All moms exercise. Before you stop reading because you wouldn’t be caught dead in a gym or out for a run, let me explain. If you are a mother, I am willing to bet your child forces you to move, and moving is well, exercise! Mothers lift, push and in those unfortunate of circumstances occassionally drag 10-70 some odd pounds of kid up flights of stairs, around a zoo, to the park every day and some sleep deprived moms every night!
Mothers sweat. Mothers pant. Mothers exercise. The kind of workout our children give us doesn’t always allow the best form. Picture a mother with one child on her hip while stooping down to pick up a toy. Then realizing big brother has walked away, she ackwardly dashes off with a semi-unwiling child bouncing on her hip. Many times we are moving in a unbalanced way. Unbalanced moving can challenge our muscles but it can also lead to aches and pains.
Last month, I had a couple of these aches and pains so naturally I whined about it to a friend and thankfully she recommended the Trigger Point Ball. For only $19.99 at Jacksonville Running Company, this ball has given me the best massages of my life. The Trigger Point Ball is designed to work in hard to reach spots and release the tension and pain that sets in around the connective tissue of our muscles.
Still think you don’t need a trigger ball? Try this: stand in front of a mirror, are your shoulders naturally curving forward? Most mothers shoulders round inward because they are typing on computers, bending forward to pick up babies and rounding them to hold babies tightly against their bodies. This simple movement repeated multiple times day after day will cause the shoulder and chest muscles to shorten and short muscles equal tension, aches and/or pain. A Trigger Ball offers relief in a matter of seconds to just this kind of issue.
Face the wall and place the trigger ball in the small space between your shoulder and bra strap. Lean into the wall and roll the ball up and down. The ball compresses the fascia (fancy word for the connective tissue around the muscles), allows for more blood and oxygen to flow hence releasing the pain. Voila, you are a new woman and that is just one move!
Are you a working mom in heels all week with achy feet? Placing the ball under your heel and hold with a straight leg, then bend your knee and roll it up to your toes and back. Heavenly!
Jacksonville Running Company not only sells Trigger Point Therapy products, they teach a clinic on it every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Check out their events calendar here. There are endless pain-relieving possibilities with the Trigger Point Ball and all the Trigger Point products. The JRC crew is committed to helping you learn the techniques that will set your body free. Face it, all moms exercise and all moms deserve a massage even if it is only a few minutes here and there!
While Jacksonville Moms Blog was compensated by Jacksonville Running Company, all opinions remain 100% mine.
You can also use a lacrosse ball in the same way. Another good area to work on is the front of your hips, just inside your pelvic bones, roll on it while pushing against a wall (it looks awkward but who cares). I’m always tight there and now that I’m 9 months pregnant it’s really helping stretch out my pelvis!
Trigger point balls and lacrosse balls are great for relieving tight muscles. I use a foam roller with 3 different grids in it that rolls out my whole body. Its called the grid 2.0 . Amazon sells it. Look on YouTube for videos on how to use it. Don’t buy the video. Its a waste of money when there’s plenty of youtube videos for FREE!