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How to Relax Your Tight Muscles? 

12 October 2019
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Contrary to popular belief, you can’t simply rely on stretching to relieve tight muscles. Read our guide to find out what causes muscle tightness and how foam rolling can help target the fascia tissues causing discomfort. In this article you will learn:
   -What causes muscle tightness and why you should care about the fascia tissues in your body
   -What you should do when you feel that your muscles are tight (hint! It’s not stretching)
   -Which specific exercises can help relieve tight muscles over the whole body

Whether you are a die-hard fitness enthusiast or simply enjoy a morning yoga workout, you’ve probably experienced discomfort from muscle tightness. Just sitting at your desk all day, with bad posture and long periods of inactivity, can cause stiffness (think about how you are sitting right now. Are your shoulders back? Is your neck straight?). No matter how active you are, no one likes feeling sore! Luckily, there are ways to help you treat muscle tightness and achieve better freedom of movement.

What are tight muscles and what causes this phenomenon? 
To understand how to solve a problem, you first need to understand what is causing it. Muscle tightness relates to the state of fascia in your body. Fascia is a band of sheet-like connective tissues beneath the skin that wraps around each of your internal parts in the human body, like spider webs. When fascia is in a healthy state, it is a relaxed web network, like your relaxed body. When it is rigid and inflexible, it can create tension and pressure, making you feel tight. 

What is the solution to tight muscles?
You have most likely been told to warm up and cool down before and after exercise. Many people believe that stretching after a workout will help relieve pain in muscles from tightness. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, and while we recommend a good stretching session after exercise, overdoing it can even further damage your muscle fibers by causing more tiny tears: slowing down recovery.

An effective and efficient way to relax your tight muscles is by Myofascial Release Therapy. Myofascial Release Therapy is a fancy term for a type of deep tissue massage. It’s so popular with athletes and everyone into wellness because it’s easy to do at home and requires minimal equipment. Using a foam roller or other self-massage tool, you can use self-massage release painful knots and stimulate the flow of nutrients, blood and oxygen that are instrumental to the recovery of tight muscles

Figure 1. Use self-massage release knots and stimulate the flow of nutrients, blood and oxygen to recover tight muscles.

There are lots of different self-massage tools depending on your level of discomfort, activity, and budget. The smaller, most versatile tools come in the form of massage balls which are handy to keep in your bag for on-the-go relief (plus, they feel great on tired feet for a pick-me-up at the office!). More advanced athletes might want a more intense treatment, and so foam rollers with added vibration settings or harder compression might be better suited.

Need help deciding which foam roller is right for you? Take our quiz for a personalised recommendation! 

Is foam rolling right for me?
Foam rolling focuses on muscles' soft tissues to restore optimum elasticity, gain better movement and accelerate recovery. Because foam rolling focuses on better movement and muscle health, it’s a great way to incorporate wellness and fitness habits into your everyday routine! It’s also easy to learn and you’ll quickly see the benefits – even a 5-minute foam rolling session every morning can make a big difference. Why not incorporate foam rolling as part of an energizing morning routine or after your weekly run?

How do I foam roll?
Foam rolling might look soothing, but it can take some time getting used to! Depending on how tight your muscles are, you might experience mild pain and discomfort. If you are new to foam rolling or if you are looking to relieve muscle pain in a targeted area of your body, watch the videos below to see how foam rolling can make a difference in your well-being.

You will find below a quick guide showing how to use the TriggerPoint’s signature foam roller: the GRID foam roller in easing tightness in your muscles of your lower body. Enjoy and let’s roll.

Calves
Place your leg right in the middle of the GRID foam roller. If you want extra compression, you can put another leg on top.

Start the rolling motions, raise your hips, roll up and down nice and slow from below the knee all the way to the ankle.


Figure 2. A man using a TriggerPoint foam roller to massage along the calf.

You can turn your leg to the left or to the right to get more of the inner or outer side of your calf muscle.

When you find a tender spot while rolling, you can go ahead and stop and hold pressure for 20 – 30 seconds to let your muscles to release. Repeat this motion 4 times.

Hamstrings
Place the GRID Foam Roller right above your knee. Raise your hips up, same as the calf, you can put another leg on top for extra compression, otherwise, you can just place another leg on the ground.


Figure 3. A man using a TriggerPoint foam roller by rolling on top of it massaging the bottom part of the hamstring.


Figure 4. A man using a TriggerPoint foam roller by rolling on top of it massaging the upper part of the hamstring.

Slowly roll your body forward to get it near the glute muscles and rolling back to the knee. You can rotate the leg internally and externally to roll more along the outside and inside of your hamstrings. This will feel especially good for those who do a lot of body weight training and exercises such as jumping lunges and squats.

When you find a tender spot, stop and hold for 20-30 seconds. You may feel that the muscles are very tense and as if they want to repel against the foam roller. Just relax and breathe through the discomfort, and you can feel the foam roller is able to dig deep in there. Repeat this motion 4 times.

IT Band
This is at the side of the leg from the knee to near the hip. If you are a runner or do a lot of biking or leg training, there are few stretches that you can do to lengthen or release the IT band, but most people find it difficult to stretch this dense muscle group. Foam rolling is one of the best ways to help releasing the IT band.


Figure 5

Put the GRID foam roller lengthwise at the TFL (Tensor Fasciae Latae) near the base of your hip on the side). Turn your body downwards at a slight angle to get that direct compression onto the muscles. Then you come down to your elbow on the mat. Place the top leg slightly in front of the base leg. Your top leg, elbow on the ground and free balancing hand can act as anchor points to help you move your body slightly backwards and forwards and use the roller to massage along your IT band.

Technique 1: Stop and hold the pressure on TFL


Figure 6. Stop and hold with TriggerPoint foam roller on the TFL

If you have overactive muscles, you just want to stop and hold the pressure on that tender spot for 20-30 seconds in order to reduce the tension. Breathe throughout and relax.


Technique 2: Small rolling motions


Figure 7. Rolls slightly on TFL

You may want to bring some blood and oxygen into the area. Rolling slightly up and down around the TFL 4 times.

Technique 3: Hip rotation


Figure 8. Rotate your hip to dig into deeper muscles


Figure 9. Rotate your hip to dig into deeper muscles

Since the TFL is a rotator, you can pin your muscles down, move your hips into rotation and try to help mobilizing it a little better. Put your knee (the side you are rolling) on the ground and bend your knee up to about 90 degrees and use gravity to pull the weight of your foot out and back up to rotate 4 times.

Lastly, roll back and forth slowly along the IT band and try to dig in as much as you can and find that sensitive, tender spot. Sit there for 30 seconds and try to breathe through to relax your muscles. (as you might cry if you are doing it for the first time!).

Glute
Put the GRID foam roller on the side you need to roll. Hands behind your back, place your leg down on the ground and allow it to stay in a relaxed position. Roll all the way over the glute to the lower part of the back and repeat the rolling motion 4 times.


Figure 10. A man rolls his glute muscles

It is common for people new to foam rolling (professional athletes to amateur fitness enthusiasts alike) to experience some discomfort at the beginning. This is normal as the body needs time to get used to the potential early discomfort from the compression of the sensory receptors in the body. For some, this might be the cause for quitting. However, don’t be intimidated by these small discomforts as for any physical activities, it becomes easier with practice. Remember, foam rolling is not causing the pain but removing the pain.

For more information and educational content, please go to our VIDEO GALLERY.