Riggs Art - Deep tissue massage: a visual guide to techniques

Deep Tissue Massage

Art Riggs presents a masterful blend of technical information and insightful practical theory. Deep Tissue Massage is well organized, clearly written, and supported by high-quality instructional photographs and anatomical drawings. This book will be of great use for a range of bodyworkers, from massage therapists to sophisticated medical practitioners.

HELEN JAMES, PROFESSOR EMERITA PHYSICAL THERAPY, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FRESNO

Art Riggs has dedicated himself for over a decade to sharing his knowledge and wisdom of the body. We highly recommend this book for massage students and health professionals alike.

PAULETTE AND RICHARD BERGESS, DIRECTORS, THE SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL OF MASSAGE

Copyright 2002, 2007 by Art Riggs. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712

Photographs by David Booth
Cover design by Claudia Smelser

The author gratefully acknowledges permission from Williams and Wilkins for the rights to reproduce the anatomical drawing in this book, taken from Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual, Volumes I and II, 1992, by Travell and Simons. I very highly recommend the wonderful cadaver dissection video series, The Video Atlas of Human Anatomy, also distributed by Williams and Wilkins.

Deep Tissue Massage: A Visual Guide to Techniques is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Riggs, Art.
Deep tissue massage : a visual guide to techniques / Art Riggs; foreword by Thomas W. Myers. Rev. ed.
p.; cm.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-642-8
1. Massage therapy. 2. Massage therapyAtlases. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. MassagemethodsAtlases. WE 17 R569d 2007]
RM721 R544 2007
615.822dc22

2007009953

v3.1

I feel blessed to have been chosen by a profession where I can continue learning new skills until the day I can no longer work.

Helen Jimmer James, a Rolfing Teacher

I T IS A DAUNTING TASK TO NAME ALL THOSE who have molded me into the bodyworker that I am today and who have contributed to my attempts to express some of what I know in this book. Properly expressing my gratitude would be as difficult as attempting to perform an extensive full-body Deep Tissue Massage in fifteen minutes. Rather than inadvertently omitting the name of a dear friend or teacher, except for several names of particular significance, I will acknowledge a few broad groups to whom I am deeply thankful. I hope that all of my guides will recognize my gratitude to them in my broad descriptions.

This book would never have been written without the encouragement and exhortations of my good friend, fellow Rolfer, and distinguished teacher, Michael Stanborough. For several years I used his excellent manual, Myofascial Release: An Illustrative and Photographic Manual as the text in my massage classes. With Michaels encouragement and blessings, and using his book as a model, I wrote a manual that more closely followed the curriculum of my classes. This manual evolved into the present edition of Deep Tissue Massage: A Visual Guide to Techniques.

To all my teachers, particularly those at the Rolf Institute, I offer my heartfelt thanks for the generous sharing of your expertise and philosophies. You gave your knowledge with lovenot doling it out as a commodity, and you asked nothing in return. With your patience and lack of judgment, you freed me to demonstrate my ignorance and removed the insecurity that so often accompanies the acquisition of knowledge. I hope that I can embody your wisdom both in my work and in my teaching.

Most of us have one teacher who transcends the ordinary and becomes a mentor, and I would like to thank Michael Salveson for his continued patient attempts at my edification over the years. He transformed bodywork from rote procedure to a complex, rewarding, and fun game. Not a day goes by that I do not conjure up Michael and other teachers as apparitions, standing over my shoulder, offering suggestions on how to help deal with some particular issue related to a client. Yes Michael, I promise to slow down and listen to what the clients tissue is telling me.

To my clients, thank you for making my work so rewarding. For working with me to achieve your goals rather than expecting to be magically transformed without your participation. Without my love for my work and clients, I would never have the desire to share my knowledge and passion for this profession with a wider audience in a manual such as this one.

Much gratitude to those who have helped me with their suggestions for the book: for constructive criticisms as well as support. To my photographer, David Booth for his wonderful pictures and to my copyeditor, Michele Chase, I extend my sincerest apologetic thanks for good naturedly putting up with my nit-picking and also for forcing me to listen to your nit-picking when I didnt want to. I also wish to thank Paula Morrison for her artistic expertise in the difficult job of designing a clear and cohesive book with hundreds of photographs and anatomical drawings. Thanks are also owed to my model, Dena Lofthus.

Most of all, I thank my students over the years. I appreciate your openness to learning and your enthusiasm. I assure you that the learning has been reciprocal. This book is for you.

Contents

List of Figures

Caveats : Front

Caveats : Back

Caveats : Side

Chapter One

. Self-Palpation of the Cervicals

. Ideal Working Distance

. Working Too Close

. Ideal Working DistanceCombining Gravity and Horizontal Power

. Working Too Far Away

. Decompressing a Joint

. Anchor and Stretch (Knee)

. Anchor and Stretch (Back)

. Working in the Direction of Lengthening

. Anatomy of the Quadriceps Muscles

. Separating Muscle Compartments (Deltoid)

. Lifting a Muscle from Deeper Restrictions

. Mobilizing the Erector Spinae Muscles

. Differentiating the Sternocleidomastoid Muscle

. How Fiber Restrictions Impede Proper Lengthening or Shortening of Tissue