Massage Guns? Pec Tightness?

I am completely incapable of getting into a proper low bar position, despite many months of stretching. I also have crap posture, which was one of my main reasons for strength training.

I read somewhere that Rip recommends massage for that, so I went for an excruciating massage session. He said that there's actually nothing "wrong" with the mobility of my back/shoulders, but I have tight serratus and pecs, and focused the massage there. Once the pain from the massage died down I felt a ton more mobility, but am by no means better.

Anyway, I can really only afford one such excruciating massage per month. Has anyone seen any benefit in using a massage gun for this? Do I need an expensive one, or are the Amazon knock offs sufficient?
I'm also stretching and foam rolling /using a lacrosse ball daily, but it doesn't provide anywhere near the relief that massage did.

And finally, a question that is probably stupid: should I stop benching/pressing until the tightness is resolved?

I think the most effective way of developing the flexibility for the squat is getting under the bar and forcing it into position as much as you can and hold that for a while, 30s at least. You need some weight on the bar to make this work. Do that several times every day for a while and you should see much improvement.

For tight pecs, to me the best stretch is to hold one of those stretchy bands over your head between both straight arms, stretch it apart slightly, and then rotate your arms behind your back and let the band pull your arms together.

Thanks. I've been doing the low bar stretch for 3 months religiously every day, and only succeeded in pulling something in my shoulder while doing it and having to take time off squatting.

But I'll give the pec stretch a try!

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Originally Posted by Elle

Thanks. I've been doing the low bar stretch for 3 months religiously every day, and only succeeded in pulling something in my shoulder while doing it and having to take time off squatting.

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Elle, something very tight people and very flexible people have in common is that they have to stretch carefully and avoid putting the stress on the wrong thing. Please look into active isolated stretching as I advised before. Chest, then shoulders, then triceps. If you do this a few times a day it is effective for both flexibility and will also help you reset to a better position while you are working.

Thank you Stef. I did switch to isolation per your recommendations. I have a 30 minute routine going now where I use a lacrosse ball, then stretch (pec, thoracic, lats, rotator cuff, triceps). I was just wondering if a massage gun would help speed it up at all.