretching I move more easily and sleep better. There are enough tangible benefits that I see no need to talk about nebulous ‘toxins’.

Back when I played sports competitively, stretching and massage for lactic acid removal was a very big deal. If I had been running hills in a training session, it meant the difference between being able to train again the next day or not. Now that I'm an old lady I don't tend to do that much heavy stuff, but when I do I make sure I stretch or I might not be able to move at all the following day.
Massages are also very important, since I alternate between farm work and sitting in my office. That is probably the one big thing I miss with all this quarantine business, honestly. I try to be careful about ergonomics and how I move, but even so I've accumulated a set of adhesions and injuries that get cranky, and it's nice to work the kinks out. In the meantime, there is always yoga and my foam roller, which is heaven sent.

To put another way... A properly functioning lymph system moves toxins out of the body. Stretching, yoga and massages move lymph.

Once upon a time I got a lymphatic massage and felt amazing afterwards. I always sleep really well after stretching or getting a massage.


I second foam rollers being a godsend! It's really improved my quality of life

I never get massages but after yoga streches I sleep well. It is difficult to strech after hard yakka when all you want to do it is to sit or lay down though. But even ten minutes do the trick.

James Landreth wrote:The more I farm the more I've come to love stretching,  using a foam roller,  and getting occasional massages.  I've really come to appreciate all this for personal care routine.

One thing I hear is that these practices have the potential to remove toxins and lactic acid. I've tried to research this out of curiosity but have found conflicting reviews. I'm curious to hear what other permies think about this. It occurred to me tonight as I was thinking about it that quite a few people on here are professionals in alternative medicine.

For anyone new to growing food, I urge you to consider these practices for self care regardless of toxin release. Without them I really think I would have a lot of physical health issues now. Labor can wear on your body more than people realize

Resounding YES! Hubby and I are building our house right now and stretching before bed especially is proving to be an essential practice. I'm curious about your routine? What are you stretching and/or rolling on? Would you care to share the deets? We don't have a foam roller at this time, but do wiggle around on the floor with two rubber balls placed between shoulders and along spines. I imagine we look kinda looks like bears scratching up on a tree, only horizontal. X)

I don't know, but yoga works in minutes for any sort of pain/stiffness/soreness.   I try to incorporate into everyday tasks like working on my allotment or in between cleaning tasks while at work.   It often gets rid of whatever pain/tightness/cramping I was starting to feel from the activity,  to the point where I can keep working and moving without any further issues afterwards.   I'm not sure what the specific active pathways are for that result.   Releasing tightness from repetitive movement or muscle strain?   Moving lymphatic fluids and lactic acid?   Helping the body rebalance the support muscles/ligaments/etc?  Lubricating joint tissues?  Maybe a bit of all of it.   Sure beats sucking down ibuprofen and acetaminophen all day.  It's pretty dramatic.

James; thank you for your post, which I agree with wholeheartedly. Over the past few years, yin yoga has been a life saver for me. Following a number of bereavements and stressors, I developed shoulder birsitis which hands down has been the most painful and devastating virus (being a professional musician and organic gardener). Yin is a form of stretching that gets right into the fascia, improves flexibility and reduces stress. I committed to it and now have my condition under control and my mobility is improving. It’s also a great way of making friends with your body and focussing the mind. Best wishes, Gemma

One thing I hear is that these practices have the potential to remove toxins and lactic acid. I've tried to research this out of curiosity but have found conflicting reviews.  

It is a problem of good sounding advertising propaganda. Misleading and not scientifically accurately stated so those using it got called out for using it in our peer reviewed journals.   Changing the above statement to move in stead of remove is more accurate. Metabolic waste like lactic acid needs to be moved to the organs that recycle or if necessary remove it to prevent it from reaching toxic levels around the cells.  Move doesn't remove so misapplication can produce undesirable results.  Associated is drink a lot of water to remove the released toxins.  Water itself like the lactic acid can reach toxic levels.
So as the original post indicated appropriate levels of activity growing good food. drinking good water and moving enough after strenuous  activity to clear metabolic waste is good practice.

Brittney Gee wrote:

Resounding YES! Hubby and I are building our house right now and stretching before bed especially is proving to be an essential practice. I'm curious about your routine? What are you stretching and/or rolling on? Would you care to share the deets? We don't have a foam roller at this time, but do wiggle around on the floor with two rubber balls placed between shoulders and along spines. I imagine we look kinda looks like bears scratching up on a tree, only horizontal. X)

I mostly do basic stretches. I aim for once a day but don't usually hit that. I also use a rolling pin in place of a foam roller for my calves (intense, but really gets the job done). I've also had friends use the rolling pin on my calves, to great effect. I find hot baths are also very beneficial.