Here's How to Work Out Muscle Knots, According to an Exercise Physiologist

You just completed a hard workout. You're able to go about the rest of your day even though your muscles are tired.

The back of your shoulder blade feels stiff after you wake up. It feels like you're prodding something under your skin when you rub your shoulder muscles. The area feels tight when you attempt to move it.

Over the course of the next few days, your back loosens up and you feel normal again. If possible, you would like to avoid it in the future. What was happening with that knot?

I work as an exerciselogist. Understanding how different movements and forms of exercise place stress on the muscles is one of the goals of my research. Figuring out programs to maximize performance, regardless of training goal, goes beyond what to do during the workout and is also about how to prepare for and recover from the stress exercise places on the body.

Some of the most common questions I hear are about muscle knots. How can you dispose of them when they occur?

What are muscle knots?

The knots you detect in your muscles, which can be as small as a marble or as large as a golf ball, are called myofascial Trigger Points. There is a thin layer of tissue surrounding the muscle.

Damage to your muscles can cause inflammation in the bands of muscle and the fascial layer above. A clump of inflammation is a TriggerPoint. The little lump can be tender to the touch and can limit your range of motion.

Researchers are still trying to figure out the exact mechanisms of the muscle knots that don't show up on scans.

Trigger points are formed when a muscle is irritated by a new or more-strenuous motion. During a particularly intense day of exercise, you may develop knots in the muscles you stress the most.

If you introduce a new movement pattern to your workout, they can grow. Adding a few days of running to your weekly routine of just lifting weights would be amazing. Since running is a new activity, you may notice some knots in your calves.

You don't have to be a gym rat to know how to knots. If you are hunched over a computer all day, you may see knots in your shoulders and back. Sitting at a desk for hours at a time puts stress on your muscles, which most people wouldn't consider strenuous. Enter muscles.

How do you get rid of muscle knots?

It's one of the easiest solutions to the problem of muscle knots. It can take time for the muscles to recover from stress. A muscle knot can be resolved on its own.

The process of recovery can be sped up by you. Dry needling, which involves injecting a very thin needle into thetrigger point to try to break up some of the tissue, is one of the options.

The goal of each technique is to decrease the tautness of the muscles in the area. Increasing the amount of blood passing through improves recovery.

There are other less expensive things you can do at home. Stretching helps alleviate muscle knots. If you sit in an awkward position all day, stretching may be useful.

Being put through different ranges of motion improves the strength of the muscles. Simple shoulder rolls and neck rotation can help to alleviate some of the tension in the muscles after a while.

Self-myofascial release is a method that can be tried at home. This method can be done in the comfort of your own home using a foam roller, a rolling device, a hard ball, or even a piece of pipe.

If you have knots in the front of your thigh, you can lie on a foam roller and roll your leg back and forth on it. The device can be rolled up and down the muscles to keep the pressure within your comfort range.

You're able to work within your own pain tolerance because you apply as much pressure as you want. This technique can be used anywhere you have muscles.

Muscle knots are nothing to be worried about. It is possible to keep knots from developing in your muscles by being consistent with your exercise habits.

If you notice muscle knots popping up, stretching at the end of the day or going through some self-myofascial release techniques are simple ways to help alleviate this issue.

The assistant professor is from Mississippi State University.

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