Book: Warrior Girls by Michael Sokolove

While I was lending half an ear to the controversy about the age of the Chinese Olympic female gymnastic team, I discovered a very interesting book about sports injury rates sustained by women athletes.

Michael Sokolove presents a fascinating piece of investigating journalism about an under-reported epidemic; why do women athletes seem to get injured more often than their male counterpart. The numbers are impressive. According to his investigation, young women playing soccer at a competitive level are eight times more likely to rupture their ACL (a stabilizing ligament in the front of the knee) than their male counterparts. The numbers are as high for concussions and other injuries in a wide variety of other sports. The question he asks is why?
Naturally the answer is far from obvious. Sokolove explores the several leads such as the lack of cross-training for young athletes (kids are being pushed to specialized in a single sport as early as grade school), the gruesome schedule they submit themselves to (year-long seasons, playing for school and club teams) and of course the incredible amount of money at stake (from Ivy League college admission selection process to specialized tournament sponsored by the usual suspects).

A good portion of the book is also dedicated on understanding the state of research around female athletes' injuries, particularly when it comes to ruptures of the ACL.

Sokolove never questions if women are capable of the same athletic performances as men, nor does he question the benefits of sports for anybody. His thoughtful and rather thought provoking book challenges the rather obsessive culture we have created about children sport. Reminding us that exercise and sports are not the same thing, the author raises the hypothesis that competitive sports can be detrimental to a healthy body. He relates the story of young soccer players who have their 4th or 5th knee surgery before the age of 20, forced to 'retire' before they leave college with debilitating knee pains.

The book also reminded me of a few injuries I have sustained as a competitive fencer but also of a few injuries I see regularly in my practice. Over-training is definitely a big issue in a society where nuance and moderation are secondary values. I cannot emphasize enough the need for anybody to factor rest time as part of their program whether training for a triathlon or to be a massage therapist.

This book is fascinating and written in a page turning style. I highly recommend it to anybody with children involved in sports (boy or girls) or anyone interested in the socio-economical role sport is playing in our society.

Keep moving!


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Warrior Girls by Michael Sokolove
Simon & Schuster (June 3, 2008)
ISBN: 978-0743297554

Eco-Centric Practice

It has been a while since my last entry. It took me longer than I thought to get settled in my new office. But with new beginnings come new opportunities.

Green seems to have become the new black. There is not a day that goes by in the media without talk of carbon footprint, climate change, energy consumption, etc. And it seems that everybody has an opinion about what to do about it.

Living in harmony with my surroundings, my environment has always been high on my priorities list. I constantly try to find the proper balance between my well-being and my impact on the well-being of others; people, animals, plants or minerals.

I am committing to turn Four Hands into a more eco-centric* practice. My vision is to improve the well-being of my clients (that would be you) and to a larger extend the well-being of our planet by reviewing Four Hands operational and business procedures twice a year to assess their environmental impact. With that information, I will improve the procedures to bring them progressively in line with the eco-centric vision. If you have any suggestions or tips, I would love to hear them.
The first priority in this endeavor is to identify how to improve products and processes that ‘touch’ my clients directly. As such I have changed the creams and oils I use in my practice to now only use organic and free of known harmful chemicals (parabens, etc) products. I have chosen the massage crème from Sacred Earth Botanicals (a company based in Eugene, OR) and organic Jojoba oil. I will continue to use Castor oil and to some extend Traumeel Homeapthic Ointment in my practice due to their incredible efficacy.
The biggest environmental impact of a massage practice is without doubt the laundry. I typically wash a load of laundry every day. For sanitary reasons, I do the wash with hot water and dry the sheets, towels and face cradle covers at high temperature. I am fortunate to have a modern, high efficiency commercial washer/dryer set on premise and do use a soy based detergent (Ecos from Earth Friendly Products). While it is difficult to truly evaluate the environmental impact of the laundry, I am signing up with the Seattle Light Green Up! program to offset some of my energy consumption. The Green Up! program offers business and residential City Light customers to purchase a fraction or the entirety of their electricity from green power sources.

In the same vein, I would like to thank you for helping me in this effort. As of today, the 18th of August 2008, I am offering a 10% discount on your session if you have come to the appointment under your own power. That includes walking, running, biking or using public transportation to come my office. Please check my updated Payment Policy document for details.

Keep moving!

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* The term Eco-Centric was first coined by my friend, the fabulous ceramic artist, Randolph Sill. You can check his work at www.madpotter.com