How can lacrosse ball massage techniques provide effective self-myofascial release. What are the benefits of using a lacrosse ball for massage. Which key areas should you target with lacrosse ball exercises. How do lacrosse ball techniques compare to a 60-minute massage.
The Power of Lacrosse Ball Massage for Muscle Relief
Lacrosse ball massage techniques offer a powerful and efficient method for self-myofascial release, providing relief comparable to a professional massage in just a fraction of the time. By targeting key areas of tension with a simple lacrosse ball, you can experience significant benefits for your physical and mental well-being.
Using a lacrosse ball for massage allows you to:
- Release muscle tension and knots
- Improve flexibility and range of motion
- Enhance circulation and lymphatic drainage
- Reduce stress and promote relaxation
- Improve posture and body awareness
With consistent practice, these techniques can help you feel longer, leaner, and more balanced in your body. Let’s explore some key areas to target with lacrosse ball massage and the specific benefits they offer.
Releasing Tension in the Chest and Shoulders
The pectoral muscles and front of the shoulders often become tight due to poor posture, stress, and excessive time spent hunched over devices. Releasing tension in this area can have a profound impact on your overall well-being.
Pec Release Technique
To perform a pec release:
- Lie face down on the floor
- Place the lacrosse ball at the front of your shoulder where it meets the chest
- Bend your elbow to 90 degrees
- Slowly raise your hand (palm down) to the top of your head, then lower it back down
- Repeat the movement several times, focusing on areas of tension
Why is releasing the pectoral muscles important? Tight pecs are often responsible for neck pain, upper back discomfort, and poor posture. While the release may feel intense, it can significantly improve your posture and alleviate tension in the upper body.
Targeting the Hip Flexors for Lower Back Relief
The hip flexors, including the psoas muscles, play a crucial role in lower back health and overall posture. These muscles can become chronically tight due to prolonged sitting, leading to various issues.
Hip Flexor Release Technique
To release the hip flexors:
- Lie face down on the floor
- Position the lacrosse ball just below your front hip bone
- Bend your knee to 90 degrees
- Slowly lift and lower your leg, feeling the release in the hip flexor
- Repeat as needed to address areas of tension
How do tight hip flexors affect your body? When the psoas muscles are chronically tight, they can contribute to lower back pain and postural imbalances. By regularly releasing these muscles and strengthening your core, you can prevent and alleviate back pain more effectively.
Alleviating Middle Back Tension
The middle back often bears the brunt of poor posture and stress-related tension. Releasing this area can improve breathing and overall comfort.
Middle Back Release Technique
To release tension in the middle back:
- Lie on your back
- Place the lacrosse ball between your spine and shoulder blade
- Bend your elbow to 90 degrees
- Slowly raise your hand (palm up) to the top of your head, then lower it
- Repeat the movement, focusing on areas of tightness
How does middle back tension affect your well-being? Tightness in this area can result from excessive time spent hunched over devices or from anxiety. By releasing these muscles, you may find that you breathe more easily and feel a reduction in overall tension.
Revitalizing the Glutes for Better Function
The gluteal muscles often become inactive and tense due to prolonged sitting. Releasing this area can improve circulation and overall lower body function.
Glute Release Technique
To perform a glute release:
- Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor
- Place the lacrosse ball in the center of your glutes
- Keeping your foot planted, move your knee towards the midline and then out
- Repeat this movement, focusing on areas of tension
Why is glute release important for overall health? The glutes can become inactive and tense from excessive sitting, leading to poor circulation and potential imbalances. By releasing these muscles, you may experience improved physical comfort and even emotional relief, as we often hold stress in this area.
Easing Calf Tension for Foot and Knee Health
Tight calf muscles can contribute to knee and foot pain. Regular release of this area can prevent and alleviate these common complaints.
Calf Release Technique
To release calf tension:
- Sit with one leg extended and the other bent
- Place the lacrosse ball under the meaty part of your calf
- Slowly flex and point your toes, feeling the release in your calf muscles
- Move the ball to target different areas of tension
How do tight calves affect your lower body health? Wearing unsupportive shoes or engaging in high-impact activities can lead to chronically tight calf muscles. This tension can contribute to knee and foot pain. Regular release of the calves can help prevent and ease these issues.
Relieving Foot Pain and Preventing Plantar Fasciitis
The feet bear the weight of our entire body and can benefit greatly from regular self-massage. Releasing tension in the feet can prevent and alleviate various foot-related issues.
Foot Release Technique
To release tension in the feet:
- Sit with one leg extended and the other bent
- Place the lacrosse ball under the foot of the bent leg
- Slowly roll your foot back and forth over the ball
- Apply more pressure to areas that feel particularly tight
Why is foot release crucial for overall foot health? The plantar fascia acts as a shock absorber in our feet. When this fascia loses flexibility, it can lead to plantar fasciitis and foot pain. Regular rolling of the feet can help relieve aching and prevent future discomfort.
Maximizing the Benefits of Lacrosse Ball Massage
To get the most out of your lacrosse ball massage routine, consider the following tips:
- Consistency is key: Aim to perform these exercises regularly, even if only for a few minutes each day
- Listen to your body: While some discomfort is normal, avoid causing pain
- Breathe deeply: Focus on your breath to enhance relaxation and release
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of water before and after your massage sessions
- Combine with stretching: Follow up your massage with gentle stretching for enhanced benefits
How often should you perform lacrosse ball massage? For optimal results, try to incorporate these techniques into your daily routine. Even 5-10 minutes per day can make a significant difference in your overall muscle health and well-being.
By integrating lacrosse ball massage techniques into your self-care routine, you can experience the benefits of professional-level myofascial release in the comfort of your own home. This simple yet effective practice can lead to improved posture, reduced pain, and a greater sense of overall physical well-being.
Lacrosse Ball Massage Techniques — Dr. Liza
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Liza Egbogah
Get the equivalent of a 60 minute massage in just 10 minutes with a massage ball. By rolling out key areas where we hold tension, you will not only feel better and de-stressed, you’ll look longer and leaner. This form of therapy promotes lymphatic drainage which means you will let go of excess fluid that you’ve been holding on to and also improve your posture to give you a taller appearance. As an added bonus, self-myofascial release like rolling out using a massage ball is said to temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite.
Pec release
Lying on your stomach, place the lacrosse ball at the front of your shoulder in the nook where it meets the chest.
Bend your elbow to 90 degrees and slowly bring your hand [palm facing down] up to the top of your head and then back down to the side. Repeat as many times as necessary to release your pecs.
Tight pectoralis muscles are one of the major culprits when it comes to neck pain, upper back pain and poor posture. This release might feel a bit painful but it will release tension and improve your posture.
Hip flexor release
Lying on your stomach, place the lacrosse ball right under your front hip bone. Flex your knee so that it is at 90 degrees. Do this slowly so that you can feel the release and then slowly lower the leg. Repeat as many times as necessary to release your hip flexors.
Too much time spent sitting causes your psoas muscles to tighten up. Since they attach to the hips and lower back – tight hip flexors can lead to back pain. Keeping these muscles loose and strengthening your core goes a long way in preventing and treating back pain.
Middle back release
Lying on your back, place the ball in between your spine and shoulder blade where it feels a bit meaty. Bend your elbow to 90 degrees and slowly bring your hand [palm facing up] to the top of your head as we did with the pec release and then back down to the side. Repeat as many times as necessary to release your middle back.
With too much time spent hunched over your phone or even if you suffer from anxiety you may find your middle back getting tight. This release will help to loosen up those tight muscles and you may even find yourself breathing better after this release.
Glute release
Lying on your back, bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the floor. Place the lacrosse ball in the centre of your glues. With your foot planted on the ground, move the knee in towards midline and then slowly out as far as you can go.
Repeat as many times as necessary to release your glutes.
Our glutes are generally quite inactive with the amount of time sitting on them and as a result can suffer from lack and blood flow. This self myofascial release will help improve circulation to your glutes. This is another area that we also hold tension when we’re stressed. By releasing your glutes not only will you feel better physically but maybe emotionally too.
Calf release
Sitting up, place one leg out straight ahead and the other leg bent with the foot flat on the floor. Place the lacrosse ball under the meaty part of your calf that is on the ground. Slowly flex and dorsiflex [bring your toes up and down] feeling the muscles in your calf releasing. You can move the ball around to release spots that feel tight.
Time spent running around in not the best shoes like flip flops and stilettos can lead to very tight calf muscles.
The lacrosse ball is the perfect aid to help release these often tight muscles. And since tight calf muscles can lead to knee and foot pain, releasing them can help prevent and ease these complaints.
Foot release
Still sitting with one leg out straight and the other leg bent, place the lacrosse ball under the foot of the bent leg. Slowly roll your foot back and forth over the ball. This should feel a little painful so if it doesn’t you may to put more weight into it.
The plantar fascia acts as the shock absorber in our feet so when this fascia loses its flexibility it can lead to plantar fasciitis and foot pain. Rolling out the feet will help relieve achy feet an prevent foot pain.
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5 Lacrosse Ball Exercises For Trigger Point Relief
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In Category Physical Therapy
Tags: lacrosse ball, trigger point
At Therapydia, we provide individualized, scrupulous assessment and effective treatment of musculoskeletal dysfunction utilizing precise manual therapy techniques among other modalities.
Our goal is to restore proper length tension relationships of soft tissue and enhance normal joint mechanics for proper function. Our patients can replicate some release techniques at home with the use of a lacrosse ball applied to trigger points in tissue. Trigger points are areas of adhesions within soft tissue resulting from trauma or overuse and can lead to ineffective movement, weakness, and pain. Below are common applications of lacrosse ball trigger point therapy we teach our patients to overcome their functional obstacles:
Inter-scapular
The area between the upper scapula and spine can be addressed by self-massage with a lacrosse ball to help keep one mobile and also tame the upper traps that are often used in activity. The release technique here is more of a self mobilization and can be applied with short duration holds of pressure over a few locations left and right of the spine.
The progression would be to add dynamic movement of the arm into flexion overhead and back down to the hip for several reps, encouraging more upper thoracic extension at end range shoulder flexion.
TFL (Tensor Fascia Latae)
Foam rolling is a great way in general to get soft tissue more pliable and flexible pre work out, but it can be an ineffective tool for the hip flexors due to their proximity to the center of mass and thus need more pressure to release. We advocate the use of a lacrosse ball with a static acupressure approach- finding key points to compress for a few seconds before moving to another area within the same tissue. Place the lacrosse ball just below the ASIS in the lateral hip flexor bulk for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side; staying away from the femoral triangle to avoid compressing the major nerve, artery, and vein.
Pectoralis Minor
Stretching the pecs is a very common exercise given by most physical therapists because as a species, we humans engage in movements that stress mostly the front of our bodies and tighten or shorten this soft tissue.
But the stretches given often target the pec major and don’t address the pec minor. The pec minor responds well to acupressure using a lacrosse ball at the wall. A good starting point is to place the ball about 2 inches below the mid point of the clavicle and press your body into the ball on the wall. Static holds of a few seconds before moving the ball slightly to target a different part of the tissue is good practice and spending approximately 30 seconds total per side. Alternately; moving the arm dynamically in abduction for a few repetitions along the wall while maintaining pec-to-lacrosse ball pressure provides an active release.
Axillary Border
The axillary border is a great site for release techniques; targeting the lats, lateral body fascia, and teres major. Restricted soft tissue here will disallow full overhead movement of the arm and patients tend to move inefficiently through lumbar extension to compensate. We instruct placement of the lacrosse ball between the outer axillary soft tissue and the floor using the opposite hand to help guide and keep the ball stable in space as one gets situated.
Rocking the body onto and off of the ball with little movements provides a dynamic functional release or static holds over trigger points is perfectly acceptable and spending up to 30 seconds total over several points.
Gluteal Musculature
Typically a foam roll will get the job done for most of the gluteal tissue. There are areas of the deep glutes that respond better to trigger point releasing with a lacrosse ball. Sitting on the floor, place the lacrosse ball toward the outer gluteal tissue near the greater trochanter. One will need to angle one’s body slightly to the same side of the ball to get better contact; the opposite knee will be bent with foot on the ground to help gain position. We have patients perform the release for 30 seconds each side with light rolling or short bouts of acupressure.
SISSEL® MYOFASCIA massage ball Ø 12cm, black
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What is the Thomas test? | lifestyle
Healthy hip flexors are important for all athletes. While the hamstrings and glutes are responsible for most of the momentum for running or jumping, the hip flexors decide how far the leg can go from the body. Reduced range of motion in your hips means you’re slowing down. For this reason, the Thomas test can clear us up.
Tight hip flexors will limit the amount of force and propulsion we can use to move forward. These flexors also connect to the lower back, so if they are pulled tight, they will compromise the position of the spine, which affects posture. Poor posture reduces efficiency and also increases the risk of injury.
Fortunately, there is a simple motor test to determine if we are suffering from tight hip flexors. This is the Thomas test.
Index
- 1 What is it?
- 2 muscles involved
- 2.1 iliopsoas
- 2.
2 rectus femoris - 2.3 pectineus and gracilis
- 2.4 tensor fascialis
- 2.5 sartorius
- 3 How is it done?
- 4 How can I correct a negative result?
- 4.1 Thomas stretch
- 4.2 step stretch
2 rectus femorisWhat is it?
The Thomas test is a physical examination test first described in 1875 by Welsh orthopedic surgeon Hugh Owen Thomas. The test was used to diagnose flexion contracture of the hip joint and determine the duration of the disease process.
The Modified Thomas Test is most commonly used to assess hip flexor flexibility, including the iliopsoas, quadriceps, pectineus, gracilis, tensor fascia lata, and sartorius muscles. It is easy to replicate among physicians and patients and provides useful information that can indirectly affect not only athletic performance, but can also help us know what happens if we experience pain in different areas.
This test measures:
- Length of the iliopsoas muscle (angle of hip flexion)
- Passive quadriceps length (knee flexion angle)
- Flexibility of the tensor fascia lata/iliotibial bundle (angle of abduction of the hip relative to the femur and angle of the pelvis)
muscles involved
The Thomas test examines the iliopsoas, the muscle group that connects the spine to the legs, through the pelvis; rectus femoris, a quadruple muscle that runs from the thigh to the knee; and the tensor fascia lata, the lateral thigh muscle, which lies below the iliotibial bundle.
Together they form the hip flexor muscles.
iliopsoas
The iliopsoas, composed of the iliacus and psoas major, is the most powerful hip flexor and also acts as a weak hip adductor and external rotator.
The iliopsoas attaches to the capsule of the hip joint, providing some support. Since the muscle spans the axial and appendicular components of the skeleton, it also functions as a trunk flexor and provides an important element of vertical stability to the lumbar spine, especially when the hip is in full extension and the passive tension of the muscle is at its maximum.
A sufficiently strong and isolated bilateral contraction of any hip flexor muscle will rotate the hip towards the pelvis, the pelvis (and possibly the trunk) towards the hip, or both.
rectus femoris
This is one of the four quadriceps muscles, a biarticular muscle arising from two tendons: one, anterior or straight, from the anterior inferior iliac spine; the other, posterior or reflected, from the furrow above the edge of the acetabulum.
The rectus femoris combines hip flexion and knee extension. It works most effectively as a hip flexor when the knee is bent, such as when a person is kicking a ball.
pectineus and gracilis
The pectus muscle is an adductor, flexor and internal rotator muscle of the thigh. Like the iliopsoas muscle, the pectineus muscle attaches to and supports the capsule of the hip joint.
Glenus, the longest of the adductors of the thigh, is also the most superficial and medial of the adductors of the thigh. This helps to adduct and flex the hip, as well as flex and rotate the leg inward.
Tensor fascialis muscle
This muscle covers the muscles of the thigh. It is responsible for counteracting the reverse pull of the gluteus maximus on the iliotibial ligament. It also flexes, abducts, and rotates the hip outward.
The trochanteric bursa lies deep in this muscle as it passes over the greater trochanter. Attachment of the tensile muscle through the iliotibial bundle to the anterolateral tibia provides a flexion moment when the knee is flexed and an extension moment when the knee is extended.
sartorius
The sartorius is the longest muscle in the body. The sartorius is responsible for hip flexion, abduction and external rotation, and some degree of knee flexion.
How is it done?
The easiest way to perform the Thomas test is to lie on your back on the edge of a bed or on a sturdy table with your legs dangling. We bring both knees to the chest so that the back is evenly pressed to the bed. Keeping one knee close to the chest, slowly straighten the other leg and let it hang over the edge.
- We will sit at the end of the table so that the middle of the thigh is flush with the edge. We will sit up straight with our heads up to the ceiling. We tighten the abdominal muscles to strengthen the spine, then lower and retract the shoulder blades (pulling the shoulders down and back) without arching the lower back.
- Keeping the abdominals pulled in, lean back slightly, tearing the left knee off the table towards the chest and crossing the arms under the left thigh without moving the torso. We continue to lean back, keeping the head in line with the spine, and the abdominals are pulled in. Raise the right knee towards the ceiling, lifting the right thigh off the table.
- Let’s start rounding the back, lowering it to the table, noticing one vertebrae at a time. Holding the left hip, we will allow the right knee to remain pointed towards the ceiling. As we lower our head and move into the supine (face up) position, we support the left leg and lower the right hip towards the table, maintaining a bent knee position to allow the lower leg to hang off the table and stretch through the right hip flexor.
- We will hold the stretch position for 15 to 30 seconds at a time, for a total of 2 to 4 reps.
The test will pass if the lower back and hamstring are pressed against the bed and the knee is bent at 90 degrees to the surface.
However, there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to failing a test:
- If the lowered leg is straight instead of bent at the knee, the rectus femoris is tight. In the case where the lower part of the knee is bent, but the back of the thigh is raised off the bed, this is the iliopsoas muscle.
- If the lower leg is bent at the knee and the thigh rests on the bed, but the leg hangs slightly to the side, then the tensor fascia lata tenses.
Long distance runners are more likely to experience a tight iliopsoas.
How to correct a negative result?
One of the good things about this is that the Thomas test can be the same treatment. Keep in mind that muscles take some time to readjust when stretched. It is generally recommended to do these stretches five to seven days a week for three minutes a day. With only static stretching, we may need 8-10 weeks, so adding lacrosse ball work is recommended to speed up the process.
Thomas Stretch
To do this stretch:
- We will pull one knee towards your chest while you are lying on your back on an elevated surface, which we did during the test.
