Beyond-Brawn-2nd-Edition

HOW A TRAINING NIGHTMARE WAS SILENCED
e muscles effected by trigger points can be tight and contracted, or weakened.
When the muscles involved are attached to the spine, they cause spinal distortions
and joint problems. If the spine becomes misaligned, these problem joints
cause further irritation to the spinal nerves… is can cause further problems
such as sciatica, low back pain, headaches, numbness, pain and tingling in the
arms and legs.
18.132 Trigger points not only affect the vertebrae, but other joints of the body.
Instead of smooth and soft muscle pulling on the joints, there is taut and
lumpy muscle pulling incorrectly on the joints and thus causing problems.
Trigger point therapy returns the muscle to its soft and smooth natural
state.
How to perform trigger point therapy
18.133 Find a trigger point by palpation (examining by touch) and apply sufficient
pressure to cause discomfort, hold it for about 5–7 seconds—or 10+ seconds
if you can tolerate it—then release. (According to what you have been
doing to yourself, whether in or out of the gym, the trigger points you need
to concentrate on the most may change from day to day. You will probably
have your “regulars,” though.) Treat another trigger point or two, and then
return to the first one. Nimmo recommended two or three sweeps on the
same trigger point per treatment.
18.134 With my personal treatment—but remember that I am not professionally
trained in trigger point therapy—I do whatever I need to do to feel the
required easing of tightness, discomfort or pain. Sometimes one application
of pressure per trigger point does the job, but usually two or three are
needed. Sometimes I temporarily had to be very aggressive in a specific area,
according to need.
18.135 According to Cohen and Schneider², though, Nimmo
…found that daily treatments are too much for the patient to handle. He felt
it was important to give the body time to respond to pressure therapy by resetting
itself and rebalancing its efferent-afferent control. Also, since mechanical
bruising may occur after deep pressure therapy, the muscles tend to be sore for
a day or two.
18.136 Despite being very aggressive in my therapy, especially in getting after the
trigger points in my glutei, which were the most bothersome ones for my
lower back, I very rarely got any bruising. Perhaps I would have gotten the
great benefits I did from treating a given trigger point only alternate days.
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