Crossfit: How Manual Therapy Can Get You to Regionals Next Year (or just keep you out of pain)!

Whenever I notice Rich Froning, or Jason Khalipa, Julie Foucher or any one of the bigger named crossfitters in the middle of a competition, I always marvel at how effortless their technique looks.  They really have fantastic form and technique, which creates less stress on their body so they can perform faster and harder than....well....you.

If you find yourself doing all the corrective exercises and stretching in the world but it still doesn't make the difference, you'll want to read this.  You'll find out how you've been trying to eat your bowl of soup with a fork....it just doesn't work.

"My shoulders are just too tight".....Not anymore!

When you injure yourself, whether in a specific event (like a hamstring strain) or over a long time (like 'I've always had tight upper back muscles), your body lays down what we call 'fibroblasts' in your muscle due to the lack of oxygen deliverance.  What happens when you accumulate fibroblasts?  Instead of your muscles and soft tissue being stretchy like a rubber band, they end up being tough like a piece of leather. 


Then suddenly you find yourself saying 'I'm just not flexibile enough' or 'I'm just too tight'.  Well...you are.  The problem is that corrective exercise cannot get rid of the fibroblasts.

So what can?  Manual therapy!

The two manual therapies I'd like to highlight in particular would be Active Release Technique (ART) and Graston Technique.

Active Release Technique - a hands on technique performed by a chiropractors or physical therapist that brakes up fibroblasts through tension techniques in which you move your own body during the treatment. 

Graston Technique - a steel instrument used over the skin designed to soften up scar tissue, and re-start the inflammatory process which will normalize your muscles and other tissues.  It's perfect for tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, achilles pain, and other more tendon-based injuries.

Both of these techniques are designed not only to improve flexibility, but also too relieve your pain and decrease injuries.  Maybe it will make the difference in the depth of your squat, how far you can get your shoulder back during a kip or overhead squat.  Maybe it'll even get you into regionals!

If you are in the Boca Raton area and would like ART or Graston, please visit me at www.Mobility-4Life.com