Tip Of The Month - Trigger Points Part 1 - Jun Shen

Ever feel tightness after some hard training session that makes your muscles literally scream in agony? The muscles experience repetition of intense stretch and contract which causes the formation of muscles knots. This write up will share with team2ndskin blog readers what you can do to relieve the tightness in your muscles.

Commonly, coaches and experienced athletes call “knots” in the muscles as muscles knots or trigger points. Releasing the muscles tightness could be done by massaging, foam rolling or even use a lacrosse ball to apply pressure at specific points. This will help in the recovery process of the muscles so that they stay healthy, elastic and ever ready for the next workout. Trigger point is felt when pressure is applied at a certain area, it will cause slight discomfort but should not be unbearable. Self applied pressure is more precise as the athlete knows where the exact location of the muscle knots is. Releasing the knots helps to rebuild pain free movement and finally enhance performance. 

In the market, there are plenty of tools for releasing muscles knots such as the massage roller stick, foam rollers, or Trigger Point Therapy set. For a cheaper option, a tennis ball can be used for certain area of the body such as the back muscles along the spine and around the shoulder area.

Reminder : If you ever feel any sharp pain, please stop this exercise. This method is not to be applied to the bones. It’s only for muscles, remember that! =)

There are many ways to get the tennis ball to pressure on the muscle knots. Roll it as many repetitions as you feel comfortable, get ample sleep like a baby to accelerate the recovery. Some therapist might recommend laying on the floor and some suggest leaning against the wall. I would prefer to recover while I’m doing my work, lets score two birds with one throw=) Since I am attending a course in Alor Setar, I tend to feel a bit groggy especially in the early morning. The tennis ball on my back keeps me “ahhh and oouuch” as it pressures the muscles knots, so that’s how I keep myself awake=p I will roll left, right, up and down to search for the “knot”. Once found, keep the ball rolling! =) At the end of the class, I feel like I’ve just had an awesome Thai massage session. In the evening, I will be ready for my workout session. 

Hope this tip helps=) I will be writing about trigger points related topics in the upcoming tip of the month. Stay tuned! =)