In this post I will be giving the best 5 ways to reduce muscle tightness and improve your mobility based on my personal life experiences, as well as giving you products which will assist with this goal of improving overall mobility. These techniques can be applied to any specific area of extreme tightness or just as a full body mobility guideline as i will explain why each of these techniques and products can be used to affect muscle and joint mobility.
#1 Keep Moving and Hold Yourself Accountable!
Technology in the modern day has enabled us to do things more efficiently and effectively, by using computers, machinery and even having the capability of working from home. This leads to many of us sitting for long periods of time performing small limited movements throughout the day. With our bodies forever changing and adapting if we allow these long periods of inactivity to continue over time, our body becomes more stiff and tight. This is because the body does not need to perform movements that push the mobility of our muscles. The more you move and stay active the more your body will perform to adapt to these physical challenges. Keeping active can promote so many things in your day to day lifestyle. Exercise increases cardiovascular health, helps to keep you awake and focus during the day and even allows you to sleep better at night. An active lifestyle improves all around health but to reduce muscle tightness and stress the best, you have to keep them from getting tight in the first place. A fitness watch in my opinion is the best way to hold yourself accountable. The most simple and easy to use fitness watch in my opinion along with so many others is the Fitbit Charge 4. It will tell you calories burned during times of fitness or workout, distance traveled on runs or outside activities and even track your sleep overnight. If you want to improve all areas of your life and more importantly keep active in my experience a fitness watch poses as a great tool to keep yourself honest with your level of activity day in and day out.
#2 Stretch It Out!
If you don’t allow your muscles to tighten up they won’t, simple as that. Almost as important as keeping active is making sure we are using healthy recovery methods, none of which is more important than stretching. When over-exerting our muscles while working out or doing some sort of physical activity our muscles actually tear slightly. Our body quickly attempts to rebuild our muscles with protein compounds resulting in a sore sensation in the following few days. During this recovery process our muscles actually tighten up in attempt to protect these torn muscles. Making sure we stretch regularly after exercise is a great way to not only loosen our muscles and tendons up but stretching also promotes muscle growth long term. Conversely, if we undergo long periods of inactivity or are in a particular position on a daily basis our muscles also tighten up as they are not being stretched out or activated. The most effective stretching method for me is doing short yoga routines based off the muscle group I want to target. Yoga routines put you in positions that allow you to stretch all areas of your body but also makes you focus on breathing techniques and improves balance as well. Yoga is a great thing to work into your everyday routine which will give you a more relaxed and looser sensation in the following hours and is one of my favorite times of the day. Typically I try to stretch when I wake up in the morning, before bed and anytime I undergo a workout session. In my experience the Ewedoos yoga mat is great for all levels of experience. This product is made with non-slip technology so you can hold positions longer and more effectively. Plus the fact that it is made with eco-friendly materials and methods is an added bonus. This is a tool I use everyday and it has completely changed my overall mobility and is a great way to reduce stress.
#3 Massage It Out!
It seems as though massage guns have really taken off in the last few years flooding the market with its powerful massaging abilities. Although trends usually fade this product is a very useful tool you can bring anywhere that provides instant relief when it comes to soreness of the muscles before or after a workout. How massage guns affect our muscles is it uses a powerful vibrating tip which we can position against any area of soreness or tightness. These powerful vibrations hit deep in our muscle tissue and helps to not only work out knots but also relieves the lactic acid that is built up around these muscles. This allows our bodies to recover faster and also become less sore in days after exercise. Positioning the tip of the massage tool in affected muscle areas can serve as a way to increase blood flow prior to exercise or a workout also. You constantly see athletes at a professional level using massage guns on the sidelines of games to relieve soreness and wake up muscles before activity. However this tool is easy to use and useful for any level of athlete or fitness because naturally our muscles become sore, stiff and tight. This makes it important to always tend to our bodies and relieve any stress our muscles could be carrying. The Toloco massage gun is easy to use, powerful with 20 different speeds and comes with a variety of attachments which can be used to more effectively get into our deep tissue in all muscle groups. I personally use this tool a day after a hard workout to relieve soreness easily while on my couch, or before runs to help loosen and wake up the muscles in my legs.
#4 Roll It Out!
This multi purpose ball roller is great for days following an intense work out. When our muscles go into recovery, muscles tend to tighten up and get sore. By rolling out affected muscle groups this can alleviate soreness in these areas. During times when you are rolling out these muscles you may feel some pain. Muscle groups that you experience pain while rolling over are usually the areas in which you want to target. This tool gets into the deep tissue to help roll out knots formed in muscles and tries to stretch and break apart lactic acid in these muscles by using pressure to get deep into the muscle. This helps in the same way as the other products listed to prevent muscles them getting sore or tight. This is a great, and easy to use, recovery tool which can easily be applied to areas of soreness and fatigue to help them recover faster and avoid long term soreness. With the products design, it can easily fit into your hand to apply to any area of the body. This even has suction cups on the back side of this product which is great to stick to any flat surface for those hard to reach areas on the back. Overall this is a convenient tool to have on you that is simple and easy to use while you really feel the results!
#5 Get The Hard To Reach Areas!
There are some muscles which we do not know exist or do not know how to stretch them out properly. Pso-rite is a scientifically engineered tool which is used to relieve stress in our psoas muscle. This is a difficult to reach muscle which can hold lots of stress on our day to day lives. This product has knobs which are smooth yet hard in order to get deep into the muscle tissue to release stress and loosen knots within our muscles. Pso-rite is not just for your psoas muscle however, this can be used much like the ball roller. The way I use this tool most effectively is to lay it flat on the ground and lay on the product while moving from side to side. With this technique you are using your body weight to push down on the affected muscle group which allows the Pso-rite tool to dig deep into the muscle tissue. Then with the movement from side to side or up and down helps work out knots in these muscles and loosens them after long periods or inactivity or intense workout. I personally use this tool for my lower back when I sit for long periods of time, my hips, shoulders and legs and can be used as a small personal massage tool. Not only that but making sure we are keeping all muscle groups stretched is important and this is a great tool to use in order to relieve stress in our psoas muscle.