Have you ever been “Cupped”??

For a period of a few weeks I experienced severe pain in my left shoulder whenever i would raise my arm. Not sure why this began to happen, but my suspicion was that i caused an impingement after sleeping on that side of my body the night before. This has happened in the past several times, as i am sure many bodybuilders and men with defined physiques alike have dealt with. The only difference this time was that my ability to bench press and military press was affected. I tried several methods to relieve the pain; icing, moist heat, mobility work, and the last resort i wanted to take; REST. To no avail i still had a considerable amount of pain around the medial deltoid of my shoulder.

After finally getting it checked it was determined that i had a mild case of bursitis in my shoulder. I was told to just rest and avoid overhead movements as much as possible. Now I am a bodybuilder and AVID gym junkie. I was definitely not going to take a break from training.

Needless to say i was in the gym the next morning to train chest. That was probably one of the worst sessions of training i had gone through in a very long time. I could barely press anything, and machine work was not getting the job done.

That evening i had some deep tissue work done. It was abnormally excruciating. I was in tears; it was crazy.

Anyway the massage therapist suggested that i try cupping therapy. I had very little knowledge of it as i had only heard about it after the last Olympic trials, but i was willing to try anything at this point.

Fast forward. After getting the cupping done for a 45 minute session I was astonished at how much better I actually felt! There was still some discomfort but i was able to move through full range of motion without feeling any tweaks.

To be on the safe side i trained legs and back over the next couple of days to rest a little before i tried to press again. Full transparency I was able to get through my chest session however I still could not flat bench my normal weight. All in all, I was just happy that i could press again as i knew i was on the road to recovery.  I have recently received a number of questions about what Cupping therapy actually is, so i figured this short story was the perfect segway.

What Is Chinese Cupping?

The Pacific College of Oriental Medicine explains that “Cupping is the term applied to a technique that uses small glass cups or bamboo jars as suction devices that are placed on the ski to disperse and break up stagnation and congestion by drawing congested blood, energy or other humors to the surface. In dry cupping, the therapist will simply place the suction cups on the skin. In wet cupping, the practitioner will make a small incision on the skin and then apply the suction cup to draw out small amounts of blood.

There are several ways that a practitioner can create the suction in the cups. One method involves swabbing rubbing alcohol onto the bottom of the cup, then lighting it and putting the cup immediately against the skin. Suction can also be created by placing an inverted cup over a small flame, or by using an alcohol-soaked cotton pad over an insulating material (like leather) to protect the skin, then lighting the pad and placing an empty cup over the flame to extinguish it. Flames are never used near the skin and are not lit throughout the process of cupping, but rather are a means to create the heat that causes the suction within the small cups.

Once the suction has occurred, the cups can be gently moved across the skin (often referred to as “gliding cupping). Medical massage oils are sometimes applied to improve movement of the glass cups along the skin. The suction in the cups causes the skin and superficial muscle layer to be lightly drawn into the cup. Cupping is much like the inverse of massage – rather than applying pressure to muscles, it uses gentle pressure to pull them upward. For most patients, this is a particularly relaxing and relieving sensation. Once suctioned, the cups are generally left in place for about ten minutes while the patient relaxes. This is similar to the practice of Tui Na, a traditional Chinese medicine massage technique that targets acupuncture points as well as painful body parts, and is well known to provide relief through pressure.

The side effects of cupping are fairly mild. First and foremost, visually its going to make your skin crawl because of how it look. Also, bruising should be expected, but skin should return to looking normal within 10 days. Potential side effects include mild discomfort, skin infection, and rarely burns occur. However, a trained health professional will apply an antibiotic ointment and bandage to prevent an infection.”

Ancient Chinese Proverb:

“Where there’s stagnation, there will be pain. Remove the stagnation, and you remove the pain.”

The old Chinese medical maxim holds that pain results from the congestion, stagnation, and blockage of Qi, or vital energy, vital fluids, lymph, phlegm, and blood. If pain is the essence of disease, then suffering is a result of obstructed or irregular flow in the body. Chinese cupping is therefore a method of breaking up the blockage to restore the body’s natural flow of energy.

Cupping has been used by many athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and gym junkiez alike as a tool for helping them recover faster and maintain good health. Michael Phelps was a major advocate for the use of cupping which quickly grew among the other Olympians. Today, quickly becoming apart of the massage therapy services regularly offered, and with good reason.  Here are 3 specific benefits of Cupping that will hopefully encourage anyone that has been dealing with some form of physical ailment to try it out.

3 Benefits of Cupping Therapy

Removing Toxins

Cupping therapy is highly effective in helping individuals recover from the strenuous training they subject their bodies to. During intensive training, you develop micro tears in their muscles and tissues. As these tissues heal, they help boost stamina and performance. However, the stress also leads to a buildup of toxins like cholesterol, calcium deposits, uric acid, and lactic acid in the muscles. If not cleared, these toxins can hamper the healing of the tissues. Cupping can break down the chemical structure of the compounds into simpler forms that can be expelled from the body by natural processes. For example, uric acid converts into ureates that can be easily eliminated by the urinary system.

Aleviate Inflammation

Cupping therapy can help heal the inflammation and stiffness in the joints. The reverse pressure exerted during cupping works to pull the tissues and muscles off the bones. The vacuum thats created fills with fresh blood and lymph that is rich in oxygen and nutrients. These infusions flood the affected area and cause it to heal. The lymph brings with it compounds that boost the body’s immunity besides aid in the healing process. While conventional medicine aims at suppressing inflammation, cupping therapy works to remove the causes of the inflammation. In this way, it speeds up healing and also removes pain and stress in the tissues.

Cupping as Myofascial Decompression

Cupping therapy can also help relieve hamstring strains, and myofascial restrictions even if they result from training and not from some injury. The treatment helps increase flexibility so people can train longer and harder. When the procedure was performed on athletes, they noted better a better range of active flexion and extension movement. Cupping can also treat musculo-skeletal injuries and relieve the spasms athletes suffer when undergoing intensive training.

Cupping therapy is an excellent form of noninvasive treatment that can help you recover from a multitude of injuries. Its even been known to help with acne!  If you have been weight training for a number of years and experience random bouts with joint or muscle pain, I strongly encourage you to give this a shot. Those that are fairly new to the game, prevention is always the best method. Take good care of your bodies now and they will be good to you for the long haul. Give cupping a try and let me know what you think!! Train Smart!!! Train Hard!!!!