3 areas to use your spikey ball

I love my spikey ball, so much so that I actually own three! In a previous post, I discussed why a spikey ball is your friend. To recap, a spikey ball is a small, firm ball with a spikey surface used to self-massage areas of tightness in your muscles. It’s a versatile tool, one you can carry with you anywhere, and use to get to those areas that are normally hard to reach.

These are my top three areas that I use my spikey ball for:

1) Under the arm pit and side of the torso

I’m not going to lie; this area can be super nasty to release. There are a bunch of muscles you can target here, but I tend to target the latissimus dorsi and the rotator cuff. I do this against the wall, raising my arm up, popping the spikey ball towards the back of the arm pit and holding (rotator cuff). I then move the spikey ball lower down the torso to target some of the fibers of lat dorsi. By releasing any trigger points and tight spots in these muscles, you are helping the shoulder blade to move easier and the shoulder joint to sit down and back. This improves the posture of the shoulder girdle (think: improving on rolled in shoulders- here’s looking at you desk workers).

2) Upper shoulders

The main muscle being targeted here is the trapezius muscle. A nice one to release if you find your shoulders up to your ears when you get stressed. Once again, against the wall place the spikey ball between your shoulder blade and spine, rolling up and down. You can also roll across the top of your shoulder above your shoulder blade. Repeat on the other side.

3) Glutes and lower back

A good one for general lower back pain, I like to use the spikey ball to get a little closer to the insertion of the glutes. I find this one best to do on the floor, with your knees bent and placing the spikey ball just beside your tail bone on the glute muscle. Let the spikey ball sink in.

This article is for information purposes only. Please consult your Osteopath or primary healthcare professional for further information.