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Self-massage is one of the most important things you can do for yourself inside and outside the gym to prevent injuries and optimize performance.
A professional massage can be one of the greatest feelings in the world. Unfortunately it can be very expensive, and quite frankly, we spend so long complaining about aches and pains before a doctor or specialist forces us to go out and get a massage, that it ends up being an extremely rare event. Well I have a solution for everyone, a massage every day almost free of charge.
First, let's go over the concept and role of self-massage. During our everyday activities, sitting at our desk, and working out, we build up high levels of tension in the muscles that we use. Also, the use of these muscles results in the accumulation of many metabolic by-products that prevent optimal performance while still present. Our body is extremely slow at removing these on it's own without some intervention. The use of massage increases blood flow to the muscles, which brings fresh clean nutrient-rich blood in to the cells and takes away these byproducts. This can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for your muscles to be ready for their next workout.
The second way that self-massage promotes better recovery and tissue health comes in the form of muscle relaxation. As mentioned earlier, active muscles become tense after use. In the case of muscular imbalances and other dysfunctions, some muscles develop increased tension, known as trigger points. These are basically knots in your muscles that are extremely sensitive to the touch. If you overuse a muscle to compensate for another, the likelihood of developing a trigger point is very high. When these trigger points are not treated, they greatly decrease the performance of your muscles and increase the likelihood of muscle pulls and tears. When you either get a professional massage or use an implement yourself, the pressure put on by the hands or object activate a reflex in your muscle cells that serve to relax the tissue to avoid any damage from the increased tension.
Increasing blood flow for faster recovery, decreasing tension, and managing trigger points are three major reasons for incorporating self-massage into your daily fitness routine. Stay tuned for Part 2 and Part 3 where we will show you some good tools to use and how to target some important muscles.