Engaging Muscles Massage

Engaging Muscles Massage When you feel a tight muscle, you also have an underperforming muscle (that you can’t feel). Your brain 🧠 calls upon muscles to tighten for protection.
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With 30 years of experience as a massage therapist, I address the muscles that are underperforming.

When it comes to exercise or any other subject, we all start from a place of not knowing what we don't know.
02/13/2026

When it comes to exercise or any other subject, we all start from a place of not knowing what we don't know.

Although I always recommend running on land over a treadmill, there's more to know about running indoors.
02/12/2026

Although I always recommend running on land over a treadmill, there's more to know about running indoors.

02/07/2026

To be neurologically inhibited (a.k.a., underperforming), a muscle must be receiving optimal neurological feedback from your brain, spinal cord, and nerves.

For over two decades, research on static stretching has shown that it dampens neural input to muscles, thereby weakening them. Although it's rare for someone to say that foam rolling dampens the neuro input to muscles, I'm confident when I tell you, it does!

If a practitioner told me I had tight quads, for instance, and recommended foam rolling, I'd ask, "Which one of my quads is tight?" (because it only takes one of those muscles to restrict motion at the knee).

It's impossible to emphasize one quadricep with a foam roller. So, of course, foam rolling collects all of the quadriceps.

Because most people start from a place of not knowing what they don't know, they don't know to ask, "Which muscle is tight?"

In most cases, people recognize that the results from stretching, rolling on a lacrosse ball, foam rolling, and actively releasing muscles with deep tissue massage, approaches that address muscle tightness, don't last more than 24 hours.

An inconvenient truth when it comes to pain, injuries, performance, and prevention is this: ~99% of practitioners who work with the muscular and skeletal systems don't have the skill set to differentiate a tight muscle from an underperforming one.

Bunions aren't hereditary.
02/07/2026

Bunions aren't hereditary.

02/06/2026

Mostly, people resort to a foam roller because they feel tightness. For instance, when their outer thigh feels tight, foam rolling the IT band feels productive.

While foam rolling and massage that's designed to release muscles and trigger points feel therapeutic, in most cases, the gluteus maximus and the TFL (tensor fascia latae), two muscles that attach to the IT band, are underperforming (neurologically impaired). The vastus lateralis, which lies beneath the IT band and connects directly to the outside of the femur, tends to underperform as well.

Underperforming muscles are the primary reason for muscle tightness.

Because foam rolling, rolling on a lacrosse ball, and deep tissue massage target only what feels tight and fail to address the underperforming muscles, the vicious cycle of muscle tightness continues.

02/04/2026

Static stretching has been shown to dampen the neural input to muscles, thereby weakening them.

When ~99% of licensed practitioners stretch, they have no scientific way to determine which muscles are actually tight. So, of course, all the muscles are collected in bodies that are compensating for previous injuries, pain, etc.

Increased mobility (joints) and, as a result, increased flexibility (muscles) via stretching doesn't last more than 24 hours.

Like rolling on a lacrosse ball and foam rolling, stretching is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result and a better outcome than previous attempts at chasing muscle tightness and, in most cases, pain.

Because stretching has a negative impact on muscles and its effects are short-lived, I find it extremely difficult to understand why the researchers continue to promote stretching as being productive when, in reality, it increases compensation and fragility.

The bottom line: no version of stretching, and no amount of time spent holding a stretch, will increase stability. And stability is what eliminates the threat our brains perceive.

The next time someone tells you that your quads are tight, ask them, "Which one of my quadriceps is tight?" Followed by,...
02/03/2026

The next time someone tells you that your quads are tight, ask them, "Which one of my quadriceps is tight?" Followed by, "Can you show me how you came to that conclusion?"

02/02/2026

When you feel tightness throughout your outer thigh, your vastus lateralis, which is deep to your IT band, could be underperforming.

To work smarter, not harder, this is how I address the proximal attachments of the vastus lateralis (lateral quad).

In the fitness space, having thousands of followers is rarely an indicator that the person sharing the information is co...
02/01/2026

In the fitness space, having thousands of followers is rarely an indicator that the person sharing the information is competent in how to best perform an exercise.

01/31/2026

You can feel those annoying tight muscles that, among other things, restrict motion, but you can't feel muscles that are underperforming.

While chasing pain and muscle tightness is popular, underperforming muscles are the root of tightness.

To end the vicious cycle, do what increases stability. 💪

Then, you'll have more mobility (joints) and flexibility (muscles) that last longer than 24 hours.

01/29/2026

Your TFL (tensor fascia latae) and gluteus maximus attach to your IT band, which originates from the outside of your pelvis.

The broad IT band serves as the distal tendon for your TFL and gluteus maximus.

Because your IT Band (and the two muscles that attach to it) end at your tibia, your TFL and gluteus maximus play a significant role not only in providing stability, but also in mobility. But, only when your TFL, gluteus maximus, and vastus lateralis are capable of playing their role to the best of their ability, a result that foam rolling and stretching don't allow for.

01/27/2026

Why foam rolling your iliotibial (IT) band isn't as productive as it feels.

Deep to your IT band is your vastus lateralis, one of your quadriceps muscles.

Your TFL (tensor fascia latae) and gluteus maximus attach to your IT band, which originates from the outside of your pelvis.

The broad IT band serves as the distal tendon for your TFL and gluteus maximus.

Because your IT Band (and the two muscles that attach to it) end at your tibia, your TFL and gluteus maximus play a significant role not only in providing stability, but also in mobility. But, only when your TFL, gluteus maximus, and vastus lateralis are capable of playing their role to the best of their ability, a result that foam rolling and stretching don't allow for.

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12700 Hillcrest Road Ste 125 #143
Dallas, TX
75230

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Prior to each session, I first want to see what each and every muscle that crosses a particular joint is capable of. To do this, I’ll put your joints in positions where one muscle is emphasized more than any other muscle.

The goal: I’m asking each one of your muscles a super specific question. As you might have already imagined, it’s a challenge that each one of your muscles hasn’t been presented with.

The question goes like this: When all of the other players are taken out of the equation, are you (read: a specific muscle) capable of pulling your weight?

When the answer comes back as NO, then, I know the muscle in question is not performing to its full potential. See, when your muscles are presented with a super specific challenge, you’ll know whether or not they are capable of meeting that challenge.