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Summary: Learn how to massage neck muscles for an athlete from an expert in this free how-to video on sports massage therapy.
Views: 2,773 | Tags: sports, massage, oil, therapy, massages, benefits, massaging, massage therapy
About the Expert
Alexson Roy Alexson Roy has been certified and licensed as a massage therapist for over 8 years. Therapeutic massage is his specialty, and he is knowledgeable in yogic, d... read more
After I pull from the base of the neck, so that the client feels it all throughout his spine down to the lower back, I am going to continue to work on his neck. The neck is probably the most important part of any massage. It is the most relaxing and because it deals with the spinal cord so much, it kind of deals with any neuromuscular or any problems that you might have in your back. So what we are going to do is turn his head and we are just going to pull and stretch. Pull and stretch. Popping, snapping and cracking are good indications that you are pretty much doing the right thing because we are not forcing anything. We are just pulling and stretching so that everything going back into place, pretty much. So, we are going to switch sides. I do both sides with the same amount of pressure, pretty much with the same formality. What I am also trying to do is that I am trying to find which area is more tense. So same thing, same pressure, same everything. Even though I feel like this side is more tense than the other side, I am not going to apply any more pressure than I need to. As I said, it is all about relaxing a client. It is all about finding out how you are going to approach the situation once you find out what is going. So, once I do that, slowly place their head back in place and work both sides at the same time. Same pressure. Same thing. I'd say that whatever you're doing at the time, it is good to do it two or three times to kind of get an understanding of what is going on. I am working his trapezius out right now all the way up to the front, to the acromioclavicular joint, which is connected to his deltoid muscles. Repeat, traps and AC joints. So once I do that, I kind of understand where I need to go from this point. His left side seems to be more stiff than his right side. So what I am going to do is I am going to focus on his left side, the side that is not as tense and going to try to apply more pressure so that it will take some of the load away from the side that is more tense.