Hello Friends!
I hope everyone had a marvelous weekend! I don’t know if it was riding bikes with Phil, teaching multiple classes, stress from the wedding, or a combination of everything, but I am all sorts of tight in my glutes after this weekend. To help, I have a myofascial release session planned during the Eagles game tonight…GO BIRDS!!!!
I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with myofascial release but just in case, MFR is a soft tissue therapy used to relieve pain and immobility in the muscles. The goal is to release tension in the musculature and allow better circulation by loading the tissue with direct force until the muscular contraction releases. There are a ton of different options for the ‘application of direct force’ but I use a tennis ball or something similar. The idea is to find a specific part of the body that is sore, locate the trigger point (or super sore spot) and settle in to see if you can relieve some tension. 
Today’s focus is on glut med which presents as pain in the outer hip, top of your butt, or as centralized back pain. Above is an image of some of the common pain stops and trigger points associated tension in these muscles.
SO, what do to….
Take a few minutes in each position, allow the tennis ball to sink into the muscles, and try to soften/relax (it helps to breath deeply). Once you feel a release there, roll the ball a little up and down or side to side, find another trigger point, and repeat!
I should warn anyone who hasn’t tried this before, it can be uncomfortable! However, you should not experience any shooting pain, numbness, tingling, etc… if you do, back off and find a new spot, haha, you’re likely on a nerve – no need to be alarmed, you’ll be fine, the body is very resilient!
My goal is to share more myofascial release tips each Monday leading up to the wedding, so any questions, requests, etc.., please leave them in the comments section!
’til next time, keep smiling! 🙂
Livingleen 