Recently I’ve been noticing a few more muscle aches and pains, and a few more injuries. Yes aside from the ones sustained by the spotty beast above, when I tripped over him running, then he headbutted my knee Monday… I swear he’s super friendly really, that’s the problem, he’s OVER friendly that he’s clumsy. Anyway I decided in August I’d spend more time foam rolling and only just got around to it. I’ve had cramp in my left calf on and off for over a day so that needs rolling out BIGTIME.
This workout isn’t really time or rep based, more a real time foam rolling workout that you can roll along with (or follow below), whilst being distracted by Pixel the clumsy Dalmatian. Roll each muscle for 30 seconds finding the hot-spot and then hold the hot-spot for 30 seconds. Foam rollers come in all shapes and sizes, the one I used in the video is a while 36″ foam roller, great for beginners. Remember if you want to get the videos straight away subscribe to my youtube channel! The full video is below:
Workout Breakdown:
We start with CALF rolling. This is the one I spend most my time with, if I only get one muscle rolled it’s my calves. They are always tight despite having food flexibility in my ankle and knee. Assume the position below with hands behind you. For you it might be more comfortable to have your hands closer to your butt, unfortunately I have short arms and long torso so that’s not possible for me so my arms have to go further back. Roll along the calf for 30s then hold the hot spot for 30s.
Next move the roller up to the top of the thighs for the HAMSTRINGS. Same deal, roll roll roll until you find a sweet spot and hold it. My hamstrings are usually tight but I’m working on getting more flexibility there.
Roll over to hit the QUADS. Usually this is one I skip as I have pretty loose quads but sometimes it just feels nice. I like this one with the rumble roller for more of a massage. Just lay down in a plank over the foam roller, and glide back and forth to hit the quads.
This is another one of my essentials, the PIRIFORMIS. My glutes are pretty lazy by all accounts so the tiny piriformis likes to take over for them. Not good. So I’m trying to roll out these whenever I can. Put the right foot on the left knee, then hug the right knee with the left arm and lean into the right butt cheek. I like to move around a little to find the spot but when I do YOWSER!
There is an ongoing debate in the fitness industry as to whether foam rolling the IT BAND is useful, after all it’s fascia and not muscle but I like to imagine I’m getting down more into the abductors rather than IT band. This one I can take it or leave it. Lie with the lower hip on the roller, supported with the upper body and roll 6-8″ below the hip.
Another one I can’t skip is the LATS. I’ve noticed more and more my lats are getting tight the more time I spend at the computer 🙁 So I try and roll the lats, piriformis and calves regularly. For me just putting the roller under my lat (below the armpit) is enough pressure lately. Some people may be able to roll down a little, or forward and back, or even lift the hips. What can I say, it’s a trouble spot!
The inner thigh isn’t a problem area for me, whilst I wish I were more open for yoga my ADDUCTORS are pretty loose. Lie face down with the knee bent at 90°, place the inner thigh on the roller and support with the upper body. Roll along the inner thigh.
Enjoy the workout, and remember more workouts every Wednesday!