Training for the WKC World Championships this year I did a bit of an experiment in self massage.

Kettlebell sport comp preparation is very monotonous, I do the same 3 lifts (one arm jerks, snatches and one arm swings) 5 days a week.  With any sort of monotonous training it becomes extremely important to keep the muscles loose and joints moving freely as any imbalance that is repetitively worked can quickly become a long term problem.

Last year for approximately 6 months prior to the Worlds I was getting a massage every 2-3 weeks to keep my body in good working order.

This year it just wasn't an option to get massages so regularly (it's not cheap!).  In fact, this year I only had 3 massages in the 15 months leading up to the competition.  So, my only option was to take care of myself.

Self Massage Tools

I used 3 tools for my self massage: The Stick, the foam roller and a massage ball. I found that having all 3 tools worked really well because each one worked best on a certain area.

The Self Massage Routine

Here is what I eventually found worked best for me after a bit of trial and error:

The Stick

I used The Stick on quads, hamstrings, calves and forearms.  The stick is great for the legs because it's easy to manoeuvre and get the muscles at every angle.  It's also easy to regulate the pressure (and given how tight my legs get from jerks this was a great advantage, the foam roller can be a bit much sometimes).

Forearms are obviously a really important area to look after with a high volume of kettlebell snatching.   Actually, most people would probably be surprised by how tight their forearms are just from using their hands a lot for things like typing, writing, carrying things, any sort of manual labour and any upper body resistance training, but it's an area of the body that's often neglected when it comes to massage.  The Stick is perfect for keeping the foreams loose and getting the blood flowing back into the hands.

The Foam Roller

For me, the foam roller was the best tool for massaging the upper back and to mobilise the thoracic spine.

It's easy to get into a position on the foam roller where the scapular are in a protracted position allowing access to the rhomboids (which are tight on most people).  It's also easy to move your back around on the roller to get at the mid and lower traps as well as trigger points higher up such as the levator scapulae trigger point (again, most people will be tight here).

The Massage Ball

The massage ball worked wonders on glutes and shoulders.  I found the sphere made it easier to roll through all angles on the glutes and really get into the tight spots around the hip joint.  For me, finding a really sore/tight spot in the glute (especially glute medius) and just sitting with the pressure of the ball on that spot until it released was highly effective, and instantly loosened up my lower back.

The other benefit of the massage ball is that it's easy to use on a wall, which made it much easier to regulate the pressure and angle when trying to get at the trigger points in the chest, back of the shoulder and lats.

The Results?

The above routine, which took roughly 15-20 mins (I did it in front of the TV so it didn't feel like it was taking a big chunk out of my day) got me through a very intense six months of training this year with very little need to see my myotherapist.  To be honest, I was really surprised by how long I could go without myotherapy given the volume of training and how tight I get (when I'm not training I'm usually sitting down and typing, which doesn't help matters).  It just goes to show how effective a small amount of daily self massage for muscle maintenance can be.

The Rumble Roller

There will soon be a new, and brutal (ie highly effective), self massage tool available at Iron Edge.  The Rumble Roller is a bit like a rotating meat tenderiser and if this had been available when I first embarked on my self-massage quest I definitely would have bought one.

 

You can read more on the Rumble Roller here.