Vital Edge

Where your lift gets stuck,
and why

Your warm-up sets were fine and your working set was not. For the record, the biggest review of the research found massage does not make you stronger.

What has been measured

Sore is not the same
as damaged

Most people who train take soreness as proof the session worked: muscle was broken down, and now it needs to recover. The research does not back that up.

In one study, 110 people did 12, 24 or 60 maximal eccentric reps, the lowering part of a lift. The two bigger sessions caused significantly more muscle damage on every measure, but the soreness was no different: five times the work, the same ache. And massage does not change the strength side either. The biggest review, 29 studies and 1,012 people, found no evidence that massage improves strength, jump, sprint, endurance or fatigue. Jonathan will not tell you otherwise.

And the boundary is the same here as everywhere else on this site: if it turns out to need a diagnosis, a scan or a prescription, Jonathan will say so and point you to the person who can, rather than work around it.

Say where the lift stalls
The Sticking Point

When a lift stalls,
it is not always your muscles

Here are six common places a lift gets stuck, and three possible reasons for each. For three of the six, the answer is not hands-on work at all.

The most common one is a squat that stops above parallel. To reach parallel with your chest up, your shin has to move forward over your foot. That needs ankle flexibility under load, and it is usually the first thing to run out.

Three possible reasons
Programming
Not really a strength question In one study of nine young men, how far their ankles, knees and hips could move predicted how deep they squatted. Their leg strength did not. It was only nine 18-year-olds, so treat it as a hint, not proof.
Technique
Stance and shoes: try these first A wider stance, turning your toes out, or a shoe with a raised heel. All three reduce how much ankle movement you need, and they cost little or nothing.
Soft tissue
A real possibility here Your calves and inner thighs have to lengthen under load at the bottom of a squat. This is one of the three lifts here where tight muscle is a real part of the answer.
The honest answer

Try the cheap fixes first. If you still cannot get deeper, a session with Jonathan has something specific to work on.

Three of the six are not about muscle

One is a programming problem, two are technique, and only three are something hands-on work can help with. Most stalled lifts come down to training or technique, and fewer come down to tight muscles.

Nobody is asking you to lift less

Adding load over time is how training works. Regular sessions keep on top of the strain as it builds, on the same rhythm as your training.

People who lift regularly tend to come about once a month, and more often during a heavy block. The Rhythm: gym and strength
See how regular sessions work
Where hands are relevant

Three of the six
are worth a session

The other three answer to your coach or your programme. If yours is a length problem, an hour has something specific to look at.

Book a session
Answered elsewhere

Three questions,
answered properly elsewhere

So when is it worth having one at all? When to book before an event and after it, and the one timing where studies found massage made performance worse. The Two Hands How hard is it, really? A simple pressure scale, from light strokes to firm pressure held on one spot. Firm is not the same as painful. The Pressure Line How often do people who lift actually come in? See how often people who lift tend to come in, and how that compares with other routines. The Rhythm
Before you book

Questions lifters ask

If it will not make me stronger, what am I paying for?

Better movement, feeling better, and an honest view of what is actually holding you back. The research is clear that massage does not make you stronger, and Jonathan will tell you that up front. What you get is simpler and easier to check: a shoulder that reaches where it used to, a hip that is no longer throwing off your bar path, and someone who will tell you when the problem is not muscle at all.

Sore for three days is a good session, though, isn't it?

Lots of people think so, but the research does not support it. When 110 people did 12, 24 or 60 maximal eccentric reps, the bigger sessions caused more muscle damage but no more soreness than the smallest. Soreness depends far more on how new the movement is than on how much work you did. It's a real feeling, but a poor measure of a good session.

Where does this sit around a heavy block?

Jonathan will not give you a schedule before he has seen you. The Rhythm shows how often people who lift tend to come in, but that is what other people do, not advice for you. What suits your training block is something to talk about after a first session.

I am not injured. I just feel beaten up. Is that worth an hour?

Yes. Nothing has to be wrong. This is the maintenance side of what Jonathan does, not the injury side. One caution: if you mean you are tired in a way that sleep is not fixing, that is a bigger question than a massage can answer, and it is worth mentioning when you book.

My shoulder only hurts when I bench. Is this the right thing?

Possibly not, and Jonathan will tell you if so, rather than take your money to find out. He is not a physiotherapist. Tightness at the end of a movement is what a session can help with. Pain that clicks, catches, gives way or wakes you up is not, and if that is what you have, he will point you to the right person.

A first session is for working out which of the three it is. Even being told it's your programme, not your muscles, is worth the hour.

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Elsewhere

If it is not quite this

Or start from where you are: something already hurts, or nothing hurts yet.

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