Tennis Balls: A Personal Trainers Best

Kept Secret
By Justin Price
Date Released : 14 Aug 2013

Learning Objectives:

Learn about the common causes of chronic pain.

Learn how self-massage can be used to ease chronic pain.
Learn some quick and effective self-massage strategies that fitness
professionals can teach their clients to help them eliminate their own
aches and pains.

People generally want quick and easy solutions to their problems and your
training clients are no exception. Those with a desire to lose weight quickly
may take diet pills, others might utilize steroids to help them put on muscle,
and clients with chronic aches and pains may turn to over-the-counter and/or
prescription pain medications to help alleviate their symptoms. The
undeniable fact about these drug-based, quick-fix solutions is that (for the
most part) they work. However, these strategies have multiple negative side
effects and do little to address underlying issues which prevent clients from
maintaining success without the use of these potentially dangerous drugs.

Helping Our Clients Succeed

As health and fitness professionals, we have the unique opportunity to
educate, empower and motivate our clients to address the underlying causes of
their problems so they can learn how to rely on their own talents to reach their
goals (American Council on Exercise, 2010). However, this idealistic vision
requires a lot of hard work and is sometimes a tough sell to clients. Our clients
are real people, with real problems and it can be challenging helping them
particularly those who experience aches and pains to stick to their programs
long enough to make long-term lifestyle changes. So how can we provide
clients in pain with quick and easy solutions that have no negative side effects,
still address the underlying causes, while also empowering, educating and
motivating them to succeed in reaching their goals?

Causes of Pain
The first step is to understand what typically causes pain. One of the biggest
causes is due to imbalances in, and compensations of, the musculoskeletal
system (Kendall, 2005). To put it simply, people experience aches and pains

due to either muscles not working correctly (muscular compensations) or

bones being out of alignment (skeletal compensations). Since muscles are
attached to bones, these two problems go hand-in-hand. For example, if
muscles are not doing their job(s) correctly due to postural imbalances,
athletic overuse and/or neurological disorders, they can pull the skeleton out
of alignment. Alternatively, if the skeleton is out of alignment due to
trauma/injury, congenital deformities and/or aging, muscle function can be
adversely affected.
As personal trainers and corrective exercise specialists it is beyond our scope
of practice to try to align someones bones. However, it is well within our
scope and expertise to utilize postural assessments to uncover skeletal
imbalances that can then direct us to muscles that may not be working
correctly. For example, if an assessment reveals that a client has excessive
lumbar lordosis (and resultant back pain), we can focus our attention and
corrective exercise strategies toward restoring optimal function to muscles in
that area that may have been adversely affected by that imbalance (such as the
hip flexors, lumbar erectors, hip rotators, etc.) (McGill, 2002).

A Solution for Pain

Once you understand what is causing a persons musculoskeletal pain, you can
then use massage solutions to address the problem (Rolf, 1989). For
approximately 5,000 years, people around the world have been using some
form of massage to promote health, relieve tension, and reduce pain. Massage
is thought to have originated around 2,500 to 3,000 B.C., as documented in
early Chinese medical texts and in ancient Egyptian tomb paintings. Massage
also has documented roots in traditional Indian medicine dating as far back as
1,500 B.C. The ancient Greeks and Romans also recognized the therapeutic
qualities of massage and incorporated it into their daily health regimens. Even
Julius Caesar used massage to help relieve pain! It wasnt until the mid-1800s
that the word massage gained acceptance in the Western medical
community. Since then, massage has become widely used around the world in
all kinds of settingsfrom luxurious spas to hospitals. People from all walks
of life take advantage of the therapeutic benefits of massagefrom weekend
warriors to professional athletes and even the President of the United States.
(Unsealed medical records reveal that President John F. Kennedy used
massage techniques to help alleviate the unbearable back pain he suffered
during his political career) (McCloskey, 2002). One of the main reasons why
massage has become so popular is simple: it works. Here are just a few of the
many ways massage eases pain:

Increases circulationenables oxygen and other nutrients to reach vital

muscles, tissues, and organs.
Increases joint flexibilityprepares the joints for the greater range of
movement and increased load that accompany more dynamic activities,
such as exercising or playing sports.

Reduces scar tissue and adhesionsimproves the elasticity of muscles

and other soft tissues.

Eliminates stored tension in musclesallows muscles to relax.

Releases endorphinsfloods the body with these neurotransmitters that

act as natural painkillers.

Reduces inflammationdecreases production of compounds called

cytokines, which play a role in decreasing inflammation.

Stimulates muscle repairincreases activity in mitochondria, the

powerhouses in cells that are involved in cell repair.

If massage is so effective then, why dont you just tell your clients to head to
the nearest massage therapist to cure their pain? There are many reasons.
Mainly, youd like to keep your clients, right? Also, some people dont like
others touching them, some massage therapists arent well-trained and can
sometimes do more harm than good, and frankly, its expensive and time
consuming to get a professional massage on a regular basis.

A Quick and Easy Fix for Pain

Fortunately, you can use the results of your postural assessment to direct your
client(s) to perform self-massage techniques using a tennis ball on those areas
that have muscular imbalances. This way they can get all the amazing benefits
of massage without any of the drawbacks. Using a tennis ball for self-massage
is an excellent quick-fix solution to chronic pain because:

Tennis ball massage techniques dont require any fancy equipment (i.e.,
a tennis ball cost less than a dollar).
Clients can use their tennis ball techniques to help relieve pain
anywhere, at any time, and with very little space.

Individuals control the pressure of the massage and can get results
immediately. They also experience long-term benefits because you have
provided them with an easy strategy they can do on a regular basis.

By using the tennis ball techniques clients are addressing the

underlying causes of their musculoskeletal pain.

Clients will enjoy better moods because they are releasing stress,
muscle tension and improving their posture.

Clients will experience improved health as they release toxins from

their body.

Clients will recover more quickly from exercise.

Most importantly, tennis ball massage techniques are easy to master

and put your clients in total control of their own pain relief.

Eliminating barriers to client success with tennis ball massage techniques is

simple. Carry a few tennis balls around in your bag and give them to clients
when they have agreed to doing the tennis ball techniques for homework. This
way they wont have to spend an extra hour of their day searching for a tennis
ball. (Giving a tennis ball to your client will also make them more likely to do
the exercises and benefit as a result.) As they begin to feel better, clients will
likely tell friends and family about who taught them these amazing tennis ball
techniques. As such, your small investment in tennis balls will prove
invaluable with the resultant word-of-mouth referrals you receive.
When teaching the techniques, to take a picture of the client doing the
exercise(s) and email it to them so they know exactly what to do on their own.
As you are teaching, ask for input about what key points the client needs to
remember and write those down to accompany the picture, or put them in an
email with the photos. You can also ask your clients what they want to call the
tennis ball technique you have taught them to further personalize each
exercise. This ensures clients will be more likely to adhere to doing them on a
regular basis.

Sample Tennis Ball Techniques

Below are three quick and easy tennis ball techniques to help your clients get
started in alleviating their aches and pains:
Tennis Ball Under Calf
Most people have a forward head posture. In short, this means that their
bodyweight is always tipping toward the front of their feet. As a result, the
foot and ankle must push down (i.e., plantar-flex) to stop the whole body
toppling forward. Over time, this can cause very tight calf muscles and
restrictions to the muscles and fascia of this area. Using a tennis ball to selfmassage the calves is a great way to help improve foot and ankle function and
align the rest of the body.

Figure
1. Tennis Ball Technique Under Calf
Instructions: Sit with your back against the wall or couch. Place a
tennis ball (or a harder ball like a baseball if you need more pressure)
under the calf. Raise the ball up slightly by placing it on top of a book
to take pressure off the knee. Hold each sore spot you find for 20-30
seconds and then move the ball to another spot. Perform technique
on each calf.
Tennis Ball On Glute
There are many muscles in the gluteal complex that help control leg, pelvis,
hip and spine motion. Keeping these muscles supple and healthy with this
tennis ball technique can help alleviate knee, hip and back pain.

Figure
2. Tennis Ball Technique On Glute
Instructions: Lay on the floor with your knees bent and your head
resting on a pillow. Place a tennis ball under one side of your buttocks.
Find a sore spot and hold to the release tension then scoot your body to

move the ball gently to another spot. Hold for 20-30 seconds on each
sore spot. Perform technique on both sides.
Tennis Ball Around Shoulder Blade
Sitting at the computer all day with your upper back hunched and your
shoulders rounded forward can lead to both muscular and skeletal imbalances
in your upper back, neck and shoulders. This exercise is a great self-massage
technique designed to rejuvenate and regenerate the muscles of those areas.

Figure
3. Tennis Ball Technique Around Shoulder Blade
Instructions Lay on the floor with your knees bent and your head
resting on a pillow. Pull one arm across your chest and place a tennis
ball under the shoulder blade of that arm. Find a sore spot and hold to
the release tension then move the ball gently to another spot. Hold for
20-30 seconds on each sore spot. Perform technique on both sides.
Note: Do not roll around vigorously on the ball when performing this
exercise.
References
1. American Council on Exercise. 2010. ACE Personal Trainer Manual
(Fourth Edition). San Diego: American Council on Exercise.
2. Kendall, F.P. et al. 2005. Muscles Testing and Function with Posture
and Pain (5th ed.). Baltimore, MD.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
3. McCloskey, Erin. 2002.The International Journal of Applied
Kinesiology and Kinesiologic Medicine. Issue No. 13.
4. McGill, Stuart. 2002. Low Back Disorders: Evidence Based Prevention
and Rehabilitation. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
5. Price, J. (in press). The Amazing Tennis Ball Back Pain Cure. San
Diego, CA: The Biomechanics Books.

6. Rolf, I. P. 1989. Rolfing: Reestablishing the Natural Alignment and

Structural Integration of the Human Body for Vitality and Well-Being
(revised edition). Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press.