I realize that a bodyworker-oriented set of DVD's will be of limited utility to most people. But anyone interested in the subject should check this out.
I'm pretty big for a massage therapist (most male MTs tend to be on the shrimpy side), and so I tend to get most of the clients requesting 'Deep Tissue' work at the Omaha Hilton Health Club, and half of my private clients are essentially people in a fair amount of pain and discomfort from trigger points and muscle spasms. But it would be real easy to wreck my hands in short order if all I did for 'deep tissue' work was to do Swedish massage techniques, only HARDER. For instance:
For my 3rd appointment today, I looked at the intake form: male, 30 some years old, wanted deep tissue work. Under 'Forms of Exercise', he'd listed 'lift weights several times a week'. "Cool", I thought, "Bodybuilders and PLs are always fun to work on." I walked over to the waiting room, and there in the chair was: King Kong. It was obvious that this guy 'lifts weights several times a week' the same way Evander Holyfield 'punches people once in a while'. The fellow was literally twice as wide as I am, and twice as thick. His forearms were as thick as my calves. (Fortunately for the world, he was also a pretty nice guy.)
Now if all I'd had were standard Swedish effleurage and petrissage techniques to fall back on, I'd have panicked. And I would have worn myself out trying unsuccessfully to put a dent in the guy. But I'd been practising Riggs' techniques and approaches for 8 months on people of every shape and size, from fragile old ladies to very large, very strong truck drivers, and it was just business as usual , only more so (ie, this was the biggest fellow I'd ever had as a client).
After the warmup strokes, I went straight to using knuckles, fists, forearms and elbows. I was able to work for 60 minutes straight, without a break, and using some very clever positioning tricks, evened out his hips (left site was torsioned in front of the right, throwing off his stride and his squatting groove), improved some adhesions in his calves and hamstrings and got him to the point where he could touch his nose with his fingers again without pain. I'm not saying it didn't take some effort, but I did manage to do it without breaking a sweat or even straining my thumbs. And I didn't hurt him, either.( Half the big men I get complain that when they ask for deep tissue work, they get 'brutalized'.) Riggs' methods help you not only soften tissue, but lengthen it, and work with the body's neurological signals to enhance the relaxation and opening of the muscle meridians and 'anatomy trains'.
I couldn't have worked nearly as well without the material I learned (and am still learning) from these DVDs. There is stuff in here that is far above and beyond anything you will see in a typical massage therapy school, but it is presented so accessibly that anyone with a good sense of touch and the desire to give good bodywork could pick it up quickly.
7 DVD set for $230. The best money I ever spent. I'm not a 'master bodyworker' yet, but this set boosted my development considerably in an amazingly short time.
Riggs also has a book out, "Deep Tissue Massage: A Visual Guide to Techniques" that covers much of the same material and has additional encouragement and advice for therapists and bodyworkers looking for help and new directions in the careers.
http://www.deeptissuemassagemanual.com
Art Riggs "Deep Tissue Massage and Myofascial Release&a
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Art Riggs "Deep Tissue Massage and Myofascial Release&a
"I also think training like a Navy S.E.A.L. is stupid for the average person. I would say PT like an infantry unit, run, body weight stuff, hump a little, a little weights and enjoy life if you are not training for specifics." -tough old man