I work with a client who refers to a muscle knot in his shoulder as a Gordian knot.
No matter what adjectives you use to describe the muscle knot in your neck and shoulder, the tightness you feel is due to instability.
Before we go any further, recognizing that your muscle cannot tie itself in a knot is essential.
The feeling of having a knot in your trapezius muscle has led to the creation of a wide variety of massage tools.
A lacrosse ball cannot deliver pressure with the specificity that muscles require.
If your piriformis could talk, I’m sure it would be more than happy to relay that message.
That’s also the case with your IT Band. If your lateral quadricep could speak up for itself, it would tell you that it’s not tight. And yet, because it’s deep to your IT Band, it gets collected in the rolling.
Because self-massage tools feel therapeutic, it’s easy to think that something good will come of it.
The truth is, self-massage tools increase instability.
When there’s an increase in instability, muscles tighten to protect.
What you just read is why you continue to feel the need to scratch the same itch.
Releasing muscles with deep tissue massage allows for short-lived results.
When socially accepted beliefs don’t deliver on a promise, it pays to look at that which is counter-intuitive.
Going by feel is the problem.
If you feel that a deep tissue massage is therapeutic, there’s a strong possibility that you are fooled by randomness.You feel the force the practitioner delivers, but neither one of you can distinguish a tight muscle from a weak muscle.
If you have a muscle that feels tight, you will also have a muscle that’s not capable of pulling its weight.
I know this because muscles that are unable to pull their weight are the reason why you feel that there’s a muscle knot in your shoulder (hint, hint).
Deep tissue massage may feel good at the time, but the results tell a different story.
(Perspective)
There’s a tendency not to recognize when we are on autopilot in our daily lives.
While on autopilot, cognitive bias tends to steer us towards reinforcing what we already believe.
— Ozan Varol, Author of Think Like a Rocket Scientist (commission earned)
There’s evidence to show that we tend to remember the last thing that we heard in a particular area of study.
As an example, when you see a practitioner for the nagging tightness you feel in your neck and shoulders, it’s not uncommon to hear something like, “Your muscles are tight.” Followed by, “You need to stretch.”
Given that the last thing you heard is what’s been shown to stick, there’s a strong possibility that hearing the words, “Your muscles are tight.” and “You need to stretch.” is enough (mis)information to have you believe that the state of your muscles is the worst case that one practitioner has ever seen.
(Principles)
You have a built-in protective mechanism that tells your muscles to remain tight.
Beyond your conscious awareness, your brain determines which muscles need to be tight.
Attempting to release muscles goes against what your brain has already figured out for you.
Until your brain recognizes that you have more stability, you’ll continue to feel what’s been described as a muscle knot.
Increasing flexibility with stretching continues to be what’s popular. That being the case, it’s helpful to know that it’s impossible to increase flexibility without mobility.
Releasing muscles that are primarily responsible for stability increases instability.
When your brain recognizes an increase in instability, you will experience more tightness.
When you don’t know one muscle from the next, your best bet is to be careful who you trust your brain to.
SHIP
(Art)
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Books Mentioned
Think Like A Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol (commission earned)
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I have held a license to practice massage therapy for thirty years. For eighteen of those years, I was a nationally certified personal trainer. During that time, I completed thousands of one-on-one personalized fitness training sessions. I went on to teach the biomechanics of exercise to personal trainers, group exercise instructors, and physical therapists throughout New England. Teaching exercise biomechanics led to consulting for The Greenbrier, Canyon Ranch, and ESPN, which evolved into providing deep tissue and sports massage for four years at ESPN.
