At Renaissance we're obsessed with muscles! Well…."obsessed" may be a bit too extreme. But, as massage therapists, we understand that muscles are sadly neglected in a culture in which every other system in the human body enjoys a medical specialty-and related research agenda-devoted just to it (the circulatory system has cardiologists, the skin has dermatologists, the digestive system has gastrointestinologists, but no specialty in North America focuses its gaze just upon muscles.) Muscles deserve attention! After all, they make up about 40% of our body weight, and all combined-though everyone is slightly different-we have approximately 640 muscles in these bodies of ours. Renaissance is here to provide some of that much-needed attention, in a variety of ways.

In the rush to prepare Renaissance for visitors, we are turning our attention to cozy sheets, refreshing iced teas, and shiny hardwood floors. I hope that you, our virtual visitors, will bear with us for a few days. Once up, this page of the Renaissance web site will feature a different muscle every week. We'll draw from kinesiology, anatomy, and physiology, as well as the latest from fitness sciences to explore each week's muscle and ways to make 'em happy. Come back each week! Collect all 640!