Massage therapy & stretching? Just as important as lifting?

[Jsmith30]

just a question.

how many here get massage therapy and have good flexability (meaning you do enough to avoid muscle cramps and can do splits and stretch your body real well)

we we hear about pulled ham strings and workout injuries. Is it from pushing too hard or not enough massage, relaxing and stretching.

It seems like when we get physical and do workouts our muscle tighten so stretching helps keep the muscles loose and

I'm starting to get the impression that with as hard as you PUSH yourself, you must

there is a book out called "self-massage for athletes" by rich poley. i would post a link to his site but i'm still a newbie here.

i have the goal of wanting to do some bodybuilding. But i also what to do some boxing, martial arts, gymnastics and possibly some breakdancing too later on.

and i KNOW that this requires lots of conditioning but more importantly as i push myself to a higher peak, I wonder how much massaging i will need to do.

how much stretching?

[lhprop1]

My massage therapist and chiropractor are just as important to me as my running shoes or my lifting belt. They're all absolutely necessary to proper, painless performance.

About 7 or 8 years ago, I was in such rough shape that I could barely get out of bed in the mornings. My back hurt so bad that I couldn't put my socks and shoes on without help. It's then that I sought out corrective therapy. My chiropractor fixed what needed fixing over the period of a few years (it takes time to fix it). When he had an awesome massage therapist move into his office a few years ago, I started going to her to fix all of the soft tissue stuff that needed fixing.

Now, at the age of 34 when most of my peers are fat, in pain, and waste their lives sitting on the couch eating buffalo wings and watching football every weekend, I'm out playing rugby and competing in strongman contests. None of this would have been possible without massage and chiropractic.

Personally, I take one session every other week. You may need more depending on which issues you have or how hard you push yourself. Self myofascial release is something you can do daily to keep your fascia maleable and it will help immensely in your daily workouts and performance. I do suggest going to a qualified sports massage therapist every so often to address the issues myofascial release can't handle.

[xxtwistedxx]

My massage therapist and chiropractor are just as important to me as my running shoes or my lifting belt. They're all absolutely necessary to proper, painless performance.

About 7 or 8 years ago, I was in such rough shape that I could barely get out of bed in the mornings. My back hurt so bad that I couldn't put my socks and shoes on without help. It's then that I sought out corrective therapy. My chiropractor fixed what needed fixing over the period of a few years (it takes time to fix it). When he had an awesome massage therapist move into his office a few years ago, I started going to her to fix all of the soft tissue stuff that needed fixing.

Now, at the age of 34 when most of my peers are fat, in pain, and waste their lives sitting on the couch eating buffalo wings and watching football every weekend, I'm out playing rugby and competing in strongman contests. None of this would have been possible without massage and chiropractic.

Personally, I take one session every other week. You may need more depending on which issues you have or how hard you push yourself. Self myofascial release is something you can do daily to keep your fascia maleable and it will help immensely in your daily workouts and performance. I do suggest going to a qualified sports massage therapist every so often to address the issues myofascial release can't handle.

fully agree with ya.

i herniated (possibly ruptured) my t-10/11 disc in my back probably a year ago but really f-ed it up back in march. sum it up, it sucked, killed my training, ended my summer and most of my fall season of rugby, and just really put things into perspective on what i was gonna be doing from now on.

anyways about 3 months i got sick of the pain and gave in when my friend rec'd a chiro for me. best damn decision ever. for starts i hate doctors. have been misdiagnosed more times then i care to remember. so i literally went in expecting nothing and within two weeks almost forgot i had sciatica to begin with. within a month started getting my strength back. like i said its been 3 months now and i still have some issues (discs take time) but if anyone saw a vid i posted earlier im back to squatting on a box 405 with a belt. mind you i havnt attempted anything over 300 in a year and i really dont remember the last time i had 400 on my back much less squatting it.

fast forward to now. ive been having foot problems. mostly fasciitis but it led to other complications (heel spur, stress fracture, achilles tendinitis) so yesterday i brought it up to my chiro. ONE DAY he rubbed my leg out (hurt like a mother****er) and no joke my foot has barely been hurting since. turns out my lower legs are so knotted up its pulling on my heel and stressing the foot. they are still tighter than a nuns nether regions but its amazing what 10 freaking minutes did for me. 'course theyre still a lil sore. trust me when i say this getting a knot massaged out can be incredibly painful then sore but its necessary.

i might not go back to a normal doc again. i visit the chiro weekly and maybe have spent about a grand on treatments. compared to what my PT (who charged me 600 bucks for TWO visits!) and a friend whos a doc (probably woulda charged out the butt if i didnt know him) who both said i will need an MRI (roughly 2-3 grand) and surgery (up to 10grand according to mayoclinic). mind those numbers are before insurance but my insurance doesnt cover all that much. infact its more for checkups and drugs. last MRI for my knee cost me 1200 outta pocket.

[lhprop1]

fast forward to now. ive been having foot problems. mostly fasciitis but it led to other complications (heel spur, stress fracture, achilles tendinitis) so yesterday i brought it up to my chiro. ONE DAY he rubbed my leg out (hurt like a mother****er) and no joke my foot has barely been hurting since. turns out my lower legs are so knotted up its pulling on my heel and stressing the foot. they are still tighter than a nuns nether regions but its amazing what 10 freaking minutes did for me. 'course theyre still a lil sore. trust me when i say this getting a knot massaged out can be incredibly painful then sore but its necessary.

What most people don't realize is that pain is often referred from some other part of the body. While point "A" might hurt, the actual cause of the pain is actually point "B", "C", or even point "K". For example, a sore knee is often not a problem with the knee at all. More often, it could actually a symptom of a tight IT band, a weak posterior chain, or a tight low back. A qualified sports massage therapist can easily determine this and usually fix it in about 30 minutes.

[Jsmith30]

My massage therapist and chiropractor are just as important to me as my running shoes or my lifting belt. They're all absolutely necessary to proper, painless performance.

About 7 or 8 years ago, I was in such rough shape that I could barely get out of bed in the mornings. My back hurt so bad that I couldn't put my socks and shoes on without help. It's then that I sought out corrective therapy. My chiropractor fixed what needed fixing over the period of a few years (it takes time to fix it). When he had an awesome massage therapist move into his office a few years ago, I started going to her to fix all of the soft tissue stuff that needed fixing.

Now, at the age of 34 when most of my peers are fat, in pain, and waste their lives sitting on the couch eating buffalo wings and watching football every weekend, I'm out playing rugby and competing in strongman contests. None of this would have been possible without massage and chiropractic.

Personally, I take one session every other week. You may need more depending on which issues you have or how hard you push yourself. Self myofascial release is something you can do daily to keep your fascia maleable and it will help immensely in your daily workouts and performance. I do suggest going to a qualified sports massage therapist every so often to address the issues myofascial release can't handle.

Wow. i'm glad to hear this. my goal is to do what little things i can and eventually start lifting. then slowly but surely do some boxing, then martial arts, some breakdancing, and then some gymnastics.

i'm glad that you told your story because - i now see that it doesn't come overnight. it happens in phases.

does anyone here try acupuncture?

Thank you!

[Jsmith30]

fully agree with ya.

i herniated (possibly ruptured) my t-10/11 disc in my back probably a year ago but really f-ed it up back in march. sum it up, it sucked, killed my training, ended my summer and most of my fall season of rugby, and just really put things into perspective on what i was gonna be doing from now on.

anyways about 3 months i got sick of the pain and gave in when my friend rec'd a chiro for me. best damn decision ever. for starts i hate doctors. have been misdiagnosed more times then i care to remember. so i literally went in expecting nothing and within two weeks almost forgot i had sciatica to begin with. within a month started getting my strength back. like i said its been 3 months now and i still have some issues (discs take time) but if anyone saw a vid i posted earlier im back to squatting on a box 405 with a belt. mind you i havnt attempted anything over 300 in a year and i really dont remember the last time i had 400 on my back much less squatting it.

fast forward to now. ive been having foot problems. mostly fasciitis but it led to other complications (heel spur, stress fracture, achilles tendinitis) so yesterday i brought it up to my chiro. ONE DAY he rubbed my leg out (hurt like a mother****er) and no joke my foot has barely been hurting since. turns out my lower legs are so knotted up its pulling on my heel and stressing the foot. they are still tighter than a nuns nether regions but its amazing what 10 freaking minutes did for me. 'course theyre still a lil sore. trust me when i say this getting a knot massaged out can be incredibly painful then sore but its necessary.

i might not go back to a normal doc again. i visit the chiro weekly and maybe have spent about a grand on treatments. compared to what my PT (who charged me 600 bucks for TWO visits!) and a friend whos a doc (probably woulda charged out the butt if i didnt know him) who both said i will need an MRI (roughly 2-3 grand) and surgery (up to 10grand according to mayoclinic). mind those numbers are before insurance but my insurance doesnt cover all that much. infact its more for checkups and drugs. last MRI for my knee cost me 1200 outta pocket.

Well let me say that, i'm glad to hear your story. because it helps me to know that this is something that i have to do to supplement the type of training i plan on doing.

i think the problem with fitness ads and fitness promotion is that this is the other side of it- the aches and the pains and the bruises. And that is soreness and injury and whether or not you're prone to that and your fitness level and your age. and weaknesses

while i have never been thru anything like what you guys have. i basically sprained my ankle a long time ago and i still to this day have some stiffness in my ankle that's alittle uncomfortable.

i posted a thread in the (loosing fat) forum about this but basically i decided to get into shape 1 year ago. i have lost about 40 lbs. im down to 204 now. my waist used to be 45. Now i'm a 32. and i basically eat correctly and jog 2 miles a day. I do lots of push ups and situps and so on.

i know this is little stuff by comparison.

but now that i'm fit now. i have goals! and things that i want to do.

But what provoked me was a problem with my left knee. basically when i was eating the junk, fat and weighed 245. when i would eat something salty or with alot of sugar my knee would swell. i would get a swelling sensation. it would tighten up.

even now that i'm fit and eat right and exercise. My ankle and my knee still get stiff sometimes. but not as nearly as bad as they would when i was out of shape.

i'm glad you mention the chiropracter because that is just as important as as the the training. and doing the training requires a time sacrifice.


i mean Chiropracting and massage theraphy is an investment. but its clearly worth it.

but you guys havetruly been to hell and back! So thanks for the info.

i now see what i have to do or rather go thru to get to the level i need to be at.