Manual Massage Tools
Manual massage tools include foam rollers, PVC pipes, trigger point sticks, and lacrosse or tennis balls.1Keep reading and you’ll find out they don’t include Hitachi Magic Wands and Pocket Rabbits that are for anything but massage, ladies!
The aim of any of these tools is NOT to break up scar tissue and lengthen muscle tissue, as is popularly thought. Because no one has the two hours necessary to physically break up scar tissue or lengthen muscle tissue, think of these manual massagers as implements to relax excessive muscle tone, which is when the muscles tense up and tighten as a defensive mechanism in response to the nervous system perceiving a movement or position as dangerous. Manual massage tools help signal the body to give the muscles less tone, thus loosening them up and returning their elasticity, which increases your range of motion.
Muscle tone is generally freed up with manual massage tools by placing them between yourself and a floor, wall, chair, or another body part to apply pressure to the muscle as you, or the tool, slowly roll back and forth, with you holding on a point of adhesion for several seconds in order to get the muscle to release. In other words, don’t just roll back and forth like most people do!
As for which tool is right for your gym bag, it depends.
If you want to loosen a large muscle group, then go with a foam roller.2Do not use on bones, joints, your neck, or lower back!!! Want something harder because you’re a glutton for punishment? Travel with a PVC pipe, which can double as a deadly weapon to club someone to death with for a number of annoyances in the gym! Either that, or a massage gun, which can also double as a deadly weapon with the right tinkering. Having issues with your neck, back, joints, chest, shoulders, glutes, or some hard to reach area? A lacrosse or tennis ball in your gym bag comes in handy for that. Virtually everywhere on your body? Then go with a trigger point stick.
Glossary: chest, glutes, gym, gym bag, muscle, muscle tone
