Where's Will?! (...You Give $HI#Y Directions!)

All these people have improved from foam rolling (except for the dude on the far left, he kept cutting into the picture so we made him join us . . . I'm glad he smiled)!

Do these 3 things everyday! If you are a runner then you need to do these things at a minimum every day.  If you lift weights (your body weight, Olympic lifts or machines at the gym) you need to do these things at a minimum every day.  If you SIT ON YOUR BUTT at work all day then you need to do these things at a minimum every day.  GET IT, EVERYDAY! By doing these foam rolls or SMR listed below everyday it will help to maintain proper hip, back and shoulder function.  These exercises are the most important to help maintain proper function and range of motion.  This should help make the greatest impact on your movement patterns. Are there a lot more areas you can hit and work on? Oh yeah! However, let’s get these areas under control first and then we can go crazy! By practicing these three movements daily you'll find your ‘trouble areas’ and can make the greatest impact on your movement issues.

The first area we need to focus on is the “center quad (the front of your leg)” it is by far one of the most important things to roll on a daily basis.  Why?  Let’s face it as athletes, heck as humans; we tend to be ‘quad dominant.”  After working with most of my clients that complain about back or knee pain once we’ve unlocked the scar tissue in their legs and teach them how to activate the glutes (your butt) . . . back and knee pain seem to disappear. All work and no rolling and stretching will compromise all hip and knee movement.  Thus most people will develop poor or dysfunctional movement patterns and compensations forcing other areas of your body to accommodate. That would stink and can be ABSOLUTELY AVOIDED! Do the following movement as often as you can, but if you workout, run a lot or have sedentary job . . . do it every day. Lay on your foam roller with your quads touching the roller just above your knee caps.  Spread your legs slightly and begin to slowly, SLOWLY work your way up your legs towards your hip.  Every time you feel tightness, gently roll your quads side to side and try and relax the muscle (that may be hard for some as this may really hurt in some places . . . find your happy place).  The more often you do this it will feel less painful.

The inner thigh is the second most important area for you to address on a daily basis. Why is the inside of your leg so important? Well! When the inside of your quad gets tight and locks down, your knees will tend to buckle in and not let your legs work correctly.  Thus in order to function most people will compensate by shortening their strides and shifting their weight side to side unnecessarily. Once again, this can be prevented. Lay on your foam roller with your inner thigh touching the roller just above your knee caps with your foot facing out. Begin to slowly, SLOWLY work your way up your legs towards your hip.  Every time you feel tightness, STOP and relax yourself and your muscle (once again, that may be hard for some as this may really hurt in some places . . . find your happy place). Once at your hip, rotate by pointing your foot down and follow the same process moving down your leg. The more often you do this it will feel less painful.

The third most important area is your side. Our target is the lats. The lats are the largest back muscles and they attach to the back of the hips, most of the spine, most of the ribs, and the upper arm. So, whether running, lifting or just plain living YOU MUST DO THIS AREA IN COORDINATION WITH OUR LEGS! By doing this you will also be working on other muscles that cross your back and a lot of these muscles either help or hurt proper breathing during our activities. In particular if your lats are tight or frozen it will force your arms to be closer to your sides and hinder proper range of motion (as a human you should be able to raise your arms straight above your head towards the sky and have them be straight . . . give it a try, well? If you can’t do it and don’t have some sort of “old war story” to tell me, then you need some lat work). Lay on your foam roller with your arm pit on top and your arm extended straight ahead above your head... Begin to slowly, SLOWLY work your way down your side rolling towards your back not going directly down on the rib cage. Every time you feel tightness, STOP and relax yourself and your muscle (once again, that may be hard for some as this may really hurt in some places . . . find your happy place). Do these three things prior to a workout or run and even at the end of your night or busy day.  Just remember slow is better for this activity. Videos soon to follow!