The most basic stroke in massage and Shiatsu is compression, and can be performed on yourself or a partner. Compression increases blood flow to the area being worked on and allows muscle fibers to be spread, making the muscle more pliable. Using the palm of your hand, slowly exert pressure down on the muscle. When compressing your own muscle be creative and pretend you are making pizza dough. Feel the compression stroke.
Compression is useful to effectively loosen and relax muscles after training or competition.
The other massage technique I will discuss is cross fiber friction. Muscles and tendons should be in a relaxed position prior to application. Before doing cross fiber friction, thoroughly warm the tissues involved with light to moderate massage strokes. The area is sufficiently warm when it becomes red, signifying increased blood flow in the various layers of connective tissue. Cross fiber friction is applied across the direction in which the muscle fibers run.