PreHab Exercise Book for Soft Tissue Therapy Exercises to Improve Flexibility, Range of Motion and overall Mobility

165 Pages·2016·25.76 MB·English

by  Michael Rosengart

About the Book

PreHab Exercise Book for Soft Tissue Therapy
Soft Tissue Therapy has been scientifically proven to improve an individual’s level of
Mobility in regards to Range of Motion, Flexibility, and Responsiveness. For this
reason, it deserves to be an integral part of any training program.

Corrective Measures
Soft Tissue Therapy is the process of using force via pressure to restore the
functionality of the muscles, tendons, fascia, and ligaments to improve an individual's
Movement Quality. This eliminates Myofascial Trigger Points, Adhesions, and Scar
Tissue, all of which contribute to Patterns of Compensation and Movement
Dysfunctions. These negative movements hinder an individual’s performance in
athletics as well as in daily life, increasing the risk of injury.

Additionally, Soft Tissue Therapy accelerates cellular Recovery and Regeneration,
speeding up the natural healing process of the tissues by decreasing stiffness and
eliminating Myofascial Trigger Points that lead to stagnation of fluids and metabolic
waste inside the tissue. It increases the blood flow and circulation that deliver much
needed nutrients and oxygen to damaged or compromised cells, a common
consequence of training.

Move better and move longer with Soft Tissue Therapy.
This book offers a score of exercises organized in varying skill levels accompanied by
detailed illustrations and directions to help an individual create and maintain an effective
soft tissue therapy practice.

Start a soft tissue therapy practice today and start to move in the right direction!

Author and Illustrator -
Michael Rosengart, CPT, CES, CSCS is a Certified Personal Trainer with the National
Council on Strength and Fitness, a Corrective Exercise Specialist with the National
Academy of Sports Medicine, and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with
the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Michael is also the author of the
PreHab Exercise Book for Runners.
Author & Illustrator: Michael Rosengart, CPT, CES, CSCS

About the Author - Michael Rosengart, CPT, CES, CSCS
Michael Rosengart is a Certified Personal Trainer with the National Council on Strength and Fitness, a
Corrective Exercise Specialist with the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and a Certified Strength
and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Michael has been training athletes and clients since 2000. He started his personal trainer career at
Equinox Fitness in New York City before moving to Los Angeles to serve as a strength and conditioning
coach at Santa Monica College. Now, Michael and his wife live on the East Coast, near his family in
Hagerstown, Maryland.

Training Philosophy
Michael's progressive approach and philosophy of training has evolved greatly throughout the years, as
have many of the trends in exercise and fitness. From cross-training and functional movement training to
PreHab and periodized conjugate systems for strength training, Michael's training philosophy has always
been centered on progress and one simple mantra, ‘keep getting better.’

In regard to training, Michael uses PreHab Exercises and techniques as a tool to correct biomechanical
dysfunctions and eliminate patterns of compensation in movement to improve an individual’s Movement
Quality as well as the individual’s performance and longevity.

In 2012, Michael created the A.M.A.S.S. Method for PreHab and Training, which is a working framework
to evaluate an individual’s capacity for movement. It then provides information on how to integrate
exercises and techniques that help to restore Biomechanical Integrity and improve Movement Quality.

PreHab Exercise Book for Runners and More
At the same time he was inspired to create the A.M.A.S.S. Method, Michael was writing and illustrating
the internationally-sold book, PreHab Exercise Book for Runners, which chronicles his journey to
overcome previous football injuries (a twice-torn Achilles Tendon and broken leg) and improve his running
technique and get faster too!

Michael is the author and illustrator for the PreHab Exercises, a website dedicated to teaching individuals
how to improve their Movement Quality, prevent injuries, and perform their best in athletics and life. He
has presented seminars and led workshops about PreHab and Training at Santa Monica College, UCLA,
Medifit/Exos, YMCA, Spectrum Athletic Clubs, Fox Studios, Volvo Group Trucks, Xiong CrossFit and
CrossFit Chambersburg. Lastly, Michael has served as a Strength Coach for the YMCA Swim Teams and
the Santa Monica College Football team.

To learn more about Michael or PreHab Exercises, visit www.prehabexercises.com

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PreHab Exercise eBook for Soft Tissue I
GETTING STARTED

H o w t o U s e t h i s
B o o k

This book comes with scores of exercise illustrations to help an individual develop an
effective Soft Tissue Therapy practice.

The key word is ‘practice.’ Due to the physiological nature of the body, soft tissue
therapy is an activity that ‘should’ be done several times throughout the week, if not on
a daily basis, because the soft tissue experiences trauma and ‘wear-and-tear’ on a daily
basis that ultimately effects the way an individual moves.

Practicing soft tissue therapy on a regular basis helps to eliminate patterns of
compensation or movement dysfunction that grow from daily ‘wear-and-tear’ as well as
acute trauma. Additionally, soft tissue therapy helps the body recover from exercise or
Daily Life Activities and prepares the body to perform again.

Use this book as a guide to developing an effective practice by following the sequence
of soft tissue therapy exercises listed in each section.

New to Soft Tissue Therapy
If you are new to soft tissue therapy, start with the exercise sequence in the Foam
Rolling section to familiarize yourself with the practice and develop the soft tissue
therapy habit.

Intermediate Practitioners
If you are already familiar with foam rolling, move on to the ‘Rolling with a Ball’ section
to pinpoint trouble areas that seem stiff or tight.

Intermediate Practitioners should also have ‘metrics’ to measure improvements. Select
a few stretches to be the measuring stick in finding how your soft tissue therapy practice
improves Mobility. If you cannot see improvement in these stretches, refer back to this
manual for tips and suggestions on how to refine your practice, both in Foam Rolling
and Rolling with a Ball techniques.

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PreHab Exercise eBook for Soft Tissue Therapy
GETTING STARTED

Advanced Practitioners
If you already have a solid soft tissue therapy practice or habit and you are still looking
for ways to improve your Mobility, then focus on the Barbell Rolling and Self-Massage
sections in this book.

Advanced Practitioners still seeking improvement can benefit from Barbell Rolling as the
barbell delivers a higher magnitude of pressure into the soft tissue that has a deeper
effect on the tissues.

Additionally, the Self-Massage section helps an Advanced Practitioner refine his
technique within specific target areas as well as provides the opportunity to practice soft
tissue therapy anytime, anywhere. This is a huge game changer because a high level
of frequency in one’s practice conditions the soft tissue to be very responsive to
‘positive’ change. This helps eliminate compensation patterns that may still be affecting
one’s Movement Patterns.

It is also recommended that Advanced Practitioners use this book to revisit the Foam
Rolling and Rolling with a Ball sections.

Book Sections Are Sequences
Each segment of the book is organized in a prescribed sequence of soft tissue therapy.
Simply turn to the first page of a given section, i.e. Foam Rolling or Rolling with a Ball,
and start from there. Practice each exercise in the section to complete a soft tissue
therapy session that addresses the whole body.

Start.
Learn.
Improve.
Keep Getting Better!

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PreHab Exercise eBook for Soft Tissue Therapy
I N T R O D U C T I O N
PreHab Exercise Book for
Soft Tissue Therapy

Why soft tissue therapy?
The answer to this question is rather simple. Soft tissue therapy helps prepare the body
to move (and move its best) while also helping the body repair itself from movement,
especially damage from exercise and training as well as repetitive Daily Life Activities
such as texting, sitting, walking, and standing.

Soft tissue therapy is therapy for the body, specifically the muscles, tendons, ligaments
and fascia, all of which are the physiological structures that create Human Movement.

Just as people seek out different therapies for the different stresses of life, i.e.
psychologists, spa days, shopping, etc., individuals interested in moving better (and
moving longer) seek out therapy for their bodies, namely through foam rolling, rolling
with a tennis or lacrosse ball, and/or other various forms of massage.

Soft Tissue Therapy will:

• Improve an individual's Mobility
• Assist in cellular Recovery and
Regeneration

Essentially, soft tissue therapy helps an individual move with improved Mobility, i.e. the
combination of muscle/tendon flexibility and joint Range of Motion, while helping the
body repair the cellular damage sometimes caused in movement, whether it's from
exercise or from working on the computer all day.

Soft tissue therapy is recommended for anyone and everyone. We all need to move to
maintain a healthy standard of living; soft tissue therapy is movement therapy. So, it's
important to treat the body right!

PreHab Exercise eBook for Soft Tissue Therapy 1
INTRODUCTION

S o f t T i s s u e T h e r a p y
Soft Tissue Therapy is one of the main contracting and lengthening. However, a deeper
ingredients in any effort to improve an understanding of muscle structures and how
individual’s Mobility as well as imperative in the muscles work is necessary to be effective when
support of Movement Practices, from team practicing soft tissue therapy.
sports and dancing to Powerlifting, Yoga, Martial
Arts, and everything in between. Design
 of
 a
 Muscle

Muscles are created by combining fibers into
Defining Soft Tissue Therapy small bundles, then bundling these bundles into
Before explaining the therapy portion of soft bigger bunches, which combine to make even
tissue therapy, it is important to define the term bigger groups, and so on and so forth. The
“soft tissue”. smallest fiber is a contractile cell called a
‘sarcomere.’ The sarcomere is the quintessential
Soft tissue is everything in the body from head building block of a muscle and the driving force
to toe, except for bones. This long list includes, behind a muscle’s contraction or lengthening
but is not limited to: organs, skin, fat, and phase.
muscles. However, for the purposes of training
and fitness, the operational definition of soft Deep within a muscle’s sarcomere are two
tissue will be reduced to include only the myofilaments called Actin and Myosin. These
physiological structures mainly responsible for filaments are aligned parallel to each other. This
creating Human Movement. This includes the facilitates the ‘sliding’ function of a sarcomere.
following soft tissues: The Myosin strand is equipped with ‘little hooks’
that grab hold of the Actin strand before
Muscles discharging a pulling force that allows the
Tendons myofilaments to slide over one another and
Fascia shorten the sarcomere. Essentially, the sliding
Ligaments action of the Actin over the Myosin is the driving
force of a muscle contraction.
Muscles
A large muscle contraction consists of millions of
Virtually everyone who has ever attempted to
sarcomeres (muscle fibers) generating a ‘pulling
exercise has a broad understanding of what
force’ as billions of Actin and Myosin ‘slide’ over
muscles are. In short, muscles cover the body
one another into a shortened state.
from head to toe and make the body move by

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PreHab Exercise eBook for Soft Tissue Therapy
INTRODUCTION

Diagram of Muscle via Wiki Commons
Importance
 of
 the
 Sliding
 Filament
 Theory
  Limitations
 to
 Movement

The ‘sliding’ process of a muscle contraction is Within the soft tissue itself, there are a few
called the Sliding Filament Theory. This theory natural physiological structures that can obstruct
provides the most fundamental understanding of or limit the body’s potential for movement. These
all Human Movement and its development. It include Myofascial Trigger Points (knots),
also points to an effective way to maintain an Adhesions, and Scar Tissue.
individual’s capacity for movement.

Diagram of a Sarcomere
Author David Richfield

Myofascial
 Trigger
 Points
 or
 Knots
  Furthermore, the flood of Acetylcholine for
prolonged periods depletes oxygen levels within
Most people have experienced a painful ‘knot’ in
the cell. This causes pH levels to turn acidic
their muscles that either caused pain or impeded
which prohibits the release of Actin and Myosin.
movement to some degree, such as a ‘pain in
In short, a knot is a prolonged process of
the neck’ or a ‘stiff neck.’ These knots are really
neuromuscular stimulation of Slow Twitch
Myofascial Trigger Points, or areas in the soft
muscle fibers that involuntarily sustain a
tissue where clusters of sarcomeres (muscle
contraction and keep the muscle fibers in a
fibers) have become ‘locked’ or shortened
shortened state.
because of overuse or a repetitive motion in a

given Movement Pattern.
Consequences of Knots

Unfortunately, Myofascial Trigger Points have
Myofascial Trigger Points or knots usually occur
consequences on Human Movement. These
in Slow Twitch or Endurance-types of muscles
knots disrupt the natural flow of kinetic energy
fibers. They are essentially the creation of high
through the soft tissue and cause the body to
neuromuscular activity within the sarcomere; a
compensate in the way it produces and sustains
continual flood of neurological impulses releases
muscle. Ultimately, knots shift the way an
an overflow of Calcium and Acetylcholine to the
individual moves to ineffective patterns that put
sarcomere that causes the Actin and Myosin
stress on other physiological structures, possibly
filaments to bind together and remain ‘locked’.
creating injuries in the form of micro trauma in
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PreHab Exercise eBook for Soft Tissue Therapy
INTRODUCTION

the soft tissue from repetitive exposure to Recap: Myofascial Trigger Points
inappropriate stresses. Myofascial Trigger Points or ‘knots’ are a natural
phenomenon that occur in the soft tissue,
particularly in Slow Twitch Muscle Fibers, when
those muscles are involved in repetitive
movements or ‘overuse.’ These ‘knots’ can
impede proper biomechanics and create
patterns of compensation in the way an
individual moves, which is not ideal as
compensation patterns further distort
biomechanical integrity, eventually leading to
injury as well as inefficiency in movement.

Myofascial Trigger Points (Knots) can easily be
remedied and prevented with soft tissue therapy
as well as diversification in daily movements and

implementing a stretching practice.
Diagram of Myofascial Trigger Point by David
Parmenter via Wiki Commons
Adhesions

Another natural obstruction to the system of
Remedies
 for
 Knots

Human Movement is adhesions. Adhesions are
Fortunately, there are several easy ways to
‘casts’ or physiological ‘scaffolding’ that is
eliminate knots and reduce the future formation
created within the soft tissue to provide
of these Myofascial Trigger Points and the pain
protection to damaged cells and assistance in
and compensation patterns that come with them.
the natural healing process.

Solution and Preventative Measures for
The term ‘adhesion’ literally translates as ‘stick
Myofascial Trigger Points
to’ or ‘bind to.’ The prefix ‘ad-’ infers that the
• Move in several different Movement
action of the word is going towards something,
Patterns (Movement & Stretching)
similar to ‘advance’ or the act of moving towards
o The practice of moving in different
something. ‘Hesion’ means to ‘stick, bind, or
patterns reduces the ‘overuse’ stress
cling.’ Therefore, ‘adhesion’ means sticking or
that accompanies repetitive movements.
binding to something, which is exactly what
This includes changing positions when
happens in this obstruction.
you sit or stand at work, in the car, or

even in social engagements.
Developing Adhesions
o Moving in different Movement Patterns
Deep within the soft tissue, cells experience
improves circulation and blood flow to
damage from inappropriate amounts of stress.
the affected area (trigger point), which
This damage can be a literal tear of the cell or it
delivers more oxygen as well as
may just be a stress on the cell that taxes the
nutrients that help cells regenerate and
physiological structure and impairs its ability to
balance pH levels.
function appropriately. In either case, the
• Pressurize the Trigger Point Area (Soft
occurrence of cellular damage, whether from an
Tissue Therapy)
accident, exercising, or just daily living, causes
o Applying pressure to the affected area
the body to create an adhesion to assist in the
influence mechanoreceptors and
natural healing process of that cell.
proprioceptor (sensory) neurons to

command the Actin and Myosin to
An adhesion develops when a protein, either a
release and allow the sarcomere
fibrin or collagen protein, attaches the damaged
(muscle fiber) to lengthen.
cell to the neighboring cell. This process creates
o Additionally, applying pressure
a ‘bridge’ so all the stress of the damaged cell
increases circulation and blood flow to
can be shuttled onto its neighbor as a part of
the active area (trigger point), which
mechanotransduction, the mechanics and
delivers more oxygen and nutrients
direction of force through the cells of the body.
which help cells regenerate and balance
Essentially, this adhesion acts as a cast or
pH levels.
scaffolding that shields the damaged cell and

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PreHab Exercise eBook for Soft Tissue Therapy
INTRODUCTION

diverts the flow of forces in the body to a place Worse yet, the continual repetition of moving
that won’t damage it more. with patterns of compensation can lead to a
habitual change of mechanics in the individual’s
Adhesions are purely natural and are an Movement Patterns. In other words, the person
essential part of the body’s physiological learns to move incorrectly and develops
system. There is nothing wrong with an inefficient movement habits that they repeat on a
adhesion; the trouble occurs when an individual continual, if not daily basis.
attempts to move or exercise or participate in
sports with a host of adhesions in the body. Continuing to perform movements with patterns
of compensation maximizes inefficiencies and
Leading
 to
 Compensation
  leads to injury.

When the soft tissue is populated by adhesions,
Asymmetrical Weight Shift
the natural flow of kinetic energy (force) is
Looking back at the previous example of the
disrupted in the body. What does this mean? It
ankle sprain/stubbed toe, a pattern for additional
means that energy and force do not flow through
dysfunction can easily develop within that
the body as it is designed to, which results in an
individual’s movement. For instance, let’s say
inappropriate amount of force accumulating on
the individual does not allow the ankle or toe to
cells that are not designed to handle those
heal fully and continues to exercise. The body
forces.
naturally create patterns of compensation in the

way it moves to protect the injured ankle or toe.
Then, the body changes the way it moves to
This includes shifted weight and impact forces
avoid placing stress on the damaged cells. This
from the injured foot to the opposite foot. The
strategy leads to an alteration of an individual’s
real trouble occurs if this individual continues to
Movement Patterns as the body compensates
play basketball or exercises with this pattern of
for its current inadequacies.
compensation.

For example, if a person sprains his ankle or
Over time this individual’s body will re-enforce
even stubs his toe, the individual quickly
this pattern of shifting weight to the ‘healthy’ leg,
changes the mechanics of how he walks. In an
strengthening that side of the body, but more
instant, a normal walking stride (gait) turns into a
importantly limiting the opportunity for the injured
limp or compensation.
side to develop the same amount of strength.

Every time this individual jumps, squats, or runs,
Trouble Sticks
the body will inherently shift the majority of
Ultimately, the trouble with adhesions is the
weight to the stronger leg, only further
development of lingering ‘Compensation
developing a strength imbalance between the
Patterns’ in the way a person moves, i.e. the
legs, eventually manifesting into a dysfunctional
adaptive patterns don’t go away.
movement habit.

Using the previous example of a person walking
with a limp as a result of an ankle sprain or Scar
 Tissue

stubbed toe, the formation of adhesions is only ‘Scar tissue’ is a phrase most people are familiar
natural, as is the body’s ability to alter its with. However, most people do not understand
mechanics so it moves different. This process of that scar tissue play the same role as
forming adhesions and compensating in adhesions.
movement is a natural way of protecting the
body. Scar Tissue uses strong collagen proteins to
bind and protect injured cells in an area of the
The trouble begins when the individual body that has experienced a form of trauma,
continues to move without fully recovering. This such as a tear, rupture, or laceration. The
means the individual continues to use patterns amount of scar tissue accumulating in the
of compensation in movement, which continues affected area is proportional to the severity of
to stress other segments of the body the injury, which also dictates the length of time
inappropriately. This process causes further and effort a person needs to put forth to recover
cellular damage throughout the body and optimal mechanics afterwards.
eventually leads to injury.
Serious Business
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PreHab Exercise eBook for Soft Tissue Therapy