Tonus, Tension, movement...massage?

[Robert V]

I get weekly massages. I often get comments about how "tight" my body is and how difficult it can be to work on me.

I know my body pretty well, in that I realize where most of my "fear reactivity" reside. I just don't see how I can move as well as I do(I'm not as smooth as the other coaches, but I can move) if I'm as tight as they say I am.

Could they be mistaking tension for tonus?

Example: If someone says your shoulder is tight or has tension in it, to me, that equates to limited movement. (now my shoulders are full of fear reactivity and has limited movement, but that was just an example)

Can you be "tight" and still have a good range of motion and smooth movement?

Thanks,

Robert

[Chuck Kechter]

Robert,

I've had one massage in my life, didn't care for it never had another. . .

I prefer to self massage, er, palpitate, uh, manipulate (what other loaded words can I find?. . . :shock: :wink: ).

You wrote:

Can you be "tight" and still have a good range of motion and smooth movement?

Maybe.

Keith Vitali had the "tightest" hamstrings of any human being I've ever seen, but could kick and move with the best of them. But he was the only example that I could think of.

That being said, my wife gets "some" form (I don't know what it's called) of deep tissue massage twice a month, and we are friends with her masseuse. . . We sometimes play on a volleyball team with her. I have had a couple of conversations about this with her in the last few months. At least in her case she was using the terms synonymously, and in one case erroneously.

Tonus to me has always "meant" something like density. And density doesn't have any restrictions on movement that I know of, except as it relates to mass, spatial proximity, and size.

Tightness to me has always been about bracing. And bracing is braking, no matter how it's applied.

Not a dictionary answer I know, but there they are. . .

V/R,

Chuck

[Matt_OZ]

Hi Robert, Matt here. I'm a massage therapist, Strength and Conditioning Coach and Pilates instructor. Having worked with/on a bunch of different people over the years I have seen all sorts of weird and wonderful things. Taking into account what I have seen and heard during this time here are some factors that can relate to people feeling very tight on the table...

1. dehydration
2. level of comfort with the idea if being massaged
3. level of comfort with the particular therapist who is working on you (this is in regards to both their personality & ability)
4. level of comfort with the particular modality the therapist is using on you. If you have had a bad experience in the past with myofascial release therapy then it is quite likely you could have some tension (fear reactivity) to massage itself.
5. general levels of mental & emotional stress that you are under at the time of the treatment (even something as simple as running late for the appointment)

As you can see, lots of emotional stuff there. Very common for people to feel uncomfortable with having work done around their abdomen and hip flexor regions (we can hold a lot of "emotional stuff" there).

On a physiological level there is also the issue of magnesium deficiency. When I was studying Naturopathy we often discussed how magnesium can be a terrific muscle relaxant. Even if you are not deificient in magnesium you may well receive some noticeable benefit from taking it. This is not intended to be medical advice so obviously you have to look into it yourself (although there is very little chance of suffering ill effect from mag supplementation). Magnesium aspartate is the best form to use but I'm not sure what range of brands you have access to. I know that the ZMA formula made by Optimum Nutrition or Bio-Test uses mag aspartate but they also contain Zinc so be sure to check on your overall dietary Zinc intake (anything more than 25-35mg per day can be unhealthy).

If the therapist is pretty sharp they may find you are someone who benefits from MET (Muscle Energy Techniques) stretching in the first few minutes of your treatment. MET is a lot like CRAC or what we commonly refer to as PNF stretching (although these days the term PNF is misused to describe almost any form of strentching where the participant actively contracts the target muscle).

An obervation I've made is that people with a healthy diet full of fresh veg and or fruits tend to be more supple on the table than those who eat less fresh produce (I imagine your diet is porbably pretty good but I just thought I'd mention this).

Hope that gives some stuff to think about. Also consider trying a range of different massage therapists as their approaches and ability can vary
greatly.

Have a great day, best of luck and don't hesitate to post or PM me if you want to discuss this further.

Matt

[bob_stra]

Can you be "tight" and still have a good range of motion and smooth movement?

Thanks,

Robert

Yes - within that range of motion you are familiar with.

Have you been watching the olympics, esp the women's gymnastics? See how far some of them have their scapulae flared out? There's only a handful of reasons I can think of that happening. It's so prevelant in the ladies, I'm starting to wonder if it infact is just one common thing they all do. No doubt, these ladies would seem to have "tight" pecs

And yet ... I'm sure no one would mistake me for Nadia Comaneci :-) They seem to be winning medals just fine without meddling from shmucks like me

*shrugs*

Is there anyone who *couldn't* refine some aspect of how they move? For me, it'd be fun / interesting to see how well those gymnasts can glide their scapulae in/out from the spine independent of overt arm motion.

As for MT's telling you you're "tight" - blah :-) Tight is a notoriously poor word to use. Unless they know how to check, it could very well be that you are "overloose" in that area (collapsing) and being pulled / compensating from somewhere else.

That's why folks use end feel and muscle testing. Tight means something, but no one can really be sure what.

[Robert V]

Bob,

Thanks. That's fascinating info. If you wish to share anymore info on this subject, I'm all ears! Please.

Robert

[bob_stra]

Bob,

Thanks. That's fascinating info. If you wish to share anymore info on this subject, I'm all ears! Please.

Robert

How about an example?

Turn your head slowly and comfortably from left to right a few times. Make the rest of this experiment slown and small - you're fishing for information, not trying to twist your head off.

Notice how it feels - any sticking points or what not. Take this as the "satisfactory normal level of co-ordination".

Now repeat the movement but this time as you turn your head to the left, turn your eyes to look to the right. IOW If you imagine a bird's eye view of the top of your head, your head is turning from 12 o'clock (neutral / straight in front of you), to 9 (left comfortable limit). Meanwhile your eyes are going from 12 to 3, opposite but *in synch* with the head movement. Bring back everything to neutral, then repeat head left eyes right a few times. Notice any difficult spots - fishing for info.

Now head turns right and eyes turn left. Perhaps even try a complete arc - head from 12 to 9, then 9 to 12 and then 12 to 3 while the eyes simulatenously do the opposite action (12-3,3-12,12-9). You might feel yourself clench your jaw or furrow your brows, stiffen your tongue or tense your neck or back.

If someone came along at that instant and touched these areas, I'd bet you'd feel "tight" and yet you're quite capable of "satisfactorily" turning your head left and right by itself.

This is one crude example of what I mean when I say that it's possible to be "tight" and yet have co-odinated movement in other ways.

The other thing to point out is that for many LMT's *ANY* tension is "bad", mmm'kay :-) I'm sure these types would like to believe we're all made of jello.

[James Boelter]

It's a fascinating topic, and of course, the answers are not simple.

There are as many ways to hold and express stress and tension as there are individuals, and there are at least as many ways to compensate and incorporate those ways. In my own case, I am fairly supple for a 210 lb man over 45 (more so than 90% of the desk bound office workers whose ranks I recently departed), but people who work on me claim it is like massaging a picnic table. Typical 'Swedish Massage' does almost nothing for me, but good shiatsu style pressure-point/tsubo therapy almost always makes me lightheaded and giddy - that's the kind of treatment I'll go for almost every time I have the money to spare to treat myself to some bodywork.

Some people absolutely dote on the blend of cross fiber, shiatsu and deep tissue work I like to perform - they get off the table ready to go run 5 miles or leap over tall buildings, etc. ( I decided to call my business 'Recharge Massage', since that's the result I seem to get most often) - but other people simply want to be put to sleep with the oil and the strokes and drift out in a semi-dream state.

My conclusion: most of us decide, on some deeper inchoate level, what combination of 'armoring', available energy and tension is 'normal' and acceptable, and we also decide what kind of manipulation of that steady state is something we feel comfortable with. To use my own case again, I prefer to feel 'energized' and empowered by bodywork therapies because I have a nearly pathological fear of becoming TOO relaxed and sleepy - it's as if my deeper Bodymind doesn't believe it can (or wants to) shift gears back into a more energetic state if circumstances sudden demand a re-engagement with the stresses and strains of living.

As half-baked inchoate theories go, I am fairly proud of this one. :wink:

[bob_stra]

James beat me to it, had this bit to add ;-)

***************

Also wanted to add - "tension" is a sign of...something. Either guarding an area, preparation for movement or even a parasitic action. In the above, the action of turning the eyes and head seperately is difficult because it's quite easy to cause a parasitic action with the eyes that prevents the head from freely turning. (Some of the intrinsic muscles of the eyes have attachment to the cervical spine and skull IIRC. Nevermind the hyper-irradiation/armoring effect on the muscles of the jaw and tongue, which in turn affect the neck, throat etc). End result = tension until you can find a way to differentiate the two, should you choose to.