Recovery Techniques From Personal Trainer & Licensed Massage Therapist - With Lairlux Massage Gun

by Felisha Hurst / Aug 1, 2022

Hello. My name is Felisha, I am a licensed massage therapist, a certified personal trainer, and also a group E.X. fitness instructor. I've been doing that for the last eight years. I also, in 2014, was on American Ninja Warrior. So fitness has been a big part of my life and where I am now. Last year, I did two full distance triathlons within seven days. This year, I completed a 50-mile ultramarathon trail run, which was super exciting. Fitness is a big part of my everyday life, and staying consistent is one thing that I preach. I love to teach people how to stay consistent. But also, recovery is super important when you are pushing your body really hard in various races, working out and lifting weights. So make sure you're recovering the meat of the muscle. As a massage therapist myself, I focus a lot on the attachments and where your ligaments are. I do a lot of movement with my massage techniques as well. And so being able to apply pressure and then being able to move through the attachments, it helps me, helps you.

Dampener and flat are the two attachments that I like to use the most. I love that I can just turn the Lairlux deep tissue massage gun on, and it has 20 different speeds. I use it a lot while doing massage. My shoulders get really tight and overused as I am using my elbow to massage people. So using a massage gun is fantastic to loosen up the deltoid (front, middle and rear). I love using it for my forearm, especially. Last year I had surgery on my wrist and I removed three of my five bones and I didn't think I was going to be able to go back and do massage. Thankfully through massage techniques and using various tools, I've been able to come back and be stronger. I love the dampener attachment that allows you to get closer to the bone. Just know that focusing on recovery is going to allow you to push harder, work harder and be able to get the muscle definition that you want. You are breaking up that lactic active in there and being able to lengthen the muscle, that's the key of working out. In recent years, I focuse a lot on recovery, more than ever have my entire life and it's been beneficial. So make sure you are doing a lot of recovery if you are doing a lot of upper body workouts.

Tip:

• Stay consistent with working out
• Remain active recovery

Recovery is essential

• Increase your muscle definition
• Break up lactic acid in muscles
• Lengthen your muscles

A lot of people get really sore at their shoulders because we're using them all the time to move, to eat, to drive, and you're working out constantly, your shoulders are under tons of pressure and tension. Even your trap muscles, they just get super tight, which can make your stalene tight or SCM really tight. So using a massage gun on your trap is super helpful. That trap is a big band and it's easy to neglect it. But if you focus on that trap muscle, it can help alleviate the tension that goes up into the base of your neck on the occipital ridge right there. So really focusing on that trap to release and open up.

Causes of shoulder pain:

• Have a lot of tension in your shoulders
• Tight trap muscles can lead to tight scalenes and SCM
• Poor sitting posture: hunched ove

3 ways to loosen tight trap muscles

• Retract your back muscles and pull them back
• Use massage gun on your trap and chest muscles
• Mind your sitting posture: open up your chest

I do a lot of movement with my massage techniques. It is fantastic to add the attachment you want, and you can adjust and play around with it. I also really like to use ball attachment on your chest and your trap. Sometimes it's a little more bony in that trap area. If you have somebody to help you, moving it away from that spine and really lengthening that trap muscle is super helpful in opening up this chest area. Sometimes I get really tight in my piriformis, and it is super helpful to move that leg as you're massaging it.

Here’s what you can do on your lower body. When I was doing my training for my 50-mile  ultrarunning, I was really working out my quads because my left knee was getting so tight, it was excruciating. So I was really focusing on my upper quad, adductors, hip and IT band.  You need to advise your doctor if you're having severe pain. But generally speaking, you can focus on your quads and IT bands. Using a massage gun is actually enjoyable. Using it to really massage out and even do cross-fiber on that IT band. It's a big band right here. So if you're going up and down, it really can alleviate the tension in there.

Lower body massage techniques for recovering from ultra marathon. Alleviate the tension around the knee.

• Focuse on hip, upper quad, IT band and adductors
• Use Lairlux massage gun (ball attachment) on IT band: roll out & cross-fiber

Furthermore, pay attention to your glutes and hamstrings, mainly your hip area. Your hamstrings tend to get really tight if you're sitting a lot throughout the day. If you have knee pain when you're sitting a lot, because the quad and the hamstring are pulling on that knee attachment. So a lot of people have knee hurt and a lot of it is because of tight quads. So using your Lairlux massage gun with dampener attachment pressing on that outer quad and IT band. This is great to loosen up that IT band and focus on the meat of the muscle around that knee. Focusing on massaging that meat of the muscle, especially that hip. Also, loosen up the glutes piriformis and getting it nice and loose.

Technique: use Lairlux deep tissue massage gun with dampener attachment

• Massage outer quad, IT band
• Massage the muscle around the knee
• Massage your hip
• Massage your glutes and piriformis muscle

I like to think of your muscles if they're dehydrated, it's like jerky. If you are not drinking enough water, and your muscles are dehydrated, it's like pulling jerky and it doesn't quite work. If you're hydrated and drinking enough water, your muscles are more like the meat that you bite. That's where they're very tender and pliable.

So make sure you stay hydrated and you are stretching, and using a massage technique to be able to loosen up those muscles. A massage gun can help you release tension and fluid deep in the muscles to enhance tissue metabolism. And you can take it to work with you to massage those traps, chest, glutes, hamstrings and quads. They're all fantastic areas that you can benefit from using a Lairlux deep tissue massage gun.