The Arnold Sports Festival is an event that features 18,000 athletes in over 70 sports, showcases performance enhancing products and services, and attracts fans dedicated to fitness and a healthy lifestyle. The event was named after Arnold Schwarzenegger and it’s definitely a great, motivating experience.
I was instantly inspired to better myself, not only by becoming healthier, but also by growing professionally. The expo is full of people who continue to work harder and push the bar higher in their respective fields. My observation was that there isn’t an excuse not to strive for more.
My goal was to find out how many of these dedicated athletes are affected by tight muscle tissue and then to explain the benefits of having pliable muscles based on what I see as a Delos Therapist. What I found was that the elite bodybuilders didn’t have many problems with tension or tight tissues, and more surprisingly, this wasn’t because they were focused on recovery or self care to stay loose. They were doing almost nothing and didn’t have symptoms of tightness or pain that I regularly encounter.
On the other hand, the vast majority of amateur bodybuilders and athletes had a ton of tightness that restricted their mobility and performance. The group of tight individuals was dramatically larger than those who are on top of the performance charts. Although the genetic make-up of some of these individuals gave them an advantage, the most important factor was the efficiency of available muscle tissue. Those who were most pliable outperformed those who weren’t. Those who felt tightest needed to do more to maintain their muscles in order to reach higher levels. The pliability gap between those who are average and those who are great is very apparent.
After talking to many athletes it was clear that they hadn’t found the ideal solution to move beyond plateaus. Those who had pain, lacked range of motion and weren’t able to increase performance had tried similar methods to improve upon these shortcomings. The common answers to the question ‘what methods are you using to improve your performance?’ included foam rolling, using a lacrosse ball, massages, chiropractic, physical therapy, e-stem machines, ice baths, acupuncture, and trigger point therapy. In the end, all of these people needed something more. I was able to get them to understand why muscles need to be pliable and why Delos therapy, which stretches and softens their muscles with precise pressure, works so well.
The athletes who received therapy from me were amazed at how quickly the therapy worked and how much looser they felt. The excitement they expressed when they realized that this is what they have been looking for to solve their issues with pain and performance was overwhelming. Some started to tell their friends to try it out, others brought in their trainers so that I can explain to them what I was doing, and others wanted to know if I can travel to provide therapy. It was a great experience and a great opportunity to educate people about muscle pliability. I plan on doing it again next year.
- Why Are My Muscles Stiff? The Common Causes of Tight, Sore Muscles - March 27, 2019
- The Pliability Gap - March 13, 2018