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What is ART?
Is ART Right For You?
Active Release Technique, or ART, is an alternative treatment method that many runners and athletes swear by. But how does it work, and is it suitable for you?
ART is considered by many to be a distant cousin of massage. It works faster and more efficiently, but it’s slightly more painful—yet still tolerable. An ART practitioner won’t go over what you can withstand. This is described as the “good” kind of pain. If you live an active lifestyle, this may just be the thing for you.
What is ART?
The art of ART is very straightforward. It involves intense movement-based massage treatment sessions, hence the word “active”. Athletes in training can benefit from Active Release Technique whether they are injured or not.
Studies show that ART promotes faster recovery. It restores normal tissue function, thereby reducing an injured athlete’s downtime. They can spend less time lying in bed, and more time stepping up their game. Effective ART sessions can even help an athlete avoid injuries in the long run.
It’s easy to avoid injury when you have full control over your body and your range of motion is not limited. It can help an athlete stay in the game. We can even say that ART helps you train better.
An ART practitioner will use their hands to locate and treat damaged tissues in the muscles, tendons, fascia, nerves, and ligaments. Damage can come in the form of scars, adhesions, and dense tissue. These problems aren’t always easy to find using conventional treatment. But ART practitioners are trained to find them.
Your ART provider knows how these abnormal tissues feel compared to healthy ones. They are also familiar with correct muscle movement patterns. This allows them to remove the adhesions with ease.
Is ART Right For You?
You may go to an ART provider for a lot of different reasons. And like we previously mentioned, some people undergo ART for no specific problem at all. Athletes may use it to feel better and be better prepared for their game—with no adhesions to hold them back.
Other than that, ART practitioners can help deal with scar tissues caused by acute trauma or overuse. Acute trauma involves pulling or tearing the tissues, causing scars. Overuse, also known as chronic injury, is an accumulation of microtraumas or small tears that occur repeatedly. Both of these causes are very common among athletes.
Damaged tissue can impair your performance because it restricts your mobility and range of motion. It can also reduce your strength. Other common side effects of abnormal tissue include nerve entrapment, tendonitis, and decreased oxygen supply to the affected muscles.
You may want to consider Active Release Technique if you are physically active. You don’t need to be an athlete to live an active lifestyle. And if you’re trying to get fit and healthy, exercising can be difficult when living with adhesions. An ART provider will be able to target these points in your body and use specific movements to free you from these adhesions.
You can visit an ART practitioner today, even if you’re not feeling anything. Sometimes patients don’t even know there’s scar tissue building up until they experience the pain. A skilled ART practitioner will be able to identify larger issues that cause smaller problems in your system.
Athletes and runners often have issues with their knees and hip. Movement-based massage techniques can release the buildup of dense scar tissue, immediately restoring normal functions while decreasing pain.
Visit a local Active Release Technique provider near you today and see how they can help you restore your range of motion and allow you to step up your game!
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