A.R.T.

[tgerstmar2]

Over at the tesosterone board they rave over ART for injuries/rehabilitation/prevention. Anyone here tried ART, and what results did you get?
Any practitioners? Thinking of getting some training in this modality myself but it's pricey and I'd like to hear from people who've had it and preferably people who use it.

Thanks.

[bob_stra]

Over at the tesosterone board they rave over ART for injuries/rehabilitation/prevention. Anyone here tried ART, and what results did you get?
Any practitioners? Thinking of getting some training in this modality myself but it's pricey and I'd like to hear from people who've had it and preferably people who use it.

Thanks.

This is based on the few snippets I've read. It could be wrong. It probably is.

ART? As in Active Release Technique? IIRC its a repackaging of older approaches.

I bet Jarlo will be able to tell you more about it. AFAIK ART is an combination of SCS (strain-counter strain) and MET (muscle energy tech), with some TFF (transverse fibre friction) and some trigger point work thrown in.

These are all useful approaches to soft tissue injury. I use 3 of these 4 modalities fairly regularly with good result.

Having said that, there are more approaches to soft tissue manual therapy that you've had hot dinners. Ie - lots.

Tell you what. Get a book on ART (do they sell the course manual separately?). Then compare it Chaitow's big four - soft tissue manipulation, positional release technique, muscle energy technique and
modern neuromuscular. The amazon links are here -

http://www.healthy.net/bios/chaitow/advisory.htm

If you still find ART of interest, pursue it. If not, try any of the home study MET course available (eg: Onsen).

Like I said, I could be wrong. I'm jaded too - kinda given up looking for magic bullets ;-)

ps: The folks over at http://www.noigroup.com/ might be able to give you better info, as I'm just flapping my gums here ;-)

[Jarlo Ilano]

Umm, I am not too familiar with the "trademarked" version of Active Release Technique. I believe, that at its simplest, it involves a massage in which the practioner applies pressure along the muscle while the client moves in a particular range of motion. It seemed particularly useful for shortened muscle groups, whether the mechanism be a type of fascial release or simply a reduction in tone. At least that is how one of my instructors showed us. He called it "active release", but it may not particularly resemble what ART tm is, because I'm sure he modified it to suit his needs. (40 years plus of innovative thinking in therapy will do that to you, he's one of my idols :) ). And on that note...
As Bob wrote

Like I said, I could be wrong. I'm jaded too - kinda given up looking for magic bullets

There are most likely a variety of approaches that will help your problem (or your client's problems). A lot of them are right here at your disposal through the very knowledgeable people on this board. And its free! :P

Provide a few specifics in what you are concerned about, and I'm sure you will find some great suggestions here from a variety of different perspectives.

But of course you should always research ART and see if it will fit you. The resources Bob mentioned are great, as is just googling about. Also, you can just try one session of it on yourself and see how it goes. Nothing wrong with a little first hand experience.

Jarlo

[bob_stra]

Addendum -

For some reason, ART is ringing a bell. Particularly in reference to AIS (active isolated stretching) and Somato-visceral techniques (Upledger, "bloodless surgery" etc).

I dunno. I recall something abt Milos Sarchev (sp), bodybuilder from ages ago saying good things abt ART. At the time, it struck me that the descriptions were similar to the course outlines for the above two.

Every possibility that I'm 100%, assbackwards wrong. Any chance of a URL that outlines the wherefores and whys?

[Larry]

I've had a lot of ART done to my by my chiropractor who's certified in it.

He's cleared up a lot of muscle overuse injuries I'd developed over the years. In many respects I'd compare it to Rolfing but without the bizarre postural ideas the Rolfers have. The basic idea is that in an injury or overuse situation there are a bunch of adhesions that develop in the muscle tissues that have to be broken up and reabsorbed by the body in order for the muscles to fully release. There is a lot of very deep tissue massage and a grinding into and through the muscle, using the fingers and occasionally the elbows, while moving the muscle through its range of motion.

The procedure hurts like the dickens when he gets in there, but if you know how to dog-breathe out of it, it's not all that bad.

My wife has many chronic disabilities from three different brain surgeries she had a number of years ago. My chiropractor--who makes it clear he can't "cure" my wife of what's going on with her because the source is neurological--nonetheless is the only person I've run into who can at least temporarily clear up the consequences of the chronic muscle spasms my wife is always going through.

Again, I'm sure there are ART con artists out there, and I don't believe it's all that original a discipline. But taking it for what it is, I find it can be pretty helpful.

[James Boelter]

It does indeed hurt like the dickens. I've had trigger point therapy that made my eyes bulge and my tongue roll out like a Warner Brothers' cartoon character with his head caught in a vise, and ART is more painful than that.

I had several ART sessions with a chiropractor who is a certfied ART instructor in an attempt to clear up the adhesions in my left arm and shoulder - to no apparent effect. This is not to say that the therapy is a waste of time, just that it is indeed not a 'magic bullet' . The adhesions she was going after dated back to an automobile accident in childhood that broke my left collarbone, wrenched my neck and deafened me in one ear at age 5. So ART may have more profound affects on recent (less than a year or two) injuries - as far as I know - but it isn't a miracle or anything.

OTH, my massage therapy instructor thinks highly of ART, and thinks it is worth pursuing as a specialty - but you need to have your anatomy, kinesiology and pathology down cold before you go in for training, or you will be wasting your time.

[tgerstmar2]

Thanks everyone for the informative replies. It's nice to have some helpful, knowledgeable bodyworkers around. Haven't had the pleasure in a while.

Thanks again.

[Brett Jacques]

Burl Pettibon, DC used a similar technique in his teachings.

Mike Boyle, author of Functional Training for Sports used a great analogy regarding body work for injuries. He said that an injury is like wrinkled clothes, to change it you need heat and pressure (an iron) and that sometimes while your ironing to have to move the piece of clothing to follow the contour of the clothes to get the wrinkles out but the basics of heat and pressure work.

Some methods of injury management are big on the pressure, some on movement and others just heat like ultrasound. Probably the ideal is a combination of these.

[Lumpy Gravy]

Doh! I just posted about this over in the longevity board. I, too, have heard great things about ART, and I've had one session to treat an old injury of mine. Worked remarkably well...