Using Muscle Diagrams to Get Flexible

Image via WikipediaI have some tight muscles and work on them myself. Its not always easy, but without good information, it can be impossible.

Fortunately, there are great resources on the web that show you where your muscles are. Bartleby has Gray's Anatomy online and I can see all of my muscles.

Sometimes a diagram does not display both ends of a muscle. Using the name of the muscle, I can usually find it on exrx or another web site. Exrx shows a muscle by itself so its easier to see where it begins and ends.

Once I've identified the tight muscle, I massage both ends of it. Then massage the muscle all along its length. At this point, the fascia or outer covering of the muscle can also be worked and stretched more easily.

I'm not sure why massaging both ends of a muscle first makes the muscle easier to work overall. But perhaps there is some correlation between acupuncture points or the meridians of Chinese medicine. Maybe its some electrical phenomenon.