Your body is made up of approximately 700 muscles. Muscles make us move, they power ALL action. Without them nothing in the body would be able to move. They move the body by pulling on the bones of the skeleton because they are all attached directly or indirectly to the bones. The muscular, skeletal and nervous system are all intricately related. Muscles get stimulated by nerve impulses, resulting in contraction of the muscle, the pulling on the bone and movement of the body. Muscles are intertwined with blood cells and nerves that help deliver nutrients, oxygen and function to the muscles. The more muscles are used, the more oxygen and nutrients they need.
When muscles contract, the fibres they are made up of slide over each other to pull together. Muscles work in a balancing of tension with other muscles in the body. When a muscle contracts its opposing muscle relaxes. The stability of joints depends on the balance of all the body’s muscles working together correctly. When a muscle becomes tight due to overuse, injury, bad posture, nutrition etc, the fibres that slide over each other stick together and the muscle will not be able to contract properly. This affects the length of the muscle, the strength of the muscle, the ability for oxygen & nutrients to be delivered to the muscle, and it also affects the stability of joints, the alignment of the body’s structure, and the mechanics of the body overall.
Once muscles are in a tightened state they often will not correct themselves on their own. Therefore the body is operating in a weakened state, as tight muscles become weakened muscles. To achieve power muscles must be relaxed so their relationship to each other can reach its mechanical potential. Injury can sometimes occur because one muscle is tight while another one is stretched causing an imbalance within the body’s balancing tensions. Abnormal muscle contraction=lack of strength and flexibility=increased injuries.
When muscles are tight pain eventually occurs because nerves become irritated and inflamed by the mechanical, muscle, and soft tissue changes within the body. Chronic muscle tightness may result in areas of inflammation building up and causing more pain. When left untreated chronic pain cycles occur. Muscle tightness also has the ability to travel through the body if left unchecked as more and more fibres keep sticking together. This just keeps affecting the way your body operates.
Healthy soft tissue and muscles will function without pain or weakness. Correct body balance helps conserve energy & ensure freedom from strain & fatigue.
This is why the skilled application of massage can help the muscles of the body, because massage is muscle therapy and a lot of physical conditions are a result of problems with the muscles of the body.
Massage therapy aims to remove these soft tissue restrictions and dysfunctions, break up the sticky muscle fibres and promote oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. This in turn promotes optimum muscle health, length, mobility, flexibility, and function.
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