Summer is coming to an end as we approach the last week of August. I’m a fall person myself but I will miss these hot days where my body is warm, making stretching a little more enjoyable! Did you know warming up the body makes you a little more flexible? I always do my stretching after some kind of exercise, even if it’s just taking a walk around the block! I highly recommend it, so this week I will be giving you a self massage technique that will help warm up those forearm muscles before you stretch:)

You will need a butter knife and coconut oil or some kind of lotion/body oil for this technique.

How to:

1. Apply coconut oil(or whatever lotion or oil you prefer) to the entire left forearm. Then wipe the right hand off so you can hold the butter knife in your hand. You will hold the knife by the serrated end. If you’re concerned about the serrated end cutting your hand at all, place a hand towel around it.

2. Then apply the handle of the butter knife on to the top of the forearm near the elbow as shown in photo marked 1. Apply some decent pressure here. You may feel a little tender and that’s ok. What you don’t want is out right pain, so apply the pressure according to how you feel. Everyone is different in the amount of pressure they can tolerate, that’s why this technique is so great, you can control how it feels to you!

3. Then slowly start to move the butter knife down the forearm towards the wrist as shown in photos 2 and 3. Once you get to the wrist, start to slowly move it back up to the elbow. Continue moving the handle up and down the forearm to massage the entire forearm. We call this muscle “stripping”.You can even turn your arm over to get the underside of the forearm as well. Make sure where ever you are moving the handle that there is some kind of oil/lotion there to help glide over the skin without any pain. You may notice some spots are more tender then others, that’s where you should spend a little more time, going over those areas until it feels not as tender. This technique helps loosen the muscles as well as breaking up adhesions, scar tissue, and trigger points(“knots”). Try to only do about 15-20 mins otherwise you could end up very sore or even bruising yourself. Sometimes we get a little over zealous with massage and you can do a little damage if you apply too much pressure for too long of a time. As always listen to what your body is saying 🙂

If you have any questions please email Rachel at rachel.lackowski@athletico.com