Stretching and You

As a massage therapist, I am trained to lengthen soft tissue, giving your body flexibility. It is much like stretching you can do yourself, if taught properly. The problem is when were you ever taught how to stretch properly for your specific tension patterns? I wasn't, and that's probably how I wound up with migraines 15 years ago. Massage has gotten rid of that problem, and stretching keeps it from recurring.

Generally, people think that if they stretch the muscle that hurts, the problem will be solved. It can actually feel good for the short term, but it is only creating a chronic problem. The painful, overstretched muscle, if stretched more, will allow the tighter antagonist muscles to become shorter and tighter. Take the low back, for example. Bending forward or lifting a leg while in the shower may feel good, but you are just stretching out overstretched muscles for a quick fix. Some people have been told that the abdominal muscles need to be strengthened to support the low back. True to a point, but this is all they've been told, and they run off to do 100 sit-ups a day, wondering why the low back pain doesn't go away. What most people don't know is how they are tightening a couple of very strong muscles beneath the abs that are undermining their efforts to create a healthier back. This commonly tight muscle group is named the iliopsoas, and if you know how to stretch this area, you will alleviate much of the tension put on the lumbar vertebrae, eliminating pain there.

I even know massage therapists who do not believe in stretching. Perhaps they have never been taught how to do it. The fact is, a time-tested technique has been used with athletes for decades now. It involves locating the tight, shortened muscles, and using the body's own neuromuscular signals against this tension to achieve balance and flexibility.

When I use this technique with my new clients, they get a look on their face like they've never felt so relieved. And most of them wonder how it can be so pain-free. The simple truth is they've been seeing therapists who believe in the 'no pain, no gain' theory, and that doesn't work with massage. Psst, that's a muscle building mantra. You can do that with exercise on your own. When you need to relax, come see me.