♪ Bob and Brad ♪ ♪ The two most famous
physical therapists ♪ ♪ On the internet ♪ - Howdy folks. I'm Bob
Schrupp, physical therapist. - Brad Heineck, physical therapist. - And we have the most
famous physical therapists on the internet. - In our opinion, of course, Bob. - Well, we have a treat for you today. Today, we're gonna show you
how to get rid of muscle knots in the traps, trapezius-
- Mm-hmm. shoulders, and back in 90 seconds. - Exactly. - We're not hyping it. This
is an actual technique. Brad's gonna talk about how it worked on a different part of your body, right? - Oh, yeah. I'm excited about this. It's nothing new. It's been scientifically
proven by many studies, clinically proven. It started back in the
'50s by Dr. Lawrence Jones and originally, it's called
Strain Counterstrain. - Strain Counterstrain,
that's what I remember from my earlier days.
- Right. And now it's more often
just positional release. Typically, a therapist
does it, but it's very... We can teach you the basic parts of this so that you can do it at home. - Yeah, we're basically gonna show you how to get this area right here, the knot outta there, right?
- Right. That shoulder, that upper back is very commonplace for knots. - It's a few steps but, you
know, just follow along with us and you'll be able to catch it wholly. - Exactly right. So, Bob, are we gonna... - By the way, if you
are new to the channel please take a second to subscribe to us. We provide videos how stay
healthy, fit, pain-free, and we upload every day. When's this one going up, Mike? - [Mike] Saturday. - Saturday, okay. So we're
in between right now. We're always doing a giveaway, but today's the in-between days. So go tomorrow and check
the bobandbrad.com, go to the giveaways section, and you'll see we're
giving away a knee glide. Right, yeah. Knee glide. (Brad chuckling) If you been along to us on Facebook, it'll always be pinned at the
top of the page all week long, the contest, it is.
- Oh, sure. Yep, yep. - Go to Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok if you want a 60-second version
of our program every day. - All right. So Bob, we've already started
with the introduction of this. We might as well get right to work. So that... Why don't you turn around, Bob? - Sure. - That typical spot, there is a trigger point in this muscle, oftentimes in the levator
scapula or the upper trap, that tightness that gets
from poor posture, tension, all those things that adds up with life, and it seems to end up
commonly right here. - Yeah, I feel a little bit there. - Yep, and every patient I have that I work on their shoulder, I'll usually find that spot
and say, "You see that?" And I say, "Don't worry,
everyone has it on both sides." But when you're tight, it's
painful, it's worse, much worse. So what you'll wanna do
when you feel that tightness is take your opposite hand and reach over and find that knot. You'll find the muscles
a little knottier there. - Yeah, it's right there. It's
a area of hyperirritability - There you go.
- Or something. It's a nodule, basically. A marble. - In school, I had a teacher say, "It's like a Tootsie
Roll," and it kind of is. It's about that size and you'll
feel it, and it's tender. And when it's really knotted
up, it's really tender. So just palpate that and get a benchmark for how painful it is. - Yeah. - Now you can do this in a
couple different positions but I'm gonna show you
how to do it side-lying. So if it's the right
shoulder that has the knot, we're gonna lie on your left side. - [Bob] You said it right, Brad. - [Brad] Well, Bob, I've
been practicing at home. - [Bob] Can I have two pillows probably? - Yeah, we're probably
gonna need two pillows. - [Bob] All right, I can
still palpate that area too, in this position. - Can you see that, Mike, in the camera or are we getting off? - Like, we're good?
- Should we back a little bit further? Like this, maybe?
- That might help. Now, the thing about this
is it's a positional release and the position of your
head and your shoulder is very critical. The whole idea, the muscle
basically starts here and goes up to the head, and we wanna shorten that
muscle as much as possible. And the whole theory is, is neurologically that's gonna
allow the muscle to relax, which is going to increase circulation, blood flow, and oxygen, which is gonna allow that knot to release. And you'll feel that, when that
get that circulation going, everything feels much
better and it carries on. So now we got the theory, we're gonna go back to the practice. So Bob is going to take his
head, if this is a painful side, he's gonna side bend right ear
towards the right shoulder. - [Bob] Right to the shoulder. - [Brad] And then he is gonna look away from that shoulder, rotate- - [Bob] No, I'm gonna
extend first, aren't I? - [Brad] Well, we can extend, not really far.
- Gonna extend a little bit, a little bit.
- Yep. - [Bob] So I'm bringing
my head back a little bit. - Yep, exactly. Sorry. Good job, Bob. Thanks for correcting me. And then look away. So this is kind of awkward position and then we need enough pillows so that you can relax and
maintain that position. Now you can palpate again. If you feel that painful spot dramatically decreases when you touch it, this is all the farther you have to go. Then you have a timer
and you hit the timer, or you look at the watch,
a clock on the wall, you know, it has second hand or whatever, and you go for 90
seconds in that position. It's critical you go at least 90 seconds in order for things to release. Now if you palpate and still feels sore, then we're gonna add shoulder
or scapular elevation, so the shoulder goes up towards the ear. You may want another pillow
for this arm to relax in. - [Bob] Or you could even
go up like this, you said, or not.
- Yep, or you can reach over the top like this. And you can adjust
yourself however it takes so that muscle relax and the painful spot...
- Oh, It's kinda down here. - That feels better there.
- Yeah. - [Brad] Yep, there. But I can see Bob, his eyes
are relaxing, things are- - [Bob] Now I can feel the
knot is disappearing now, the one that was there. - [Brad] So what pain level were you at when you pushed initially? - [Bob] Well, it wasn't much. - [Brad] Right, 'cause you're not... - I'm not having it.
- But it was maybe at a two or three?
- Oh, one or two, I say. - [Brad] Yeah, that's pretty
typical for the average- - [Bob] And now it's gone. - That's gone. So you're there. - Yeah.
- So, okay. Are you ready? - Yeah.
- Click. - The timer goes, and the person completely
relaxed in the quiet area. Again, 90 seconds- - [Bob] Can you do this at
a seated position, Brad? - Yes, you can. - [Bob] Okay. - You probably wanna do it
in a recliner or something where you can get pillows. - [Bob] Maybe we'll show
it real quick, seated. - We could try, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah. - Well, I wasn't going to, but we're gonna give them a bonus. We might as well.
- Yeah, that's right. - So I'm gonna pretend 90 seconds went by. - [Bob] It's pretty close to 90 seconds. - Yeah, it probably is. People are probably complaining we're talking too much again.
- Yeah. - Now it's really critical. When you come out of this position, you come out of it slowly. And you just relax, you're breathing. So, Bob, can you get up in a
nice, relaxed, slow manner? So we don't...
- I'm breathing. - Yep, breathing, relax. And when you're done, now you can do some gentle
and slow range of motion with your neck. We're not gonna get after
this and stretch hard on it or anything like that. We're just gonna do some gentle motion. Remember that muscles relax. Now we want circulation
to continue to flow, just allow it to continue to relax. Also, you can, you know, do a
little massage on it as well. - Sure.
- If you want. Not hard, you know, you don't have to. The knot is gone. We just need to get the
circulation improved. And then you're done. You can repeat that
three to four times a day 'cause it may come back,
particularly if you're tense, if you have poor posture,
you're not aware of it, which is often times why
that particular knot starts and is originated. - Yeah, a lot of times you're not moving and you're concentrating,
you're focused on your work, and that's how it develops. But...
- Right. - Let's try it in a seated position, Brad. - Sure. - So basically I'm gonna
do lateral side bend and this'll help you even
when you're lying down to know what you're doing. - Right, the mechanics. - So I'm going to the right then I'm bringing it back a little bit. Now I'm turning it away. - There you go. - And now I'm lifting this up like this. - Right. Now, again, Bob does not have a chair to lean into and relax. - Right.
- So this- - And that would be a lot better if I was into a recliner.
- Right. And then you would have a pillow, at least one pillow there
to rest your arm on. We'd have a pillow here. A recliner so you can adjust the angle would probably be ideal
for someone on this. - I actually gotta be honest, Brad, I think I almost would
rather do it sitting. - Yeah, it may be a good option. - I think, you know,
again, a bend, a bend. - It's one of those things in the clinic, it's easier side-lying 'cause you got a patient laying there and it's easier to work with. - That really saps it away. - Bob, this has been proven. - I guess I'm a little shocked that it's working that well.
(Brad laughing) - Yeah. - You know, 'cause it was there and it's gone.
- It's gone. - This is gonna be big, Bob. - All right, well, if you
wanna do it on the other side I'm gonna show that real quick too, Brad. - Oh, okay. Go ahead. - Because, I mean, they might wanna try it on the other side, they
won't remember the steps. - Well, say no more, Bob. - So, left side. Left side problem, we're gonna angle. You're gonna laterally side bend. - Mm-hmm. - You're gonna extend it a little bit, you're gonna turn away, and then you're gonna
elevate the shoulder. - Yeah, if you don't have
something to rest the arm on if you do it seated, it's not gonna work because your muscle is gonna contract to hold that shoulder
up, so you have to... - Yeah, yeah. Everything's gonna work. You can't do it like this. You
gotta be leaning in a chair. - Yep. You have to support that-
- Gotta have it supported. - the elbow and the arm. And you know, actually,
before we finish up, I did this, we're gonna
do another video on this. - Oh yeah, that's right. You're
gonna give the testimonial. - Tennis elbow, which
I've been working on this for a while now with my
cross friction massage that's been helping. I did the other mobilization
that was helping, and then I did this technique... - And it really helped. - Yeah. I mean, the next
day I forgot all about it. It's like, "Oh, my tennis elbow's gone." It's like, "We gotta make videos." - Yeah, he's gonna do a video on this because...
- We gotta show people. - You know, there's nothing like when it works on you really well. - Yeah, then you get... It's doubly. I mean, we get excited for our patients, but when you feel it in your
own body, I gotta admit it... - It does. - It does motivate you a little bit more. - It could be a life
changer, to some extent. You know, I mean, I just remember when my shoulder's bothering me and we did the Booyah
Stik and it took away. I'm like, "My God, that was a..." It was just-
- We must share. - Yeah, that's right.
- Share to the world. - All right. - People are getting bored of us now. - Yeah, thanks for watching
everybody. Appreciate it. (light music)
