Self-Managing Those Little Niggles and Aches

One of the best things I've come across is the concept of self-management. Little sprains, aches and nicks build up over the course of the year no matter if you're working or playing sport. Just helping our bodies to recover from our daily stresses improves our health in the long term and reduces the need to see a physio, chiro or massage therapist just for the little aches that come up every so often. The best recovery is active recovery!So today I wanted to share 3 Home DIY Tools to Maintain Muscle Health and Help Recover from Work, Stress and Exercise. Hope you enjoy!

You should be able to get most of these online (such as rocktape.com.au) or at your local sports store like Rebel Sports. 1. A foam roller A foam roller is good to use to roll out and release over these areas: - Low back - Mid back - Posterior shoulder - Lats - Glutes - Hips - Quads - Hamstrings - Groins Find spots that are particularly tight or tender and remain on them for about 20 seconds before moving on. Another option is to roll it in very small ranges back and forth for 20 seconds. 2. A massage stick A massage stick is much better for areas that are harder to hit as they work a lot like a rolling pin. The foam roller only works well if you can put your full bodyweight on it. These areas include: - Calfs - Outer side of lower leg - Upper traps - Forearms 3. A trigger point ball The last progression in this series, the trigger point ball is great for spots that are even harder to get to than the massage stick. Same principles of rolling as above use it for these areas: Specific trigger points in the glutes and hips - The QLs (deep muscle of the back/hip) - Upper and middle trap areas - Posterior rotator cuff (back of the shoulder) - Plantar fascia (arch of your foot) All in all, rolling out an area doesn't need to take more than 30 seconds per area to get a benefit out of it. I can foam roll most of my body's sore or tight sections in about 2 mins of foam rolling for example. Try it out and tell me it doesn't feel good! For help on how to foam roll check out youtube.com's various foam rolling series or hop in to the clinic and I'll be more than happy to help you out. To your health, Nathan Wong PT BHsc MPhty Grad. Dip. Div

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