Explaining Trigger Points and How They Work

Trigger points can really inhibit the daily performance of your muscles.  Watch this excellent video to understand more about Trigger Points, muscles and tendons.

 

The Stick is excellent for identifying and working on Trigger Points!!

Tips For Recovery From An Event Like An Ironman

The Ironman is for sure an amazing accomplishment for any athlete.  There are those athletes out there that compete  in Ironmans around the world.  Some do them back to back with very little recovery time.  

How do they recover?

There are many ways to recover after strenuous activity.  I would like to bring your attention to the following suggestions:

IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RACE :

• Replenish -  Carbs, Proteins and fluids – lots of them!
• Movement – Keep walking and moving around
• Massage – A light flushing massage is best!
• Take a cool bath – immerse body
• Elevate your feet – for a short while and rest
• Walk more – in the early evening
• Sleep – get to be early

THE DAY AFTER…

• Replenish – All food is fine!
• Movement – light activity for no more than 20min.
• Love your legs – compress them, elevate them, gently massage them

These suggestions should help you feel better the next couple of days following an extreme event such as an Ironman.  Truthfully, the above suggestions would help anyone recover after any strenuous activity.  The above information can be expanded on by going to the source where I found the information.  It is called xtri.com.  The article was written by Chuckie V for an athlete that he coached who competed in 2 Ironmans 35days apart.  Chuckie goes into great detail and also discusses what to do the over the following 2 weeks after an Ironman.  The article is called Post Ironman Recovery.

What caught my eye was the advice given about not eating fats after the race, using compression and gentle massage.  Not eating fats can be easily done.  Finding compression shorts and other clothing is easy as well.  Compression clothing is in a lot of the literature out right now.  There are compression suites, socks, shorts etc.  The gentle massage can be achieved by going to somebody, having a friend massage you or massaging yourself.

This is where The Stick comes in.  When you use The Stick as a massage tool, you control the intensity 100%.  As you roll over your muscles, you are able to go as light or as heavy as you like.  The other beautiful thing is, you don’t need to leave your house, hotel or anywhere you are staying.  You do not need any special equipment, like a mat or gloves or electricity.  You can simply just sit, stand, lie or kneel and roll out your muscles!

Original Body Stick

The Stick As a Recovery Tool Part 2

To fully understand muscle recovery whether it is work related, induced by training and/or exercise or even from a medical condition, we first need to discuss muscles as compliant and non-compliant.

We will first start with a discussion of compliant muscle. Muscles that are compliant can be shortened, stretched, compressed and twisted without symptoms of soreness or pain. They will exhibit flexibility, strength, good circulation, and the qualities of endurance.

Let’s switch our focus to the qualities of a non-compliant muscle.  Non-compliant tissue is tight, stiff and tender.  People often refer to this type of sensation as having painful “knots” in their muscles. Their muscles actually feels fibrous instead of long, lean and smooth.  Non-compliant muscles exhibit reduced flexibility, weakness, poor blood circulation and they easily fatigue.  A non-compliant muscle or group of muscles create barriers which restrict peak performance and blood flow.  These, non-compliant muscles are susceptible to injury because they are not functioning properly. In order for the body to perform at optimum levels, muscles must me allowed to expand and contract freely.

The human body contains approximately 690 muscle bellies and tendons. Each muscle has an origin and an insertion.  The rule of thumb is the origin is where the muscle attaches to bone and the least amount of movement takes place.  Whereas the insertion of a muscle is the opposite end of the muscle that attaches to bone where the most movement takes place.  Here is a great website for muscle origins and insertions. 

Now that we have some basic understanding of compliant and non-compliant muscles, there are some tough questions to answer:

• Why are some muscles compliant and others are not?
• Why do specific muscle get stiff during weather changes, yet others appear to be  unaffected?
• Why do we continually wake up with the same sore, stiff muscle pain in the same place every morning?
• Why does our back hurt in some positions and not others?
• Why do our episodes of muscular pain plague us in the same spot?
• Why does the pain return . . . even after treatment?

The above hypothetical questions all have one common answer. That is… myofascial lesions in the form of barrier trigger points.  Myofascia is the tissue that surrounds all muscles.  I like to describe it like the substance that holds sausages together.  Barrier trigger points are inflexible bands of muscle, usually containing knots. These trigger points (knots) set an artificial ceiling on optimal muscle performance by restricting blood flow to the muscle(s). Muscles need unrestricted blood flow for both high performance and full recovery from muscle activity regardless of the type (athletic, work related or a muscular condition). Simply put, barrier trigger points are usually the primary cause of non-compliant muscles.

Here is where The Stick comes in…

The STICK allows a person to self-administer general as well as segmental therapeutic practices with a great deal of accuracy. By rolling over the muscles with The Stick, muscles become compliant and ready for activity. Due to the bio-mechanical rolling, stretching and compressing of muscle tissue, barrier trigger points become diffused and rehabilitation of non-compliant muscles takes place. Remember that a compliant muscle will perform much better than a non-compliant muscle.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of The Stick as a Recovery Tool.

Knowing Your Body

 

I can’t stress enough that knowledge is power!

Here is a quick story – I have a friend who knows nothing about vehicles. When his vehicle broke down a number of years back, he got taken advantage of at many repair shops.  I offered to help him out, but he just did not care.  He was taken on a wild ride of repairs that did not need to be done as well as repairs that should have been done as preventative maintenance.  Needless to say, he was baffled why a simple repair turned into thousand dollars of repairs.  The moral of this story is to know a little bit about the things you have possession of in your life. 

Now, what about your health?  Health is a very broad subject, so let’s narrow it down to how your body works.  That is too general as well, so let’s get to the nuts and bolts and talk about MUSCLES!!!  Muscles move you, shape you and really define how and what you do.

Much like your teeth, your muscles are used every day in your life.  You obviously need to take care of them or you will loose them.  Loosing muscle mass is called atrophy.  Gaining muscle mass is called hypertrophy.  Living an active lifestyle will help maintain heath and maintain muscle mass.  To gain lean muscle some form of resistance training needs to implemented into your routine.  This might take the form of weight training, body weight work, tubing exercises, gymnastics etc.

In order to take care of your muscles, you should at least know where they are and what they do.  It is not necessary to know every origin and insertion, but some basic knowledge will allow you to take care of your body.  (Remember my story about my friend with the vehicle breakdown).  By knowing some basic anatomy, you can look after yourself and others.  Here is a great web-page for knowing the Muscles of the Human Body.

Here is an amazing site that one of my Sports Medicine students discovered – Innerbody.com

By knowing where and how your muscles work, you can roll them out with The Stick!

By the way…….my reference to teeth and muscles was not by accident.  One of the key points of using The Stick is to use The Stick as “A Toothbrush for Muscles”.  You brush your teeth everyday (I hope at least once a day), you should also “brush” your muscles!

The Technology Behind The Stick

As a  follow-up post to my last one.  I would like to give some information about the technology behind The Stick.  This should answer the question of what does The Stick actually do?

Here it goes: (Note: Please remember that “Intracell Technology” can be used interchangeably with “The Stick.”)

The Q-10 Effect

Warm muscles perform better than cool muscles. Traditionally, athletes would have to do light exercise to raise muscle temperature and enhance enzyme activity. This came at the expense of energy stores that could make the difference between first place and second place. Intracell Technology™ allows an athlete to warm-up without expending energy reserves.

Speed, Strength and Endurance

Emphasis on flexibility training by most athletes is almost non-existent. However, flexibility is crucial for developments in speed, strength and endurance. The usual approach to flexibility is less than optimal since muscle rarely stiffens uniformly. Typically, isolated segments of muscle become chronically shortened. Intracell Technology™ allows an athlete to perform general stretching as well as segmental stretching procedures with a high degree of precision.

Barrier Trigger Points

Barrier trigger points are inflexible bands of muscle containing knots. These barriers set an artificial ceiling on muscle performance by restricting blood flow to the muscle.And, unrestricted blood flow is vital for both high performance and full recovery from exercise. Intracell Technology™ lifts the ceiling on performance by extinguishing barrier trigger points.

Growth, Repair and Glycogen

Restricted blood flow to the muscles following exercise hinders muscle growth, muscle repair and glycogen repletion. Blood flow restrictions are due to generalized muscle tightness and barrier trigger points. Intracell Technology™ relaxes tight muscle which enhances muscle growth, repairs tissue and augments glycogen repletion following heavy exercise.

Enhanced Lactic Acid Removal

During exercise, lactic acid can build to critical levels where optimal performance is sacrificed. Intracell Technology™ expedites the discharge of lactic acid from your muscles and encourages its conversion into glucose by the liver.

Does Anyone Use Those Massage Sticks?

I just found a great forum that answers the the above question 100%!

It is a forum post from a  site called TRIFUEL. It is a site for Triathlon.

Here is the exact question posted:
“Just wonderin if anyone uses one of those massage sticks after their workouts? My legs are screaming lately and need a little work….thought I’d try one and thought I’d ask her first…….or a rolling pin, but I hear they aren’t very good!!”

To me, the biggest differences between The Stick and a rolling pin are:
- you will get pin point accuracy with The Stick
- a rolling pin squishes your muscles
- The Stick massages your muscles
- it is hard to put a rolling pin in your bag
- there is no scientific studies about using a rolling pin
- The Stick has some flexibility to it
- The Stick has much better handles

There are 11 different comments as of Jan 12, 2009.

It is well worth a look.

http://www.trifuel.com/forum/17250/does-anyone-use-those-massage-sticks

 

Massage Therapy Reduces Muscle Soreness

As you can see from my last post, massage has been the topic of study for its ability to relieve pain and soreness. Especially concerning high intense exercise.  Specifically, sore muscles, are attracting increased attention as sports massage becomes a regular part of an athletes’ training regiment.

As I mentioned before, there has been recent studies that highlight some of the benefits of receiving massage therapy after a training session to reduce soreness.

Researchers at the University of Iowa, studied DOMS. Participants in the study exerted their muscles, then were assessed for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Deep tissue massage was given to the participants, then their level of soreness was reanalyzed.

In this study from Iowa, Frey Law et al., were looking for the analgesic effects of massage on reducing soreness. They found that the participants muscle symptoms were decreased by as much as 50%. Depending on the pain measures taken, they found muscle soreness was relieved by 25%-50%.  Those are significant findings! 

In addition, at Kings College of London,  a study by Hurley and Bearne reported that massage was amongst the non-exercise physical therapies found to be effective for treating musculoskeletal conditions. They also mentioned other reasons to use massage for pain relief as cost efficient and easy to self-administer. 

After reading these studies, The Stick is the perfect tool for helping with muscle soreness when it comes to DOMS.  You can use The Stick anytime and anywhere with easy and accuracy.  The Stick is very cost efficient.  To find out more, visit our site – The Stick provided by Zealous Vitality Inc.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness and The Stick

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS is the fancy name to why your muscles hurt so much after a workout or training session.  There have been many suggestions to why this happens.  Some theories include:

• The muscle itself has been damaged and therefore is sore.  Microscopic tears and lesions form throughout the muscle.
• Muscle soreness is the natural occurrence after a particular bout of exercise that has a high intensity or duration.
• Muscles need to be broken down and recover in order to get bigger and stronger.
• Muscle soreness and stiffness after exercise is most common when an exercise/training program has been implemented or altered.

Needless to say, I think anyone who has experienced a tough training session can expect some soreness over the next 24 -48 hours.  The key question is how to alleviate that muscle pain!!  The Stick can help.  I know this because new research out of Australia has suggested that simply stretching out the next day is not very effective at all.  Here are some ideas from Elizabeth Quinn who is a sports medicine expert: (I Have placed “The Stick”beside the tips that apply to using this great massage tool.)

Here are some tips for dealing with soreness after exercise:

• Try an Ice Bath or Contrast Water Bath. Although no clear evidence proves they are effective, many pro athletes use them and claim they work to reduce soreness.
• Use active recovery techniques. This strategy does have some support in the research. Perform some easy low-impact aerobic exercise to increase blood flow “The Stick”. This may help diminish muscle soreness.
• Use the RICE method of treating injuries. Rest,Ice,Compression,Elevation
• Although research doesn’t find gentle stretching reduces soreness, some people find it simply feels good.
• Gently massage the affected muscles. Some research has found that massage was effective in alleviating DOMS by approximately 30% and reducing swelling, but it had no effects on muscle function. “The Stick”
• Try using a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (aspirin or ibuprofen) to reduce the soreness temporarily, though they won’t actually speed healing.
• There is some evidence that performing Yoga may reduce DOMS.
• Avoid any vigorous activity that increases pain. “The Stick”
• Allow the soreness to subside thoroughly before performing any vigorous exercise.
• Don’t forget to warm up completely before your next exercise session. There is some research that supports that a warm-up performed immediately prior to unaccustomed eccentric exercise produces small reductions in delayed-onset muscle soreness (but cool-down performed after exercise does not). “The Stick”
• If your pain persists longer than about 7 days or increases despite these measures, consult your physician.
• Learn something from the experience! Use prevention first. 

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness – Prevention
While DOMS is common and annoying, it is not a necessary part of exercise. There are many things you can do to prevent, avoid and shorten the duration of DOMS:

• Warm up thoroughly before activity and cool down completely afterward. “The Stick”
• Cool Down with gentle stretching after exercise. “The Stick”
• Follow the Ten Percent Rule. When beginning a new activity start gradually and build up your time and intensity no more than ten percent per week.
• Start a new weight lifting routine with light weights and high reps (10-12) and gradually increase the amount you lift over several weeks.
• Avoid making sudden major changes in the type of exercise you do.
• Avoid making sudden major changes in the amount of time that you exercise.

As you can see “The Stick” can be instrumental in reducing muscle soreness.

To read the full article from Elizabeth Quinn click here.

How To Get The Most From The Stick

This post is really part 2 of the post I did on October 20, 2008.  Here are some great tips on using The Stick.

General Tips for Use:

• Keep muscles relaxed during rollout.
• Use on skin or through light clothing.
• The Stick is waterproof and designed to bend without fear of breaking.
• It is not necessary to hurt the muscle in order to help the muscle.
• Most effective when used before, during and after periods of activity.
• For pin-point rollout, slide hands onto spindles.
• Excessive use may cause muscle soreness.

General Instructions:

• A typical warm-up for healthy muscle tissue is about 20 progressively deeper passes over each muscle group (about 30 seconds per area).
• Discomfort or pain is experienced when the spindles locate a bump or tender knot in the muscle – this is known as a trigger point.
• Muscles containing trigger points are often weak, stiff and sore. They are frequently tight, easily tire and often hurt.
• Muscles containing chronic trigger points need 20 additional passes over the involved area, and may require attention several times daily.

To fully understand how to use The Stick,visit my Specific Techniques page.  You will find FREE DOWLOADABLE PDF files!

Using The Stick in Cold Weather

Since I live in an area in Alberta, Canada where there has been a substantial amount of snowfall and cold weather this year, I decided to experiment a little with The Stick as a warm-up and cool-down tool in cold weather.  Here are some relevant Stick tips.

Here is what we know already about The Stick as a warm-up/cool-down tool:

• A typical warm-up for healthy muscle tissue is about 20 progressively deeper passes over each muscle group (about 30 seconds per area).
• By warming up muscles for exercise, the muscles are becoming stimulated and ready to perform by increasing the blood flow to that muscle group.
• A typical cool-down for healthy muscle tissue is about 20 progressively deeper passes over each muscle group (about 30 seconds per area).
• By cooling down muscles after exercise, muscles are permitted to slowly return to their resting state and blood pooling will be reduced.  Soreness and stiffness can be diminished with a proper cool-down, leading to  increased recovery for the next time training takes place.  Never mind allowing your heart to recover.

Here is what I have been doing:

1. Rolling over my legs (one leg @ a time) in my house, starting with quads, then hamstrings, then calves.
2. Switching legs
3. Lower back/Upper Back
4. A little on the arms.
5. Going out for a run in the cold/snow.
6. Light stretching on thet front step of my house.
7. Repeating steps 1-4 in my house.
8. Stretching my lower back with the Posture Curve!

My findings have been very impressive.  I feel fantastic!  Due to the fact that I warm-up with The Stick, my muscles are prepared for exercise without expending energy.  This is a real benefit since the cold and snow already zap a lot of energy to begin with.  I can start my run right away without spending extra time outside “warming-up”.  My muscles are primed and ready to go.

You may notice that when you do exercise outside that your muscles due become stiff and cold even though you are exercising.  This is really apparent when your done your workout.  Typically your legs are a little cold and stiff.  This is where The Stick is even more impressive.  By rolling over your muscles, you actually are speeding up circulation by bringing blood flow to the area you are rolling.  Your legs actually warm-up a little at the same time you are flushing out the lactic acid that has built up from your training session.

Needless to say, The Stick is amazing!!

P.S.- My wife, who is the real runner, loves using The Stick too!!

P.S.S – These same results will work for your pets and horses!!