Zippy at work and recovery! Lee Stang, LMT

So here at the China Open Zippy finds himself in the training and massage rooms working hard; or as they might say of the massage therapist using Zippy, is hardly working! Zippy is a tool that helps save the hands; it fits nicely in the palm as you work with either the roller ball or the flat side. Combining its use with other tools, like massage cups, provides excellent means of releasing tension in the soft tissue without working ones’ hands too hard.

Here you see Zippy working with some of its favorite ‘buds’, the negative ion cups, to release the erector group and deeper paraspinals, even QL.    

Here using the flat end of Zippy allows you to strip the QL and erectors and then using the tip get really specific into multifidi

.Using the roller ball helps to facilitate release through QL muscle belly and along the iliac crest while the cups are in place to help with further release of the tissues. Using the flat end (we often refer to it as the snowboard end) to strip the length of the erector group right through the QL is very effective to get the last bit of tissue release once the cups are removed.

Now Zippy has had a busy week so self-care and recovery are very important. One of the things we often tell our athletes is regarding the value of ice baths to help facilitate the recovery process. Well, Zippy figured if it was good enough for these elite athletes it was good enough for Zippy. So into the ice bath Zippy went! We learned some interesting things about Zippy and water!

The first is that Zippy does not know how to swim! Yes, that is Zippy at the bottom of the cool pool! Embarrassing for the little guy! So, we found that for recovery purposes, if Zippy had either a little plastic bag boat or was able to sit on the ice flow it was much better.

 Another great approach with Zippy is to actually sit in the ice freezer for a while.  It gets good and cold and makes for a nice ice treatment following play or on an area that might be initially quite tender to the touch. A little cold roller ball therapy can go a long way to decreasing tissue tenderness, you can then get into the area a bit easier. And in the freeze Zip doesn’t need to worry about swimming!

Another great approach with Zippy is to actually sit in the ice freezer for a while.  It gets good and cold and makes for a nice ice treatment following play or on an area that might be initially quite tender to the touch. A little cold roller ball therapy can go a long way to decreasing tissue tenderness, you can then get into the area a bit easier. And in the freeze Zip doesn’t need to worry about swimming!

As Zippy has been working hard it is now time for some relaxation and fun. Look for Zippy traveling around Beijing. Even a trip out to the country side so see the great wall is in Zippy’s future.

Lee Stang, LMT