Review of the Vertiball Mountable Massage Ball – Ultimate Guide
When it comes to trigger point and myofascial release, having the right tool for the job can make all the difference. Vertiball is an innovative solution that addresses some of the common challenges of self-massage.
From maximizing workout recovery to improving range of motion and mobility, the benefits of self-myofascial release for athletes have made it a go-to practice for getting the most out of your training. But what happens when you find the limitations for the areas you can reach with the tools at your disposal?
This article covers everything you need to know about addressing hard-to-reach places in your trigger point therapy and self-myofascial release practice and how you can use Vertiball’s innovative design to help tackle them.
Hard-to-Reach Trigger Point and Self-Myofascial Release
Every self-myofascial release tool in your gym bag has its set of distinct advantages. Foam rollers are great at efficiently covering large areas. Massage guns give you pinpoint accuracy to target specific spots with tremendous mechanical force.
But most self-release tools have one thing in common. Those hard-to-reach spots remain hard-to-reach spots.
Your arms aren’t quite physically capable of bending at the angles needed to reach the innermost areas of the back with a massage gun. And the broad surface area of a foam roller makes it challenging to sustain pressure on narrow trigger points. Even recruiting someone to help out wielding a massage tool becomes a guiding game that never entirely results in the dynamic precision and pressure you need.
Lacrosse balls and tennis balls sometimes do the trick. But the amount of pressure is fixed by gravity, limiting how much you can adjust it. The large mass of the back can provide too much pressure at times, and on the opposite scale, there isn’t enough pressure for smaller muscle groups when you’re working your arms and shoulders. And every time you move, so does the ball.
This is the gap in self-myofascial release the Vertiball jumped in to fill with a unique design that gives you more control over managing hard-to-reach trigger points yourself.
Unique Design of the Vertiball Precision Massager
There are three areas that Vertiball fills the gap in solving. Pressure concentration, precision, and gravity.
Vertiball took the traditional approach of using massage rollers on the ground and flipped it sideways. It uses an innovative airlock mounting system that allows you to secure the tool on any sturdy, smooth surface. This approach is what enables it to change all three problem gaps fundamentally.
It takes advantage of the concentrated pressure you get from a tool like the lacrosse ball and fixes it in place so it doesn’t move around. As you move your body, the ball rolls around its axis, not with the surface of the body. That means the pressure moves precisely where you want it.
But what about the third problem gap? You can’t change the force of gravity, can you?
Well, you can’t change the laws of physics. Gravity is a constant; that much is certain. But you can change how you use gravity – by taking that downward force and moving it from the horizontal plane to the vertical plane.
Pros and Cons of Gravity Based Trigger Point Release
When you lay down on a lacrosse ball, the constant force of gravity is what’s pulling you down to create pressure from the ball onto your body.
Sometimes this works out fantastically! But what happens if you want less or more pressure?
In some positions, you might be able to lift yourself at the elbows, but that’s a short list of positions. And at that point, you lose the ability for precision control and access to countless trigger points.
Vertiball’s mounting system allows you to have a different relationship with how you create pressure with the tool. Instead of relying on gravity in the horizontal plane, you’re able to fix the massager on the vertical plane and use the force generated with your own body to adjust the pressure.
How Vertiball’s Approach is Different
Having a massage tool that you can mount on a vertical surface opens up an entirely new dimension of areas you can reach yourself with variable pressure.
Imagine you’re trying to release a trigger point in your middle back. You can first mount the Vertiball just at the right spot to reach the area of your back properly. Once you lean against the device, the ball’s ability to be fixed in place while rolling around its axis allows you to precisely explore the area until you feel the exact spot that needs targeting.
Once you’ve narrowed in on that exact spot, instead of relying on the unchanging force of gravity, you use a more variable tool; the strength of your legs and body.
Your brain and body work well together to give you feedback for determining how much pressure you need during trigger point therapy or self-myofascial release. So having the ability to change how much pressure you’re applying instantly can drastically improve its effectiveness.
How to Use the Vertiball Massager
Vertiball mounts to any smooth and non-porous surface using its industrial-strength suction cup technology. Make sure you find a suitable surface; since it uses suction, it won’t work very well with textured surfaces with gaps or pores, like brick or textured drywall.
Vertiball Step-by-Step Directions:
- Remove the suction pad cover from the suction pad.
- Press down on the latch to separate the Vertiball attachment from the suction pad.
- Pull back the lever to put the suction pad in its unactivated position.
- Place the suction pad firmly against a smooth, stable surface at the desired height.
- While firmly pressing down on the suction pad, turn the latch to its locked position.
- Let the suction pad stay on the wall for 90 seconds, then test how well it’s secured by applying sideways pressure to the device.
- Slide the Vertiball attachment down onto the suction pad until it locks into place.
While it can stay in place for days, Vertiball recommends that you remove the device from the surface once you complete your session.
Final Thoughts:
Trigger point and self-myofascial release tools usually aren’t “one size fits all” devices. Over time you’ll likely need to expand your toolkit to include the release tools that adequately address specific challenges you’re facing.
The Vertiball opens up a wide range of versatility for getting to those hard-to-reach places and having the ability to change how much pressure you’re using.
If you’re looking for more ideas in finding the right tools for the job, take a look at our article on the best foam roller alternatives. Not only is the Vertiball featured in that list, but you can also discover the entire landscape of devices to take your trigger point and self-myofascial release practice to the next level.
If you’re interested in adding a Vertiball to your trigger point and self-myofascial release toolkit, when you use one of our links from this post, we get a small commission from Amazon (at no additional cost to you!) So if you appreciate the work we do and the information we provide in articles like this, it helps us keep the lights on. Thanks for your support!
