Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
IME going to the gym and doing about an hour of varied and strenuous upper body work, full range of motion and at least 12 reps, fixes me right up. Loosens, stretches, feels good after, plus I get fat loss and muscle growth. What's not to like? You don't get the same response? I might say that if one hasn't done a lot of that kind of thing, starting with sets of 30 reps is a good idea.
A typical workout would be 3 sets of: lat pulls, seated rows, back machine, shrugs, cable curls, concentration curls; super sets of dumbbell raises: side, front, back; seated dumbbell presses, knee raises on the Roman chair. That's back and arms day. I also have a chest and legs day. 2 days/week at the gym seems to work for me.
Yeah, exercising used to be enough to work out the kinks, but not after getting hit by cars twice since 2001. By the time I'd regained enough mobility from the broken neck and back vertebrae in 2001 to do any significant exercising the muscles were permanently knotted up. Feels like knotted heavy duty rope in there, between the right shoulder, shoulder blade and neck. Never eases up.
I've tried massage therapists and chiropractors but nobody wants to work hard enough to get to deep muscle problems. My dad suggested Rolfing, said it worked for his chronic deep muscle tension. I never got around to trying it.
The advantage to serious massage machines -- which some chiropractors do have -- is the adjustable pressure. I usually preferred it at or near maximum pressure. Same with their EMS type machines that cause muscles to contract -- I preferred the higher settings. Those little battery operated TENS units aren't the same -- supposedly they just stimulate the nerves just enough to fool them for awhile into not hurting, but it lasts less than an hour. I get more relief from Stopain roll-on topical analgesic.
The Brookstone kneading fingers shiatsu massager doodad shown above has only one setting, but the pressure can be controlled just by how heavily the user leans into the machine. Easily done with an adjustable recliner, or using pillows, etc.