Massaging Muscles In Their Shortened Positions

SUMMARY
1)  Massage in shortened position cause neurological relaxation.  I think it restore neural input/output.  
2) Contraction in short position post-isometric relaxation. 3) There is position through ROM where TrPoint become relaxed - position of relaxation/counter strain position. (Lawrence Jones, DO, 1981)

The muscles need relaxing because they are guarded. (?1). Guarding - is the person subconsciously maintaining a higher-than-natural muscle contraction, day and night.

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(?1)  Eсли тело защитило зачем расслаблять защитный механизм?
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GUARDING - защитная фиксация (спазм мышц, уменьшающий подвижность пораженных отделов тела)  [from Abby Lingvo]   //полезный термин, общепринят

Massaging muscles in their shortened positions triggers a neurological response of relaxation. 

Rich Phaigh. Massage a muscle in shortened position

I was first directed to massage a muscle in its shortened position in 1994 by Rich Phaigh LMT. The muscle was the psoas. While the person is face up, one of the therapist’s hands grasps under the person’s knee and moves the knee superiorly, which shortens the psoas, then the other hand’s fingertips friction the psoas. When Rich showed me this position, I found the psoas began to melt almost immediately. I was very curious to learn more. 

Kum Nye. Isometric contraction into a shortened position.

Unlike other forms of yoga, Kum Nye does not emphasize stretches. Instead, the tense muscle group is contracted INTO a shortened position (?) for several minutes until it fatigues. (Kum Nye Relaxation, by Tarthang Tulku, Dharma Publishing, Berkeley, CA) There is a Kum Nye pose coincidentally similar to Rich Phaigh’s psoas release. Don’t lie on a massage table or bed; it is too soft to accomplish the pose. Lying on your back, bring one knee at a time up until both thighs are touching your ribs. Contract the psoas as strongly as you can while relaxing the rest of the body. Do not lift your butt off the ground by contracting your abdominals. Trembling will occur, then fatigue. A warm energy sooths the low back. Set the feet back down on the ground and rest. Do this three times. Kum Nye is taught as a way of healing oneself, but not yet taught as a method to heal others.
Kum Nye is usually considered an esoteric energy technique, but I intend to show how shortening tense muscles encourages the brain to respond with muscle relaxation. When I showed the pose to Rich Phaigh, he said it looked like it caused lumbar relaxation by reciprocal inhibition. You don’t have to believe in anything supernatural to see the benefit of the neurological response to relax. But first, one more expert.

 into a shortened position (?)


CONCLUSION:  
Corrective exercise for lengthened-weak is muscles isometric contracting into shortened position.  
Corrective exercise for shortened-strong 


TERMS COMMENT: Strong is better than Tight cause in both cases (lengthened-weak/shortened-strong) muscle are tight but from different reasons. Equivalents are closed-short/closed-long muscle like closed-pack joint. 


Discovery of Counter Strain technique by Lawrence Jones, DO.

Lawrence Jones D.O., after treating thousands of people, discovered this: when a tight muscle is palpated with one hand as the limb or joint is brought through its range of motion, a dramatic softening is felt in the trigger point at a certain position in the range (Jones, Lawrence H., DO, Strain and Counterstrain, 1981 by American Academy of Osteopathy, Newark Ohio, p 21-27). No force upon the trigger point is necessary, except to monitor for when it begins to soften. Holding this position for 90 seconds, followed by an ultra-slow return to neutral, ends the guarding. The discovery is that precise positioning alone can trigger the brain’s response to relinquish guarding. It sounds simple but the art of precisely moving a joint with one hand (simultaneously assessing its quality of motion) while palpating with the other hand (assessing for softening) requires a good teacher and much practice. This art is not yet taught in massage schools, except as continuing education. What can you do today, to take advantage of this discovery?