It takes skill, balance, and athletic ability to succeed in martial arts. But it also takes a good deal of training, whether it’s for an upcoming fight or just to stay in shape.
Cassidy Phillips, CEO and founder of Trigger Point Performance has developed a line of therapeutic tools that manages aches and pains of the body due to muscular issues, while simultaneously releasing, lengthen and strengthening the muscles. And needless to say, they are taking over the MMA and karate world.
One of Trigger Point Performance’s newest products is the revolutionary foam roller known as The GRID. The GRID can be used for more of a flushing type technique to rid the toxicity out of the muscles during post training.
“The cool part about The GRID, is it can also be used in place of a stability ball through program we have developed called SMRT-CORE,” said Phillips, “This product was actually created to compete with most of the foam rollers out there in the world. The difference is we made this one better.”
Fighters like Brock Lesnar, Vitor Belfort, Pete Spratt, and Rawle Shewprashad have been seen using Trigger Point Performance products. Martial arts experts are also buying in as well. In a sport where staying healthy and preserving your body is key, Phillips has found a niche that hasn’t been seen before.
“The response from the MMA world has been absolutely incredible. Brock Lesnar was seen using the Quadballer during UFC 116 and Vitor Belfort was filmed with The GRID at his last weigh in for his fight with Anderson Silva,” said Phillips.
“When we can create efficiencies within a movement, we can capitalize on the force created by those efficiencies thereby allowing an MMA athlete to be more nimble, able to produce efficient force throughout both upper and lower body, and correctly utilize the core stability in the ring,” said Phillips.
What makes Trigger Point Performance so unique and why it’s becoming so popular in martial arts is because the products mirror the feeling of an actual hand, essentially bringing your therapy home with you.
“Each device is built for specific areas of the body so that you can get the greatest rate of return while using them the least amount of time. Our goal is to prevent injury and create tissue tolerance with our products and education.”
“Trigger Point Performance will help an MMA athlete by giving them confidence in their body’s ability and biomechanics through MyofascialCompression Techniques (MCT). These techniques restore elasticity and proper length-tension relationships within the muscles so that the body will perform actions in the most effective way possible and ultimately change how the body moves as a whole.”
Cassidy Phillips is no stranger to survival skills. He currently lives with fibromyalgia, a muscular dysfunction that takes over the muscle tissue. He was forced to recognize what types of therapy were working and which ones were making him worse. That’s where Trigger Point Performance Therapy was born. Since its introduction, Phillips has worked with NFL athletes, college football stars, MMA fighters, and more. He travels the world, educating people how to properly train and use Trigger Point Performance Therapy products. To Phillips, it truly is a matter of life and death.
“You brush your teeth every day to keep the plaque off your teeth,” said Phillips, “We are doing the same thing for specific areas of your body. If you think about it, with your teeth you can feel the plaque, you can smell the dysfunction, and others can remind you that you need to brush your teeth but within the body, within the muscles, you’ll rarely think about it. If you don’t think about it, you don’t really know that you’ve got a problem. The older you get, the more you start saying “I’m just getting older”, the body becomes more difficult to move so you just tolerate the inability to move efficiently therefore you accept it. With our products, you no longer have to tolerate what you accept. We can change the way your body moves with our patented products and patent pending methodologies.”
For more information about Trigger Point Performance and to learn more about Cassidy Phillips inspiring story, log on to www.tptherapy.com
Questions & Answers
1) How can TP help an MMA fighter or karate athlete?
MMA fighters are really modern day gladiators. To be successful in the ring, a fighter must be agile, able to generate significant muscular forces and endurance, while also having the ability to sustain the blunt force trauma from an opponent. The training regimens necessary for this place incredible demands on the body. We always say, “If the muscles cannot tolerate the demands you place upon your body, compromise will occur.” Trigger Point Performance Therapy will help an MMA athlete by giving them confidence in their body’s ability and biomechanics through MyofascialCompression Techniques (MCT). These techniques restore elasticity and proper length-tension relationships within the muscles so that the body will perform actions in the most effective way possible and ultimately change how the body moves as a whole.
We have identified the Ultimate 6 performance enhancement points for all athletes. These are the key points for MCT manipulation for achieving structural integrity which all stem from the foot, the foundation of every movement. If the foundation is not stable, the subsequent biomechanical chain reaction will not be stable. Dysfunction in the foot stems from tension and scar tissue and adhesions in the calf / soleus region and, if not addressed, the dysfunction will move from the lower leg all the way up to the quads, hip, IT band, and even the lower back. More specifically for MMA, in which every move is based in the forefoot, inadequate foot rigidity not only decreases the agility needed to quickly move toward or away from an opponent but will ultimately inhibit one’s ability to kick, punch, stabilize and efficiently breathe. Inflexibility in the foot forces the knee to thrust forward, creating greater demand on the quads and IT bands. Once elasticity in these two areas is lost, the resulting pelvic tilt forces the psoas to become the main core stabilizer, instead of the competent muscles of the core, and pulls the torso in front of the pelvis, thereby compromising the body’s ability to breathe. The piriformis must work harder due to the lack of structural integrity and loss of strength in the quad/IT band region. With all of this, the pectoral muscles force the shoulders to rotate forward, inhibiting the arm’s ability to thrust forward efficiently.
MCT will target and break up adhesions and trigger points while restoring elasticity to these six regions, making the body more efficient. When we can create efficiencies within a movement, we can capitalize on the force created by those efficiencies thereby allowing an MMA athlete to be more nimble, able to produce efficient force throughout both upper and lower body, and correctly utilize the core stability in the ring.
2) What products would you recommend an MMA fighter or combat fighter use and why?
The coolest thing about our products is that they mirror the feeling of an actual hand. This enables you to bring therapy into your home or at your training session without having to worry about the cost of a manual massage therapist. Each device is built for specific areas of the body so that you can get the greatest rate of return while using them the least amount of time. Our goal is to prevent injury and create tissue tolerance with our products and education.
You brush your teeth every day to keep the plaque off your teeth… we are doing the same thing for specific areas of your body. If you think about it, with your teeth you can feel the plaque, you can smell the dysfunction, and others can remind you that you need to brush your teeth but within the body, within the muscles, you’ll rarely think about it. If you don’t think about it, you don’t really know that you’ve got a problem. The older you get, the more you start saying “I’m just getting older”, the body becomes more difficult to move so you just tolerate the inability to move efficiently therefore you accept it. With our products, you no longer have to tolerate what you accept. We can change the way your body moves with our patented products and patent pending methodologies.
Trigger Point Performance Therapy products allow an athlete to execute MCT before and after training or matches quickly and easily to increase performance. We have developed a “PreGen” methodology, which prepares the muscle tissue for the demands you are about to place upon them as well as a “ReGen” to regenerate the tissue post activity.
We recommend using the Footballer and Baller Block to effectively target the soleus region, along with single ball and double ball manipulation (see tptherapy.com for more details). This will create pliability in those muscles and increase foot functionality. The Quadballer is also an exceptional product for the quadriceps, vastus lateralis, and IT band. We have a methodical approach to work through these areas to clear the pelvis out of the way so the fighter is able to drive more force out of the movement pattern with the legs. The TP Massage Ball can also be used to prepare and regenerate the psoas, piriformis, pecs, and neck areas using the floor, wall, or any hard surface.
All of our products come in special packages with the exact programming that you need in order to build those products into your everyday life. We have a foot and lower leg kit for obviously the lower leg. We provide you with a DVD on the biomechanics of the lower leg and we also provide you with the programming that you can follow along with to get the greatest rate of return.
We also have a Hip and Lower back kit that really focuses on the dysfunctions that occur within these specific areas. Once again, we are going to give you education on the biomechanics and also give you the specific programming to work through those areas. The reality is that even if you’re dealing with the problem in the upper body, we still feel that you have to deal with the lower leg first in order to remedy this situation the body.
We also have other packages that concentrate strictly on biomechanics. We have injury prevention packages, biomechanical packages, and we have individual products as well. The bottom line is we want to give you the education that you need, not just what you want. We just built a new website called therapy–x.com and this is where you get great education and information related to our products no matter where you are in the world.
One of our unique new products is the revolutionary foam roller, The GRID. The GRID can be used for more of a “flushing” type technique to rid the toxicity out of the muscles post training. The cool part about The GRID, is it can also be used in place of a stability ball through program we have developed called SMRT CORE. This product was actually created to compete with most of the foam rollers out there in the world. The difference is we made this one better. There is a matrix of distrodensities that allows blood and oxygen to be pushed through the tissue as you rollover The Grid. With most foam rollers you pool blood on each side of the roller versus allowing it to transfer through the muscle and device.
3) What type of response have you received from the MMA/karate world?
The response from the MMA world has been absolutely incredible. Brock Lesnar was seen using the Quadballer during UFC 116 and Vitor Belfort was filmed with The GRID at his last weigh in for his fight with Anderson Silva. With MMA being one of the fastest growing sports in the world it’s a great feeling to know that we are giving people a cost-effective measure to keep themselves healthy but we are allowing them to perform at an optimal level. I’m proud to be a part of MMA.
4) When you see a picture of Balfour or another fighter using TP, what kind of feeling to you get knowing that you are growing in that marketplace?
It has been very cool to be embraced by a sport and its athletes of which I have great respect and admiration. In my everyday life, I dread the thought of getting hit in the face. These guys feed off of it! If I can help these athletes prevent injuries as well as move more efficiently, I feel I am contributing to their success. Whether it be during the rigorous training, or the actual fight day, the effort they put into it is absolutely amazing. I am very proud to say that we are a part of their programming.
5) Was MMA an area you always wanted to branch into, or did it just happen that way?
MMA is definitely one of the areas I wanted to pursue. With our Trigger Point performance products it was a no-brainer that we would enter this market with the level of training these guys put in, there going to have aches and pains, they’re going to have injuries, and the desire is that they keep doing what they love to do for as long as they can. Our products help you achieve this mentally and physically we can help guide you through the process to optimal tissue tolerance so you can win a fight leveraging your fulcrums and levers to the best year ability.
The application of use for the Trigger Point Performance Therapy products and the GRID is so connected. The moves we do on top of the GRID translate into sheer force when using our SMRT CORE programming. When it comes to muscular tolerance, fulcrums, levers, and efficiencies of movement, nothing speaks louder than Trigger Point Performance products.
These athletes use their bodies as weapons. For me, I’ve always wanted to be a part of MMA. I’ve personally been able to work with a handful of MMA fighters, but to see the ones I have never met, and fighters on TV that are the best in the world that are using Trigger Point Performance Therapy products, I couldn’t be happier. I am very proud and I am looking forward to seeing those that are in this sport achieve their goals.
