Tennis ball massage for trigger points

I thought I'd make a link for everyone to a very useful set of articles I found. The first is an education on myofascial trigger points and the following two articles are pictures of the most useful positions to work out the most common trigger point areas. I've found it helps immensely and it's a damn site cheaper than a masseuse.

http://laurensfitness.com/2008/02/24/te ... w-you-had/

http://laurensfitness.com/2008/02/27/te ... ower-body/

http://laurensfitness.com/2008/02/29/te ... pper-body/

This is by no means a comprehensive list but a definite step in the right direction. For instance I find that the line behind my shoulder blades is very prone to trigger points after front and back levers. Although I prefer to use a cricket ball as it seems to be better with the deeper trigger points. The lady who runs the site is very good at replying to any inquiries and there's also a brilliant book called 'The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook - by Clair Davies' which is very informative. Hope this helps people with niggling pains that they have never quite been able to cure through stretching.

Longshanks said:

The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook - by Clair Davies

A great book. Especially for people with trouble doing the side splits and with chronic headaches like me.

Thanks, this helped tremendously.

This is well worth looking into. Trigger point work by a skilled therapist is the most effective therapy that I have ever encountered.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I prefer using a baseball as I find the tennis ball a bit soft.

Thanks for the positive feedback. Yea I experimented with a cricket ball for a while and although it sorted the trigger points you get some monster bruising so wouldn't advise it.

This technique is AMAZING. I gained 4-5 inches of active shoulder flexibility and mobility after torturing my thoracic spine for about 20-30 minutes with two tennis balls tied together in a sock to prevent separation or rolling. Incredibly painful and incredibly effective.

LaCrosse balls work even better.

I keep one in my shower and massage tender points in my back while getting that nice warm blast of water.

Say ouuuu.........ahhhhhhh

How often would you suggest doing this kind of work? I am getting some tennis balls today to try this out and I'm going to add it to my overall regime.

If you've got seriously painfull trigger points the Clair Davies book advocates 4-5 times a day. I tend to just do 10-20mins either post workout or the day after to help with muscle soreness nowerdays.

I think I'm going to slot it in on the days I'm not working my body. I did the lower body last night and that was brilliant, feel so much looser. I'll do the upper body series tonight.

Longshanks, I don't know how you tried this with a cricket ball.

I doubt that most people get enough massage of their muscles in their day to day lives. Pre, during, post workout and other times of the day is fine, typically. Especially, regarding discomfort or mobility issues.

I totally agree Blairbob. I guess in the old days massage was a regular part of life for sportsmen. For most of us now, its just prohibitively expensive to do on a regular basis, so all these self-work techniques need to be taught.

I have various massage tools all around the house and use them randomly throughout the day when i'm resting. Especially when there is a sign of something thats not quite right. The body needs blood flow to heal, and massage is largely about getting the blood flow to happen.

More than anything i know, its almost never the wrong time to massage, the only caveat is not to overdo it a irritate/bruise.

I remember around the last olympics that there was an expose on an american athlete, possibly of a mature age (30+), but they got 2-4 hours of massage and stretching per day. It was a female but I can't remember which sport.

Coach directed me to a guy in San Diego and he worked on my biceps and right shoulder for 100 minutes. I feel better than I have in years! Active release is no joke, it hurts like hell but it really breaks up the adhesions! My muscles feel soft and mushy like they are supposed to, for the first time in forever!

You should definitely hit problem areas as often as possible until they are no longer problem areas. It takes time, but if you can do 1-2 really hard sessions per week and then just maintenance massages in between on as close to a daily basis as possible that would be ideal. As it has already been said, as much as possible without bruising is really the best option.