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  • Published: 1 January 2011
  • ISBN: 9781556436505
  • Imprint: North Atlantic
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $75.00

Deep Tissue Massage, Revised Edition

A Visual Guide to Techniques



Featuring more than 250 photographs and 50 anatomical drawings, this revised edition of 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.

  • Published: 1 January 2011
  • ISBN: 9781556436505
  • Imprint: North Atlantic
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $75.00

About the author

Art Riggs

Art Riggs is a Certified Advanced Rolfer and massage therapist who has taught bodywork since 1988. A frequent conductor of workshops for medical professionals, including physical therapists, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Praise for Deep Tissue Massage, Revised Edition

—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

“Art Riggs has created a superb teaching tool for the classroom and a matchless clinical reference manual. His book captures the background context and specific applications of deep tissue work in a word and picture, while conveying the essence and importance of attitude and approach.”

—Keith Eric Grant, Ph.D., NCTMB, Research physicist and director of the McKinnon Institute Sports & Dip Tissue Program

"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.'"