The Techniques Behind Active Release Therapy
By JEN MURPHY Active release technique, also known as ART, is a combination of movement and massage to treat pain in ligaments, nerves, tendons, muscles, and other connective tissue in the body, according to practitioners. Some people admit it can be painful. “This is quite different from a massage,” says Jessica Tranchina, an Austin, Texas-based ART-certified therapist. “It’s not relaxing, in fact it hurts.” She is usually works on specific muscles rather than the whole body. P. Michael Leahy obtained a patent for ART in 1990. Dr. Leahy is the team soft-tissue specialist for the Denver Broncos, and the head of the ART treatment team for the North American Ironman Triathlons. Dr. Leahy and his staff in Colorado Springs, Colo., train and certify ART therapists. Though professional athletes use the technique, people who sit at a desk and suffer from...
Read MoreHow To Reverse Permanent Sports Injuries
Healing Multiple Injuries After having screws put into his left shoulder, among, other frustrating injuries, Tim Ferriss said his most painful and frustrating injuries were his joints and ligaments. Not his bones. “You can be ripped, and have tons of muscle, but if you’re joints are out of sync, if they don’t function well, all of that is null and void”, Tim explains. Feathers, Crystals and Fuzzy Bunnies Tim went through some very expensive testing, as well as some Eastern philosophies, and some rather weird testing as well. After spending a lot of money, on some very expensive, but ineffective training, Tim came up with a few things that really worked. Having written the 4-Hour Workweek, he now had access to great trainers, and PhD’s that he could talk to. “If I’m getting ready for the Superbowl, and I...
Read MoreSports Therapy Tools for Faster Recovery
New instruments can offer hope and healing to sore and injured runners. By Michelle Hamilton; Published April 12, 2013 Sports massage has long been the go-to therapy for runners seeking relief from aches and pains. And for good reason: A rubdown can improve flexibility, boost bloodflow, and release tension, helping runners recover from or sidestep injury. But because some chronically tight or stubbornly sore spots don’t respond quickly enough to basic massage, many therapists have turned to new bodywork tools and techniques to help their injured clients. While alternative rehab methods, such as Active Release Techniques (ART) and Graston Technique, have been around for years, they are becoming increasingly available to everyday athletes. Like massage, they are forms of soft-tissue mobilization, a therapy that breaks up scar tissue and adhesions between connective tissue. When you sustain an injury or...
Read MoreMark Teixeira’s Therapy Regimen
Mark Teixeira’s Therapy Regimen Photograph by Randy Harris Mark Teixeira’s Therapy Regimen Editor’s Note: Teixeira injured his wrist in preparation for the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. When Mark Teixeira strains a calf muscle, Yankee fans everywhere limp. This past August, the Yankees were trying to hold on to their division lead when the Gold Glove first baseman and dependable power hitter felt a stab of pain in his left calf, sprinting toward first. After 10 games, he was rushed back into the lineup and immediately strained it again, necessitating a three-week layoff and a lot of grousing that the team was old and injury-prone. Teixeira is all of 32, but in baseball years, he’s deep into middle age (he even admitted that he’s “maybe slowing down a tick”). Still, he says he’d like to play eight more seasons. That’s...
Read MoreART for the Rest of Us
Active Release Techniques (ART) “Muscles are the underdogs of the medical world,” says Keren Day, a Manhattan chiropractor and ART therapist. Never heard of ART? Most haven’t. And while orthopedists can surgically repair joints, and physical therapists supervise stretching and strengthening programs often without directly laying their hands on the muscle tissue itself, what elite athletes have learned is that there’s an alternate world of injury treatment, where therapists poke and prod soft tissue with their hands to often extraordinary effects. Some of the most common problems – lower-back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, runner’s knee – are ideal for ART. “Tight, dysfunctional muscles are tugging and pulling at the joint or irritating nerves,” Day says, “and often that’s what is causing the injury.” First developed in the 1980s by Colorado sports chiropractor Mike Leahy, ART quickly spread among the ranks of pro...
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