Massage and Self-Myofascial Release

Welcome back to the recovery series. This is now part 3, and our subjects for discussion are massage and self-myofascial release (SMR).

Now, I imagine most people understand the basic premise of what a massage is and what it consists of. Usually there are two types, a regular massage which is more therapeutic and relaxing using softer contact, and also sports massage which is a more physical experience getting deeper into the muscle to release tension, knots, and bound up tissue caused by exercise or general life¹.

This leads to a happy customer either way in most cases (not the kind of happy endings you may be thinking … this is a child friendly article after all) as the tension of muscles can be released leading to greater range of movement, and can also assist stress management².

SMR is slightly different. A lot of you reading this will have heard of it, and if you haven’t, I’m hoping that you have heard of something called Foam Rolling. They are one and the same in that SMR is what it says – releasing the tension of the fascia by yourself. Broken down this is; self - you, myofascial - the thin layer of fascia that covers the muscle belly, and release – how can I put this … “to free from confinement/to free from anything that constrains”³. Yes I did just use a dictionary for that, don’t judge me.

Essentially it is just using a foam roller, or other such tools, to release any areas of tension in the body⁴.

There are pros and cons to both of these in my opinion. With massage you can get a more thorough treatment on any identified area, but unless you have a friend in the business who can give you a good deal it can often be quite pricey. Especially seeing as the effects are not life long but only short term⁵.

It can also be a bit less time effective, as depending on your masseuse it could be either 30 or 60 minutes per treatment, plus travel time to and from. Plus there’s one more, you might not know when you’re going to be in need of a massage. So unless you have a regular booking already in place, if something causes you to need one – you may then have to wait for an available slot.

With foam rolling the only expense is the initial purchase of the items. This can be entirely based upon your budget or needs. For me – I use a Trigger Point roller; it’s quite heavy duty and has ridges allowing for a more thorough release. It’s a little more expensive than some, but I’ve had it for almost 3 years and it’s still holding strong. I used to own one of the simple and cheap rollers, but being 115kg+ at the time, I flattened it within a few weeks of regular use. I also use a massage stick to roll my calves and quads, and a lacrosse ball, hockey ball or sometimes even a golf ball (for the real sneaky little knots hiding away) to get at individual knots rather than a whole muscle belly. I’m not saying you need all these, but it’s just what I use.

Apart from that, with foam rolling all you need is the know-how (knowing where is sore and how to roll that area – check out reference 4 & 6 for more info), and some floor space to do it. Time-wise I feel it is more efficient as a little and often approach can alleviate a lot of issues.

What role do these both play on recovery I hear you ask (and even if you’re not asking, I’m going to say anyway); both can be used to alleviate muscle fascia tension, which will allow a greater range of movement. It can also help to reduce the amount of waste product build up in the area, with appropriate technique (generally considered to be towards the heart) helping to flush waste.

You can buy Foam Rollers here at pretty low cost. Much cheaper than paying a sports therapist to give you a massage... (And less painful!!)

Once again, I hope this article was helpful for you. If it was, please give it a share on social media. There are plenty of other good articles to read on the Macro Man blog, so check them out and get anyone you think might be interested to have a look.

The Recovery Series is well under way, with 3 parts now complete. Next week we’ll take a look into active recovery and how it could help you.

Thanks for reading,

Rob Nitman. BSc. ASCC.

References

1.     Cherkin, D.C., Sherman, K.J., Kahn, J. et al. (2011). A comparison of the effects of 2 types of massage and usual care on chronic low back pain: a randomized, controlled trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155(1).

2.     Sherman, K.J., Ludman, E.J., Cook, A.J. et al. (2010). Effectiveness of therapeutic massage for generalized anxiety disorder: a randomized controlled trial. Depression and Anxiety, 27(5).

3.     http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/release?s=t

4.     Robertson, M. (2008). Self-Myosfascial Release: Purpose, Methods & Techniques. Robertson Training Systems, Indianapolis, USA.

5.     Furlan, A.D., Imamura, M., Dryden, T. et al. (2008) Massage for low-back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 4(1).

6.     http://www.lightfield.com/etc/Self_Myofascial_ReleaseMM.pdf - accessed 11/01/2015