A trigger point is "a highly irritable localized spot of exquisite tenderness in a nodule in a palpable taut band of muscle tissue." In firefighter terms...It's a knot.
When the muscle fibers are over-stimulated you get a trigger point and the muscles remain in a contracted state, producing pain. Sometimes trigger points can also produce referred pain elsewhere in the body.
Foam rolling can take care of some of those knots and I'm a big fan of them, but sometimes you just have to go deeper and thats where a good ole tennis ball comes in.
A tennis ball gives you the advantage of being much more focused with your soft tissue work compared to a foam roller and allows you to really get in those hard to reach trigger points. You'll know when you've reached it trust me.
At the bottom of the foot, exists the plantar surface (plantar fascia) which is often the source of trouble that communicates up through the rest of the line, referred to as the Superficial Back Line.
The Superficial Back Line (SBL) is a continuous line of myofascial connections which run up the back of the body from the underside of the toes to the forehead.
By manipulating the fascia at the bottom of the feet, you change the status of the fascia all around the body and in a sense, there's a "systemic release" and everything lets go...from the bottom of the feet to the forehead
Just get a tennis ball and start rolling one foot at a time. When you feel a painful spot stop and hold it till you get a release or a 75% reduction of the discomfort.
Rolling my feet on a tennis ball, is the last thing I do before I hit the rack at the station. Wearing station footwear and getting in and out of fire boots all day long, can help develop nasty trigger points on the bottom of your feet. Those few minutes of rolling really help release alot of the tension in the feet
Try it and see if doesn't make you feel better ...for a $1.00
Be Safe
