| As a massage therapist there are certain things | | | | opposite of what you are trying to get them to |
| that you need to know about the human body | | | | do. Proprioceptors and Stretch Reflex as a |
| that enable you to effectively do your job. Other | | | | System Proprioceptors and the stretch reflex |
| things that you can learn about anatomy and | | | | actually work together as a system to protect |
| physiology will take your massage practice to the | | | | the body. The stretch reflex is the result of a |
| next level. Taking the time to educate yourself | | | | proprioceptor. One set monitors the length of the |
| about the body and learning the intricate functions | | | | muscle and the other monitors the tension of the |
| of the body will help you be a better massage | | | | muscle. They work together to keep the body |
| therapist and you will show your clients that you | | | | from becoming injured. This intricate system |
| are indeed an expert in the massage therapy | | | | works to make the human body a highly |
| industry and you have taken the time to further | | | | functional machine. There is a sort of push and pull |
| your education and be the best massage | | | | mechanism at work, but the push protects |
| therapist that you can be for them. Traditional | | | | against the pull and vice versa. What do these |
| Massage Therapy Schools do not teach these | | | | mean to your Massage Therapy Training? When |
| advanced massage therapy techniques. | | | | you have a deep understanding of how the |
| Proprioceptors Proprioceptors are sensory nerve | | | | human body works, you can begin to use that |
| endings that send information to the brain about | | | | knowledge to reach your clients in a manner that |
| the angle of joints, length of muscles and muscle | | | | many other massage therapists can not. |
| tension. All of this information is brought together | | | | Understanding how the proprioceptors work and |
| to tell the body about the position of a limb so | | | | when they will work will help you in the stretching |
| that even with the eyes closed the body knows | | | | stage of a massage. You will understand that |
| just where that limb is and what it is doing. Muscle | | | | when you work a muscle and stretch it, when it |
| spindles and Golgi tendon organs are both | | | | reaches its maximum stretch it will automatically |
| proprioceptors. Muscle spindles send information | | | | contract. That is why when you lie on your back |
| on the changes of the length of the muscle while | | | | and stretch your hamstrings, once you reach |
| Golgi tendon organs send information on the | | | | your maximum stretch your leg is no longer |
| changes of the tension of the muscle. Stretch | | | | straight, it involuntarily contracts and bends. When |
| Reflex The stretch reflex is a protective measure | | | | you have mastered this concept, you will be |
| that the body takes to prevent a muscle from | | | | much more effective and your massage therapy |
| stretching too much. It is an involuntary reaction | | | | education will show. |
| by the nerves that make the muscle contract | | | | Robert C. Vignoli has been a massage therapist |
| when it has been overextended or stretched too | | | | for over 10 years and is an expert in cutting edge |
| far. If you stretch your muscles too far, neural | | | | massage therapy techniques. He currently |
| impulses are sent through your body to the | | | | co-owns Roman Paradigm Massage, but now he is |
| muscle that is being overstretched and that | | | | helping to improve the massage industry by |
| muscle automatically contracts. In the stretch | | | | building a "hands off" massage business model. |
| reflex, the muscle actually tightens which creates | | | | MassageSpace. |
| a situation where your muscles are doing the | | | | |