If I told you there’s one thing you can do to improve your health, function, and performance immensely and it only takes 10 minutes a day. Would you do it? Of course you would. Unfortunately, there are many athletes and individuals who do not know about this simple and effective tool they can add to their training. Moreover, the ones that do know, much like stretching, often neglect this aspect of their training because it’s boring. I admit it, foam rolling and stretching aren’t exactly as sexy as max effort lifts and high intensity conditioning. However, I argue that it is just as effective. Most people do not know how beneficial trigger point therapy can be for them. I will outline the physiological process that goes on during trigger point therapy and then tell you how you can benefit from it.
A trigger point is a part of the muscle that is commonly more dense and tougher than what a “healthy” muscle should feel like. Trigger points have many tough adhesions within the muscle and in the myofascia. The myofascia is a thin layer connective tissue that encompasses and covers all muscles. You know when you eat a chicken thigh and you could see a thin, clear covering over the muscle? That is the myofascia. The problem is that when we train, our protein fibers in our muscles break down and we create adhesions between the muscle and the myofascia. When we are sedentary for a long period of time, our muscle get shorter and tighter, and we develop more adhesions. We are constantly getting more and more myofascial adhesions all the time. Therefore, it is even more important to break down these trigger points in order to keep our muscles healthy.
Trigger points can decrease the ability of our muscles to generate power. Trigger points can also shorten our muscles. Shortened muscles can decrease power due to the length tension relationship of our muscles. Furthermore, trigger points have overactive chemical reactions happening all the time which may lead to a faster fatigue in our muscles.
Trigger points lead to tight muscles which lead to tight muscles pulling on our joints which leads to many orthopedic problems that millions of people suffer from everyday. I’m sure you’ve heard of problems like plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome. These problems along with IT band syndrome, knee pain, neck pain, and even headaches have been diagnosed due to trigger point syndrome.
Keeping all this in mind, it is very important that every one of us include some form of myofascial release or trigger point therapy into our lives. Athletes and de-conditioned individuals like rehab patients can all benefit greatly from trigger point therapy. There are many products that come in all different shapes and sizes that can be used for trigger point therapy. Foam rollers, massage balls, the stick, trigger wheels, and various other rollers can help us break down any trigger point we have. Because muscles in our bodies come in various shapes and sizes and are connected to our skeleton in different angles, we need a variety of objects to reach every nook and cranny in our muscles. Bigger muscle bellies like the quadriceps, lats, and pecs work better with a foam roller or stick.
Muscles around the hips and along the spine would work great with a ball.
There are also specialized trigger point products for the neck and the foot, both very common areas for trigger points to arise. You could spend upwards to $90 an hour paying for a massage therapist to help you release these trigger points or you could invest in a few good quality trigger point products and start rolling yourself today. Here is a video detailing how to use these products.
Come down to Fitness Town where an expert can help diagnose your problem and find the right trigger point product for you!
A certified personal trainer and crossfit coach with more than four years of experience, Patrick Vuong has helped countless athletes, elderly, and everyday folk improve their lives through better movement, nutrition, and body re-composition. A kinesiology graduate of UBC, Patrick continues to educate himself daily on fitness and promote the benefits of regular exercise to everyone. He currently is the Assistant Manager at Fitness Town Burnaby.
