Lymphatic Love

June 14, 2010

“OH NO...Not the JUMPBOARD!”, I’ve heard many Pilate clients yell, as I or one of my associates places the jumpboard in the end of the reformer. Well I’m here to let you know, we aren’t just trying to torture you!! Jumping is incredible for increasing your heart rate, burning more calories, including cardio into your Pilates workout routine, and maybe most importantly helping your lymphatic system run better!!

“Lymphatic system...Who...What??”

The lymphatic system is the metabolic garbage can of the body. It rids the body of toxins, dead cells, cancer cells, nitrogenous wastes, infectious viruses, trapped protein, fatty globules, bad bacteria, foreign substances, heavy metals, and other assorted junk the cells cast off.

While the body has many dozens of lymph nodes, they are mostly clustered in the armpits, neck, chest, abdomen, and groin. Examples are the tonsils, adenoids, appendix, spleen, and the thymus gland. These nodes and organs provide much of the body's immune defense.

The lymphatic system lacks a pump to move the fluid, unlike the circulatory system which has the heart as its pump. It is vital that lymph fluids continue to flow in order to eliminate waste from the body. The flow is dependent on muscle contractions and body movements, massage and other forms of compression. Studies have proven that one of the best ways to stimulate this flow is by jumping! YAY - that means the tedious jumping has all been for an even better cause than just cardio and exhaustion!

I’ve already had my tonsils and appendix removed so you bet you’ll be seeing me jumping more often to help my lymph nodes keep flowing through the lymphatic organs I STILL have to keep my immunity levels up! So next time you see the jumpboards being put in place you can say to yourself, “Thank goodness...my Lymphs need some Love.”

In Lymphatic Love,
Arielle