User Guide - Upper Body
Recommendations and best practices:
- Identify trigger points, pause, and allow them to relax. Apply pressure for a period long enough for the tension to release.
- Relax the muscle you are targeting and breathe deeply while rolling.
- Own your rolling experience with as much or as little pressure as you are comfortable with, but discontinue any movement that intensifies pain.
- A barbell collar may be used to prevent the roller from sliding off of the barbell.
- When using the roller on a barbell in a rack, place a weight plate on the opposite end of the barbell heavy enough to keep the barbell secured within the rack.
- Supporting your joints will help you to relax and achieve deeper targeting when using the barbell as a handle; such as placing a yoga block under your knee while rolling your quadriceps.
Neck - Suboccipitals
Your suboccipital muscles are located along the upper part of your neck at the base of your skull. Lie face up on the floor resting this part of your neck against the contours of the roller. Rock your head back and forth slightly from side to side, allowing the weight of your head and neck to press into the roller. Additional pressure is not required. Massaging this area tends to relieve tension all over the body, so it’s a great place to start.
Shoulders - Upper Traps
With the roller mounted on a barbell sit on the floor with the barbell behind you, angled away from your body. Begin by gently placing the roller on your shoulder while leaning your head in the opposite direction, away from the shoulder you are massaging. Use your hands to guide the roller along your shoulder scanning for any muscle knots. If a tight spot (trigger point) is found, apply gentle pressure by pulling down on the end of the barbell. Hold for 30-45 seconds until the tension begins to release.
Upper Back
Lie back on top of the roller, face up, starting with the roller just above your shoulder blades. Be sure that your spine is aligned with the valley in the center of the roller, so as to avoid rolling over the bony protrusions of the spine. Lift yourself up onto the roller using your feet, and roll slowly toward your mid-back, scanning for any problem areas. If a tense spot is found, spend some time going back and forth over the area slowly. Focus on relaxing and breathing deeply to get the muscles to release.
Latissimus Dorsi
1. With the roller on the sleeve of an Olympic barbell, lie on your side and place the barbell so that it’s angled away from your body behind you. Place the roller on your side near your underarm. Use the opposite hand to guide the roller up and down your side.
2. An Olympic barbell loaded with plates can be used to elevate the roller to a desired position. Mount the roller on a barbell as shown in fig. 2. Gently lie with your arm outstretched over the top of the roller. Rock back and forth.
3. Lie across the roller with your arm outstretched overhead. Rolling back and forth, scan for tense areas.
Arms - Triceps
With the roller over the sleeve of an Olympic barbell, and the barbell mounted at the proper height in a rack, you can massage areas of the body such as the triceps. *When using the roller on a barbell in a rack, it is important to always have a counterweight such as a weight plate on the opposite end of the barbell. Roll the back of your upper arm over the roller. Pause and apply downward pressure to any muscle knots while flexing your arm back and forth at the elbow in order to actively release the triceps.