Deep Tissue Massage: A Visual Guide to Techniques [Paperback]

Art Riggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 20, 2002

Featuring more than 250 photographs and 50 anatomical drawings, Deep Tissue Massage is the standard guide to the essentials of touch, biomechanics, and positioning options for a multitude of strategies to treat all major conditions encountered in a bodywork practice.

The book is divided into three sections. “Fundamentals” covers basic skills of palpation, explaining the deeper layers of the body and presenting detailed instruction on working with these layers to release tension. This section gives clear information on the proper use of knuckles, fist, forearms, and elbows in preventing injury to the therapist. “Strategies” offers more precise protocols and treatment plans for the entire body with emphasis on client positioning options to stretch muscles rather than just kneading tissues. “Caveats” details areas in which the practitioner needs to exercise caution.

Deep Tissue Massage presents a wealth of information in a way the therapist can immediately utilize. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and includes a preface to the new edition, a foreword, an index, a Suggested Reading list, and extended sections on integrating deep-tissue massage into bodywork practice and the psychology of treating injuries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Art’s passion, teaching expertise, and therapeutic knowledge blend beautifully in this user-friendly text. Every somatic therapist will gain valuable insights for energizing their practice and enhancing skills. The book is obviously a labor of love, and as the great author, poet, and artist John Ruskin once stated, 'When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.'"
—Erik Dalton, Ph.D., Developer of the Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques and founder of the Freedom From Pain Institute

"Art Riggs is masterful at teaching and explaining deep bodywork. We unreservedly recommend his materials in our workshops, and his updated Deep Tissue Massage will be an indispensable aid to practitioners, teachers, schools, and students."
—Til Luchau, Certified Advanced Rolfer, Faculty of the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration and Director and Lead Instructor of Advanced-Trainings.com

About the Author

Art Riggs is a Certified Advanced Rolfer and massage therapist who has been teaching bodywork since 1988 and now sells Myofascial release videos and manuals worldwide. A lifetime of hard physical activity and high level athletic pursuits including ultra-marathons led him to bodywork, first as a grateful recipient, and later as a student. The fulfillment he experienced in both receiving and performing bodywork led him away from his graduate studies in Exercise Physiology at the University of California, Berkeley to a full time career as a Rolfer and teacher of Deep Tissue Massage. He has conducted numerous workshops for health spas and for medical professionals, including physical therapists, and has assisted in Rolf Institute trainings.

For the first ten years of his practice, he specialized in myofascial release at a physical therapy clinic where his interest in the treatment of injuries was cultivated. He has worked with several Olympic athletes, professional football and basketball players, and professional dancers and musicians to treat injuries and to improve performance. However, his teaching and the practice of working with the general population to provide a better awareness of their bodies and allow more ease and comfort in their everyday lives remains the most gratifying aspect of his work. Art Riggs lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit him at www.deeptissuemassagemanual.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books (May 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556433875
• ISBN-13: 978-1556433870
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent reference book for Massage Therapists, September 24, 2004

By 

Natural Healthy Essentials "venusmassageLMT" (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Tissue Massage: A Visual Guide to Techniques (Paperback)

I am a NY State Licensed and National Board Certified Massage Therapist. Honestly speaking, deep tissue massage is in great demand as people stress out from work and life. About 90% of my clients come for deep tissue massage.

I have most of the reference material for Deep Tissue Massage, including this book and DVD by Art Riggs, Deep Tissue & Neuromuscular Therapy (2 sets) by Sean Riehl, Balanced Body by Donald W. Scheumann, and Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques (Vol 1) by Erik Dalton. Art Riggs' teaching material excels from them all. Furthermore, I appreciated the way how Riggs handled customer complaints. Riggs answered my email complaints personally and have turned a customer complaint into a praise. On the other extreme, I never got any email answer from Erik Dalton regarding my purchase (I did get an order confirmation from his company).

A final word, you will not regret buying the study material from Art Riggs, and don't waste money on the studying material for Myoskeletal Alignment Techniques. Most of the techniques from Myoskeletal Alignment (Vol 1) can be found in Art Riggs' Deep Tissue Massage.

Enjoy your Deep Tissue Massage

61 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent text for beginning deep tissue massage therapists, October 14, 2004

By 

Hortensia "Sunshine" (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deep Tissue Massage: A Visual Guide to Techniques (Paperback)

I have been teaching deep tissue massage for many years. This is the first really accessible text on deep tissue massage that I have seen. The illustrations are especially helpful and the author's descriptions of techniques very useful and easy to follow. When I first read this book,I could hear my teacher's voice - it is very similar to my original training in deep tissue massage. I would recommend it to all massage therapists who want to improve their massage skills.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Tool for both Learning and Practice, August 5, 2002

By 

Keith Eric Grant "Ramblemuse" (Pleasanton, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Tissue Massage: A Visual Guide to Techniques (Paperback)

I've had the pleasure of teaching deep tissue classes at the McKinnon Institute from a preprint version of this book for several years. I've found it to be a very well organized tool for students to learn from. The combination of pictures with short technique descriptions and of more details given on the text pages plays well for different learning styles. Even better, it's a book that can be used both for a quick technique refresh before working with a client or for a more in depth review of the motivations behind the work. In the short time since the book has been formally published, I've already used it multiple times as a reference for a column I write for Massage Today. It has been and continues to be the book I was looking for long before Art Riggs wrote it.