Here's an unusual review for you guys, but I love love love these balls and I've been using them for over a year now so it's about time I let you guys know about them. I'm a fan of really good massage chairs but considering I live in a 220 square foot trailer, I don't have the luxury of getting one of my own (and TBH I'm a little creeped out by communal public massage chairs). But you know whats better than a massage chair? These balls. They get to the trigger points that even most massage chairs can't get to and they're super portable. {Just to note, I also have a foam roaller and I'm a fan of rolling too, but I love these balls more.}
These massage ball also goes by the name of lacrosse balls. They're quite firm with just a slight slight give. To massage my shoulders and back, I usually roll them along a wall while standing up. And to massage my IT band and glutes, I'll roll them along the floor (and oh it feels so good since gravity and my own body weight allow the balls to go really deep into the muscle tissue). If there's a particular painful point, I'll try to hold it in that spot and breath through it for 30 seconds. I feel like that helps to really loosen some of the knots. Also run the ball parallel to the muscle fiber to help push the knots out. I found this great little article explaining the basics of self-massage. For the most part I don't have a set routine and just massage where I feel like I need it. There's also a lot of great youtube videos demonstrating some basic massage moves.
Even if you're not a particularly active person, I think most people should use a foam roller or these lacrosse balls daily (especially if you're sitting in front of a computer all the time). Sitting and holding that position for prolonged hours causes muscle weakness in some fibers and muscle strain in others (fun fact: I thought I wanted to be a personal trainer at one point and so I studied for the licensing test. I never did take the test but I learned a lot of really interesting stuff about kinesiology). Does anyone else have these massage balls and what's your favorite technique when using them?
P.S. I usually like to make a lot of inappropriate comments about my balls but restrained myself this time, lol.