Put Self-Massage to Work for You

Most active people suffer unnecessary muscle pain and soreness from exercise. Massage is famous for reducing that soreness. You’ve probably experienced its healing effects. If you’re like most of us, you don’t get a massage every time you need one, and for good reason: You need one way too often, pretty much every time you workout. So unless you’re living with a massage therapist, you’re out of luck.

About seven years ago, while training for my first Ironman distance triathlon, I decided that I needed a daily massage and sometimes a twice daily massage to relieve the muscle soreness that was cropping up everywhere. I needed to be able to recover more quickly between workouts, and I wanted to stay injury free, and healthy enough to run, bike, and swim for six months.

I decided literally to take matters into my own hands, and learn massage, self-massage anyway. How difficult could that be, I thought. It’s really just a matter of learning a few simple strokes and applying them. I was right too. It wasn’t difficult to learn. And it was so effective I continued practicing it after the triathlon was over. I noticed my health and mood had improved with regular massage. I was so impressed, I decided to write a book on the subject because there weren’t any. How difficult could that be? In a word, very: It took almost five years of studying, experimenting, and doing workshops and finally I came up with a system of massage, called "self-massage-for athletes," that is extremely effective and easy to learn. At least, I think it is, and most everyone that tries it agrees.

Anyway I’d like to see what you think of the idea. So let me know. As an athlete or an active person in general, have you used self-massage to relieve muscle pain and soreness? Or to recover between workouts? Or to improve your health? If so what have you discovered? If you haven’t tried it, why not?