Sports massage with the acupressure mat - Through regeneration to better performance

Sore muscles after a workout, immobility, aching injuries or poor sleep? Regular use of an acupressure mat can help you stay fit, sleep deeper and recover from pain faster!

Learnmore about the five most popular sports in Germany: running, cycling, gym, soccer and hiking.

• Better performance in sports through acupressure
• Black Edition - the most popular acupressure mat for competitive athletes.
• What athletes & physiotherapists say about the ShaktiMat
• Tips for using the acupressure mat for athletes
• How the acupressure mat makes Germany's five most popular sports even better
• Acupressure mat for runners - Better jogging and sprinting through acupressure
• Fit on the bike - pedaling better through acupressure
• With the acupressure mat in the gym - these exercises support the workout
• Kicking with full power - How acupressure supports soccer training
• Acupressure for hiking and outdoor sports - happy & fit outdoors with these tips

After intensive sport, microscopic tears form in the muscles. Metabolic products, such as lactate, are formed and broken down and excreted. The body needs a certain amount of time to do this, which we call the regeneration period. To support regeneration, athletes use, for example, a visit to the sauna or a sports massage. This increases the blood flow in the body, and the metabolic products are broken down more quickly. A great effect - but unfortunately there is often no sauna nearby or the regular sports massage is too expensive. And this is exactly where an acupressure mat comes in for sore muscles:

The application of the acupressure mat has a similar effect as sports massage and sauna. The many positive feedbacks from athletes show that the acupressure mat is used very often, by many even daily. The general blood circulation is increased, the lymphatic system is stimulated and thus toxins are flushed out of the body. Acupressure loosens adhesions in a way that is gentle on the tissues. Tense muscles and their connective tissue - the fascia - are noticeably loosened by the acupressure mat, also called fascia mat. Our customers also report permanently more relaxed muscles in everyday work and improved joint mobility.

Better performance in sports through acupressure

An acupressure mat can help you improve your athletic performance in two ways: A short application before a workout can stimulate your nervous system, while a longer application can relieve pain and inflammation thanks to endorphin release and improved circulation. This not only supports the recovery process, but also helps prevent future injuries.

Another important component of wellness and muscle recovery is restful sleep. The body releases growth hormones during the night, restoring tissue and strengthening the immune system. Extensive rest is important for optimal protein synthesis in the body. For this reason, many athletes use the ShaktiMat acupressure mat, also known as a sleep induction mat, to work on their sleep problems. Time and again, athletes achieve such successful results after a short time that they even fall asleep while lying on the mat.

Black Edition - the most popular acupressure mat for competitive athletes.

The ShaktiMat "Black Edition" Acupressure Mat is a fairly manufactured foam and cotton mat with 6210 sharp plastic tips. The mat stimulates fascia and muscle tissues, as well as your skin, and helps increase blood flow to the area of contact. For example, on your shoulders, back, legs, neck, glutes or abdomen. The mat is rollable for transport and can accompany you in the included bag to competitions or the gym. Even sweat on the mat after training is no problem, because you can simply wash the cover in the washing machine.

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This is what athletes & physiotherapists say about the ShaktiMat:

Tips for using the acupressure mat for athletes

For the best result of the sports massage you should use the mat with bare skin. This can be a little painful at the beginning. In this case, start with a thin piece of clothing or cloth between your skin and the plastic needles. The first few minutes are usually always uncomfortable for a short time. Deep breathing can help with relaxation. After a few minutes, the pain fades and a warm, relaxing sensation sets in.

The acupressure mat ShaktiMat wrapped around the leg promotes blood circulation in the thigh.

Before training

• 2-3 minutes before the workout for stimulation and excitation
  
• Intensive stimulation of the nervous system to strengthen muscle power
  
• Stronger blood circulation supplies the muscles better and with more oxygen
  
• Activation of the sympathetic nervous system ("fight or flight")
  

After training

• 20 minutes or longer after the workout to relax
  
• Acupressure relaxes muscles and promotes blood circulation, which in turn accelerates the process of muscle regeneration
  
• Acupressure activates, improves and accelerates the natural healing powers of the body
  
• Stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system ("resting and digesting")
  

General acupressure mats exercises

You can find a general overview of standard exercises in the article Acupressure Mat - Application and Exercises for the Body. Here is a small overview:

• Acupressure mat - back
  
• Acupressure mat - neck and shields
  
• Acupressure mat - feet and legs
  
• Acupressure mat - hands and arms
  
• Acupressure mat - abdomen and chest

How the acupressure mat makes Germany's five most popular sports even better

Sport is a popular hobby in Germany, which quite a few people pursue from an early age with the motivation to achieve successful performance and perhaps even to measure themselves against others in competitions. In addition to the fun of competition, we value sport above all as a means of maintaining our health in the long term. But sports alone are simply not enough for most people to feel good in the long term.

It's frustrating when your body feels stiff and achy or you can't get a restful night's sleep and get out of bed in the morning feeling rattled. Full energy reserves and quick recovery are important to get the most out of yourself. Exhaustion, fatigue and tension are unsuitable conditions to perform in the sports club, gym, outside in the fresh air or on the mat at home, which are beneficial to health. This is where acupressure sports massage comes in:

Before tissues and the skeleton are put under new stress, the goal is to increase blood flow through powerful punctual pressure, stimulate the body's own healing powers through the pain stimulus and achieve the release of endorphins. Regardless of the sport, these three factors are essential for pain-free movement and a positive overall feeling.

The ShaktiMat unfolds the greatest relaxation when you lie on it with your back.

Acupressure helps athletes to relieve old tensions and to heal delayed injuries. Applied before training, the mat provides in a short time and without physical effort for warmed and circulated tissue. The mat can be applied to almost any part of the body. Suggestions on how to use acupressure for your favorite sport can be found further down in the article.

Minimal tissue injuries, such as those that regularly occur during sports, heal much faster due to the optimal supply of the affected tissue with fluid and blood, and are characterized by less unpleasant side effects (for example, hardened lactate accumulations.) This is due to the fact that only a well-moisturized and perfused tissue can be optimally supplied with nutrients, since the body always transports them via fluids. The return path, namely removal of toxins and metabolic products that can cause inflammation, also occurs via the blood, lymph and other tissue fluids. Only when these are flowing does our healing and cleansing system work as nature has set it up to do.

But how does it all work? The tips of the acupressure mat press deep into the tissue without hurting it and provide a painful stimulus - which is clearly noticeable at first. This stimulus starts a chain of communication within the body, which in turn stimulates the desired blood circulation and the supply of fluid to the tissue. After using the mat, the skin looks clearly reddened at the place where pressure has occurred for this reason.

After lying on the ShaktiMat, the back is reddened due to increased blood circulation.

A particularly common problem that many athletes complain about is neck pain. However, these are mostly related to a sedentary job, for example in the office, and less to the sport practiced. Nevertheless, it makes sense not to separate the neck pain before the sport and to treat it also in the acupressure session or after the sport. Why this is so important?

A tense, aching neck often causes the body to adopt a kind of protective posture in which the shoulders are pulled upward and the cervical spine is severely bent. The neck muscles atrophy and become weak. If you now try, for example, a yoga headstand or play a header, then in the worst case you lack the necessary stability of the muscles in the neck area at this increased load and you can seriously injure your spine. You can prevent this danger with the acupressure mat:

In the 2012 study The Benefit of a Mechanical Needle Stimulation Pad in Patients with Chronic Neck and Lower Back Pain: Two Randomized Controlled Pilot Studies, people with chronic neck pain and/or lower back pain were treated with an acupressure mat. Subjects were required to use the acupressure mat for 30 minutes daily over a 14-day period. The participants in the treatment group rated the pain as significantly lower after this time.

But now let's move on to our acupressure exercises for the most popular sports in Germany:

Acupressure mat for runners - Better jogging and sprinting through acupressure

"In running, everything starts with the feet, so it's important to get an awareness of how you walk, how you stand and how you run. An acupressure mat is a big help here."

But it's not just the pros who benefit from acupressure mats. As far as recreational exercise goes, running in the fresh air is one of the most popular sports - especially among adults. According to a Statista study on jogging frequency from 2019, five and a half million Germans over 14 go jogging frequently. Seventeen million even devote themselves to an occasional run without regularity.

The reasons to devote themselves to jogging sin varied, so many run, for example, to keep the heart healthy or to work on their own endurance. Others want to lose weight or simply experience the feeling of joy that fills the body after a strenuous run. The best thing about running: It's free and variable in time of day. You can do it alone or in a group and it requires hardly any equipment. The hurdle to start running is therefore relatively low. But this is also where the greatest danger lies:

Because running often seems like a simple activity to recreational athletes, many don't really listen to their bodies. Filled with the motivation to run as fast as possible, as long as possible or as intensively as their body allows, many people put the wrong stress on their joints, don't warm up properly, don't pay attention to their posture and go beyond their limits without doing the necessary aftercare afterwards.

Through the regular use of acupressure, incorrect stresses can be reduced and overloads of the muscles and fascia can be prevented and balanced out. So that you know how to do this, we have put together a few helpful exercises for you:

Standing, walking, swinging

Stand with both feet on the mat. You may feel some uncomfortable pain at first if you are new to the mat - focus on the breathing, not the pain. If you feel it hurts too much, put on stockings for the exercise. Take a few deep breaths and then begin a slow "walk" on the mat - lifting your feet alternately. Again, do this for a few breaths (for example, 5 times) and then stay in a firm stance with both feet again. Now bend forward and swing back and forth several times (for example 5 times).

Calf wrap

First, put one leg up and wrap the mat around your calf. You can use a band to hold the mat in place or simply hold it in place. Now apply pressure in different places for a short time and hold it for two deep breaths each time before changing the place where you press. If you feel comfortable with this, you can also make slight twisting movements around the leg while pressing to intensify the blood flow. Then repeat the exercise with the other leg.

Legs High

This exercise not only warms up your back and improves your blood circulation, but also relieves pressure on your spine, as your spine rests almost straight on the floor. If you feel that your head is tilting back uncomfortably, you can roll up a small towel and place it under the two bones at the base of your skull.

Fit on the bike - pedaling better through acupressure

In addition to cycling, such as road cycling or mountain biking, millions of Germans count cycling among their regular sports. Both professionally and in recreational sports, the bike plays an important role in fitness. Unfortunately, in addition to improved health, this also brings with it very specific risks of injury:

Bending forward, sitting down and pedaling hard - on the bike, the body follows a very uniform pattern of movement. It is therefore susceptible to tension and overload, which, if left untreated, can have an increasingly serious impact on health.

Acupressure for road cycling or cycling is particularly helpful to support the strained muscles as well as the fasciae, especially on the legs and arms, after an intensive training session and to minimize the consequences of overstraining. The tissue area around the rump is also particularly challenged during training. It is not uncommon for untreated tension here to lead to pain on the bike in the long term or even to a restriction in everyday life: for example, if one pursues a sedentary occupation and the body hardly experiences any compensation. With the acupressure mat, you can counteract the hardening of tension and thus enjoy cycling in the long term.

In addition to the supine position on the mat, as compensation after a training session and as preparation for the bent-forward posture while riding, we have put together three other exercises:
Arm rolling, thigh and calf massage, and breech loosening on the acupressure mat, help relieve tension, ensure good tissue fluid exchange, and prepare the body to withstand renewed stress in the same areas:

Arm rolls

Place the mat on a table in front of you and position your forearms and hands on it. Now very slowly rock your arms back and forth 10-20 times with pressure. If this is too painful for you, place a towel underneath. If your elbows are in the area of the tips, you can make sure to relieve them with a cloth, because the skin here can be very sensitive for many people.

Thigh & calf massage

Place the mat on a flat surface, e.g. the floor or a sports mat. Sit on the mat with your legs stretched out straight, so that your thighs press into the acupressure tips. Now stretch your legs by bending forward and trying to grab your feet and take 10 deep breaths. Repeat the same exercise with your calves on the mat.

Next, place the cross-twisted acupressure mat on top of your thighs (still sitting with your legs outstretched and leaning slightly forward) and now press the tips of the mat against your thighs using your body weight, supporting your hands or forearms.

Breech loosening

Place the mat on the floor or on the bed. Now sit on the wheel of the mat so that you just feel the tips with your buttocks. Now pull your knees towards your chest - keeping the tips of your toes on the floor - and let your back become round. Now rock back and forth so that the tissues around your rump are massaged by the mat.

With the acupressure mat in the gym - these exercises support the workout 

Five and a half million Germans - according to a statistical survey from 2019 - go to the gym several times a month. More than half even go more than once a week. Since 2016, the number of weekly gym-goers has grown by half a million - and the trend is rising. In the studio, many try themselves out on different equipment and test various courses, the most diverse ways to train the body are waiting and mostly a trainer is ready to answer questions for beginners about the correct way to exercise.

The problem? Many people exercise enthusiastically, but one-sidedly - lifting weights to get stronger, for example, but forgetting to protect their tissues from shortening due to the one-sided load. Others practice a balance of stretching and training, but want better results and are repeatedly set back by painful lactate buildup in the muscle or other signs of overuse.
For this reason, we've put together 4 exercises for you that, in addition to warming up, will prepare your body well all around for strength training and protect you from injury.

Eagle wings

Lie with your back on the ShaktiMat and now move your arms ten times very slowly along the floor like eagle wings. This allows the tips of the mat to work deeply into your muscles. To extend the exercise, you can then alternately raise your arms above your head and bring them to your belly.

Acupressure meets leg stretching

Kneel down and place the acupressure mat in front of you. Now place one foot on the mat while the other knee remains on the floor. Now carefully load the foot by stretching the back leg into a stretch as we show you in the picture. Hold the stretch for several breaths and then switch legs.

Belly and pelvic pinch

Position the acupressure mat so that your abdomen and pelvis are fully supported. If you have protruding hip bones, protect your skin at this point with some fabric (for example, put stockings between the mat and the bones.) Now inhale as deeply as you can so that your belly presses into the mat. Hold the inhaled air and count down slowly from four before exhaling again. As you exhale, sink into the tops of the mat - don't clench your abdominal muscles. Repeat the exercise up to 10 times.

Po swing

Sit on the acupressure mat with both halves of your buttocks. Hold your knees firmly and lift your feet off the floor by leaning back a little. Now slowly rock your buttocks back and forth like a leaf in the wind.

Kicking with full power - How acupressure supports soccer training

Soccer is by an unbeatable margin the most popular sport in Germany. Many just like to watch, but millions play soccer themselves, often from an early age. Whether it's a competitive sport or a game with friends, soccer demands a lot from the body. Speed, kicks, endurance and of course the kicks against the ball require complete physical effort. Here, too, acupressure can do a good job. It is not without reason that it is also used by competitive athletes.

The endorphins released by acupressure spur on peak performance, while the increased blood flow makes the body supple and prevents strains. The acupressure mat can also do a lot of good for the joints - especially the knees suffer quickly and are not always cured long enough after injuries. Therefore, the motto is quite clear: prevention! If you prepare your body properly, it will be easier for you to leave the pitch with your head held high and your back straight, instead of hunching over in pain.

You like to kick the ball at full power for 90 minutes at the soccer club and would like to know how you can recover more quickly from the performance, warm up more effectively and do something good for your body after the game? Of course, we have prepared a small training program with the acupressure mat ShaktiMat for you:

Calf Biter

Place the mat on the floor and position your calves on it. You can either lean backwards or put pressure on your legs. Now move the tips of your feet alternately towards and away from you to alternately tense and relax the muscles of the calves. Take at least one minute for the exercise and do it slowly.

Lateral thigh acupressure

Lie sideways on the mat and support yourself as shown in the picture. Now alternate the pressure in a light rolling motion from further forward, over the middle to the back and concentrate on deep breathing. Try to do the exercise for one minute per side.

Thigh support

Kneel on the floor and place one leg in front of you. Place the ShaktiMat on your thigh with the tips turned towards your thigh and now support yourself with your hands on the mat. Hold this pressure as broadly as possible for one minute and then switch legs.

Foot cramp

Take the pad out of the cover of the mat and wrap the mat around your foot with the tips facing the foot. Now place your foot on a hard surface - you should already feel the pressure. Then apply pressure with your hands around the top and sides of your foot for about a minute, holding for 10 seconds at a time, before changing the position of your hands.

Knee wrap

Remove the pad from the ShaktiMat and wrap your knee in the cover of the mat so that it is surrounded by the tips. Now slowly apply gentle pressure around the knee with your hands and hold it for at least two to four breaths at each point. Then switch legs and repeat the exercise with the other knee.

Acupressure for hiking and outdoor sports - happy & fit outdoors with these tips

Outdoor sports are becoming more and more popular - they combine fresh air and sport with the satisfaction of discovering something new for the constantly wandering eye. Breathing outdoors usually flows almost on its own, and the body's blood circulation and lymphatic system are stimulated by the steady, deep breath.

Well, that sounds perfect, you might think - but outdoor sports in wind and weather bring quite different challenges. Bicycle tours and hikes can take several days. Maybe you hike in the mountains in summer to enjoy the view and feel tension in your calves in the evening? Worn luggage seems to sit in your muscles like an attached backpack even during the night and quite often your feet hurt a lot due to the permanent strain.

To save space in your luggage you can put the ShaktiMat without the inner padding - it is also easy to use this way. But be careful - the following acupressure exercises can be felt quite strongly because of the missing padding - maybe you leave a thin layer of fabric between you and the mat:

Acupressure for hiking and outdoor sports - happy & fit outdoors with these tips

Place the cover on a relatively soft surface, such as a meadow, moss, a sleeping mat or in the bed at the hut. Now position your back on the mat and alternately bend one leg for 30 seconds at a time before extending it again and bending the other leg. You can do this exercise as long as you like - several minutes are useful.

Arm clamp

Roll up the cover of the ShaktiMat as shown in the picture and clamp it under your arm - now apply proper pressure and breathe deeply at least three times. You can then vary the position all along the upper arm - the blood circulation is stimulated both in the arm and in the muscles between your ribs, which are often painfully tense after carrying a backpack for many hours.

Fleet feet - toes, sides, heels

Place the mat cover on a hard surface and sit in front of the mat. Now place both feet with the heels first on the mat and then make a rocking-circling movement in which you press the toes, heels and sides of the feet alternately into the tips. 

Hero seat with pinch

Place the mat on the floor and sit on your feet with the front of your lower legs pressed into the tips as shown in the picture. If the pressure is too intense for you, you can put a cloth on the mat or put on a pair of thin pants.

We hope we were able to conjure up a lot of inspiration in your mind about how your ShaktiMat can serve you during physical activity. If you want to exchange ideas with other acupressure mat enthusiasts, we invite you to join our acupressure group on Facebook, which now has over 15,000 members. You can find more information about the acupressure mat here.   

Sources

The Benefit of a Mechanical Needle Stimulation Pad in Patients with Chronic Neck and Lower Back Pain: Two Randomized Controlled Pilot Studies; 2012; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3446809/

VuMA (Consumption and Media Analysis Association). (November 13, 2019). Most popular leisure activities, hobbies and sports (undertaken at least multiple times a month) in Germany from 2016 to 2019 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1043108/most-popular-leisure-activities-in-germany/

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German Olympic Sports Confederation, & DSSV. (November 11, 2019). Leading sports types in Germany in 2019, by number of members (in millions) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved June 15, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1032946/leading-sports-types-members-germany/

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Literature:

Andrews, Synthia and Dempsey, Bobbi: Acupressure & Reflexology for Dummies. Wiley Publishing, Indianapolis 2007. p. 10 ff.

Ferriss, Timothy: Der 4 Stunden Körper. 4th edition, Riemann, Munich 2011 p. 334,

Reed Gach, Michael: Healing Points. Acupressure for self-treatment of diseases. Knaur, Munich 1992. p 15 ff.

Schwind, Peter: Fascia. Tissue of life. 2nd edition, Irisiana, Munich 2015 p 36 ff.