Healthy Fascia for Healthy Functioning

Many of my athletes and general populations tell me about these sore spots or "knots" on their body from training each week. Where do these knots and trigger points come from? Well, it is all part of our body's natural response to exercise or poor posture throughout the day. We get a knot in our back from sitting at a computer and an anterior tilt of our humeri and the muscles that work around the shoulder. Other situations could be a tough consecutive days of training and our muscle tension is increased. Now our bodies have a heightened sense of muscle activity or overactive muscles that need to be inhibited. We can inhibit the overactivity of our muscles by breaking up the micro-trauma in our fascia through self-myofascial release. In theory, we are working towards creating an optimal length tension relationship for our muscles because they are out of sync at this heightened state of tension.

What can we use to perform self myofacsial release?
There are a number of tools around your house that can be used. Here is a list of things that could work:
- golf ball
- tennis ball
- baseball
- lacrosse ball
- pvc pipe
- rolling pin (cooking)

Some of the tools that are more common amongst training and performance centers are foam rollers. At Prevail Conditioning we also have pvc pipes for our clients to use.

So how do we perform self myofacsial release?

These tools are used to apply pressure to our "trigger points" in order to inhibit our overactive muscles and release the tight uncomfortable sensation we experience. In the following video I demonstrate how to use the different tools (golf ball, tennis ball, pvc pipe, foam roller) and which muscle groups they work best on, from my preference.

Review:
Use the golf ball for the arches of your feet.
Use the tennis ball for your glutes while stretching the muscle.
Use the PVC pipe for your legs.
Use the foam roller for your back.

Releasing the trigger points and knots on our body can be achieved through self myofascial release and will enable your clients to move more efficiently and simply feel better. If you have any more questions abut self myofascial release or other tools that can be used for certain places, leave a comment below!