running tips

7/30/2019 Running Tips

1/14

HOW TO STAY INJURY-FREE

OR BOUNCE BACK AS SOON AS

POSSIBLE WITH RECORD-BREAKING

MARATHONER RYAN HALL

TO STRETCH OR NOT

TO STRETCH?

HOWRYAN HALLBOUNCES

BACK

10 SIGNSITS TIME

TO REST


2/14


3/14

I have learned a lot over the years about the types of pain I can run through and the types of pain that require

me to stop. Here are my personal rules for running through pain:

Otherwise, I run through little aches and pains that come with the territory.

1. IF THE PAIN IS GETTING WORSE THE

LONGER I AM RUNNING, I STOP.

2. IF THE PAIN IS SHARP, I STOP.

3. IF THE PAIN IS CAUSING ME TO LIMP, I STOP.

4. IF THE PAIN IS GETTING WORSE FROM DAY

TO DAY, I STOP.

Recently, stretching has been a hot topic in the running world. After doingquite a bit of research on the topic myself, and then experimenting, I havefound what works for me, which is to spend 15 minutes after every rundoing some active stretching. Ive found that I get injured if I dont stretchat all but I know that some people feel best not stretching at all, so myadvice is to experiment with it and see what works for you.

Now a few comments on exibility and what Ive observed about elite runners

and their exibility: When Im stretching, the goal of my stretching is notnecessarily to gain exibility. My goal is to maintain exibility and to keep mylegs from getting bound up. I dont stretch to the point where my musclesare trembling and I dont spend hours a day stretching. I want my legs to behealthy; I dont want to be Gumby. The best explanation I have is that runnerswant our muscle tension to be somewhat high. Picture two Slinkys, one thatstightly strung and one thats really loosely strung. Which one bounces off theground fastest? The tightly strung one. We want thesame thing when we run; we dont want to be soloose that our rebound off the ground is slow. I havenever met any elite runner out there that isnt tight.

TO STRETCH

OR NOTTO STRETCH?

SHOULD YOU RUNTHROUGH AN INJURY?

RYANS TAKE:

The advice in this document should not be used in place of professional medical advice. Promptly

consult your physician if youre experiencing pain, injury, or other health issues.


4/14

BY AMBY BURFOOT

MOST RUNNERS ARE FORCED TO STOP RUNNING FROM TIME TO TIME, SO NEARLY ALL OF

US COULD BENEFIT FROM THE GOOD ADVICE OF SPORTS-MEDICINE EXPERTS TO HELP

US STAY HEALTHY FOR YEARS TO COME. FOLLOW THESE 10 TIME-TESTED PRINCIPLES

AND YOULL SPEND MORE TIME ON THE ROADSAND LESS IN REHAB.

In the mid-1970s, Runners Worldmedical editor George Sheehan, M.D., conrmed that hewas hardly the only runner beset by injuries: A poll of the magazines readers revealed that60 percent reported chronic problems. One person in 100 is a motor genius, who doesnthave injuries, concluded the often-sidelined Sheehan. To describe himself and the rest of us,he turned to Ralph Waldo Emerson: There is a crack in everything God has made. With allthe amazing advancements in sports medicine, youd think that our rates of shinsplints andstress fractures would have dropped since Sheehans era. But 30 years after runnings rstBig Boom, we continue to get hurt. A runnersworld.com poll revealed that 66 percent ofrespondents had suffered an injury in 2009.

Still, I gured medical science must have uncovered lots of little-known prevention secrets.So I went searching for them. After reviewing hundreds of published papers, I was surprisedto nd few answers. So I switched to Plan B: I interviewed nearly a dozen of the bestrunning-injury experts in the world. They come from the elds of biomechanics, sportspodiatry, and physical therapy. Like the medical studies, these experts didnt always agree.But the more I talked with them, the more certain principles began to emerge. From these,I developed the following 10 laws of injury prevention. I cant guarantee that these rules willprevent you from ever getting hurt. But if you incorporate these guidelines into your training,

Im condent youll be more likely to enjoy a long and healthy running life.


5/14

Its easy to get injured; anyone can do it. Just run toomuch. I rmly believe that every runner has an injurythreshold, says physical therapist and biomechanistIrene Davis, Ph.D., from the University of DelawaresRunning Injury Clinic. Your threshold could be at10 miles a week, or 100, but once you exceed it,you get injured. Various studies have identiedinjury-thresholds at 11, 25, and 40 miles per week.Your threshold is waiting for you to discover it.

Of course, your goal is to avoid injury. Runner and sportspodiatrist Stephen Pribut, D.P.M., warns runners to

beware the terrible toosdoing too much, too soon, toofast. Every research paper and every expert agrees thatthistraining errorsis the number one cause of self-inicted running injuries. The body needs time to adaptfrom training changes and jumps in mileage or intensity.Muscles and joints need recovery time so they canrecover and handle more training demands. If you rushthat process, you could break down rather than build up.

Running experts have recognized this problem, and longago devised an easy-to-use 10-percent rule: Build your

weekly training mileage by no more than 10 percent per week. If you run 10 miles the rst week, do just 11 milesthe second week, 12 miles the third week, and so on.

Yet, there may be times when even a modest 10percent increase proves too much. BiomechanistReed Ferber, Ph.D., an assistant professor in thefaculty of kinesiology and head of the Running InjuryClinic at the University of Calgary says that he seesa lot of newly injured runners during that third monthof marathon training, when a popular 16-weekCanadian program pushes the mileage hard.

Meanwhile, his clinics nine-month marathon programfor rst-timers increases mileage by just threepercent per week. We have a 97 percent successrate getting people through the entire program andto the marathon nish line, Ferber says.

ACTION PLAN

Be the Tortoise, not the Hare. Increase your weeklyand monthly running totals gradually. Use the10-percent rule as a general guideline, but realizethat it might be too aggressive for youespecially ifyou are injury-prone. A ve-percent or three-percent

increase might be more appropriate. In addition tofollowing a hard-day/easy-day approach, or morelikely a hard/easy/easy pattern, many top runnersuse a system where they scale back their weeklymileage by 20 to 40 percent on a regular basis,maybe once a month. And remember that mileageisnt the only issue. Experts point out that an overlyaggressive approach to hill running, intervals, trailrunningindeed, any change in your training habitscan produce problems. Keeping a detailed traininglog can help you gauge your personal training

threshold. Record your weekly mileage and how youfeel after your runs. Look for patterns. For instance,you may notice that your knees ache only whenyoure logging more than 40 miles a week.Another major bugaboo: You used to run 30 miles aweek, you got injured, now you want to get back toyour old routine as quickly as possible. Dont. Takeyour time. The same applies to that upcoming raceif you missed some training time, dont acceleratethe pace and distance of your remaining workoutsin an effort to catch up. Instead, adjust your goalsas needed.


6/14

This is perhaps the oldest and most-widely-repeatedadvice for avoiding injuries, and still the best: If you

dont run through pain, you can nip injuries in the bud.Most running injuries dont erupt from nowhere andblindside you. They produce signalsaches, soreness,persistent painbut its up to you to not dismiss themand take appropriate (in)action. Runners can becrazy the way theyll run through pain, Ferber says.They need to pay more attention to pain and get tothe root of whats causing it.

ACTION PLANAt the rst sign of an atypical pain (discomfort thatworsens during a run or causes you to alter your

gait), take three days off. Substitute light walking,water training, or bicycling if you want. On the

fourth day, run half your normal easy-day amountat a much slower pace than usual. If you typicallyrun four miles at nine minutes per mile, do justtwo miles at 11-minute pace. Success? Excellent.Reward yourself with another day off, and then runthree miles at 10-minute pace. If youre pain-free,continue easing back into your normal routine. Ifnot, take another three days off, then repeat theprocess to see if it works the second time around.If not, youve got two obvious options: Take moretime off, and/or schedule an appointment with asports-medicine specialist.

This comes as a bit of a surprise because its notdiscussed much in running circles. Nonetheless,more than half the experts I interviewed mentionedit. And a December 2009 study reports that runners

who shorten their stride by 10 percent couldreduce risk of tibial stress fracture by three to sixpercent. The basic idea: Overstriding is a commonmistake that can lead to decreased efciency andincreased injury risk. If you shorten your stride,youll land softer with each footfall, incurring lowerimpact forces. A shorter stride will usually lower theimpact force, which should reduce injuries, saysbiomechanist Alan Hreljac, Ph.D., a retired researcherfrom California State University-Sacramento.

For the last decade, Davis has been researchingrunners abilities to change their stride. Previously,

experts believed that your stride was as immutableas your ngerprint, but Davis has used biofeedbackequipment to disprove the old view. We haveshown that running and walking gait can be altered

in such a way as to reduce pain, improve function,and reduce injury risk, she says.

ACTION PLAN

If youve had frequent running injuries, you mightwant to experiment running with your normal stride,

just slightly shorterabout 10 percent. This will helpreduce your stride so you have more turnover, Davissays. The number of footstrikes or repetitions trumpshaving a longer stride because it reduces your impactload. Start with a short distance, like a quarter mile,when making this change. If you have an injury thatsrelated to your gait, see a physical therapist.


7/14

You need somethingand what better than muscle?tokeep your body properly aligned while youre runningdown the road at 450 pounds of crunching, twisting-in, and torquing-out force per stride. According toFerber, its particularly important to strengthen the hipmuscles. He claims his clinic has cured 92 percent ofknee injuries with a hip regimen. Strengthening the hipsis optimal for effective rehabilitation, as opposed totreating the area where the pain is located (e.g., yourknee), he says. When you strengthen the hipstheabductors, adductors, and gluteus maximusyou

increase your leg stability all the way down to the ankle.

ACTION PLAN

You dont want to train for bulging muscles.You need just enough core, hip, and lower-leg strength training to keep your pelvis andlower-extremity joints properly positioned.Healthy running should be as symmetricaland uid as possible, says Michael Fredericson,M.D., associate professor of sports medicineat Stanford University School of Medicine.If you dont have muscle balance, then youlose the symmetry, and thats when you start

having problems.

When youve got muscle aches or joint pains, theresnothing better than rest, ice, compression, and elevationfor immediate treatment. These measures can relievepain, reduce swelling, and protect damaged tissues,all of which speed healing. The only problem withRICE is that too many runners focus on the I while

ignoring the RCE. Ice reduces inammation, but toice-and-run, ice-and-run, without giving the tissuesenough time to heal, is a little like dieting every dayuntil 6 p.m. and then pigging out. And so Bruce Wilk,an orthopedic rehabilitation specialist in Miami, hasadded another letter to the acronym, spelling outPRICE. The P stands for protection, which meansdont run until the injury is better.

ACTION PLAN

RICE is most effective when done immediatelyfollowing an injury. If you twist your ankle or strain

your hamstring, plan to take a few days off fromrunning (see Law II). Apply icefor 10 to 15 minutesat a time, several times a day. A homemade icepacka baggie lled with ice cubes and waterisbest. A bag of frozen vegetables is also effective.If you can, elevate the area (easy for foot and ankle

injuries, not so much for hip or hamstring issues) tolimit swelling. Compression can also further reduceinammation and can provide pain relief, especiallywhen you rst return to running. An ACE bandage isthe simplest way to wrap a swollen area, but AmolSaxena, a sports podiatrist in Palo Alto, California,uses a compression dressing with 3M Coban, a self-adherent over-the-counter product. He then usesKinesio Tex Tape or a Darco Body Armor Walker forwhen the swelling goes down. The tape pulls upthe skin slightly, allowing more blood to ow to theinjured area, he says.


8/14

Heres another factor that could have a signicant impact

on running injuries, but has been rarely studied: roadcamber. No doubt you always run on the left side of theroad facing trafc. Thats good for safety reasons. Butit also gives you a functional leg-length discrepancy,since your left foot hits the road lower on the slope thanyour right foot. Youre also placing your left foot on aslant that tends to limit healthy pronation, and your rightfoot in a position that encourages overpronation. Andyoure doing thisrunning in an unbalanced way160to 180 strides a minute for mile after mile, day after day,week after week. Clint Verran, a physical therapist in

Lake Orion, Michigan, sees the results of this camberedrunning in his clinic, where he treats a higher incidenceof left-hip injuries in runners than right-hip injuries.

ACTION PLAN

True, its not easy to escape cambered asphalt. Andsafety concerns demand that you run on the left side ofthe road. So now youve already got two strikes againstyou. To avoid strike three, remember that road cambercan cause problems. If youre increasing your mileage,feel an injury coming on, or are returning from injury, tryto do some of your training runs on a level surface likea bike path or dirt trail. The local track also provides arm, essentially at surface thats great for slow-pacedrunning. (When you do faster interval training on a track,you put unequal torque on your feet and legs due to theneed to keep turning left, so be careful if you are injuryprone.) Also consider the treadmill. Its hard to imagine abetter surface for balanced running. At the very least, atreadmill provides a great surface for beginning runners,runners who are recovering from an injury, and perhaps

even marathoners aiming to increase mileage withoutincreasing their injury risk.

Researchers have found a correlation betweeninjuries and frequent race efforts. This connectionmight extend to speedwork since intervals alsorequire a near-maximal effort. So if you trainfast once or twice a week and then race on theweekend, thats a lot of hard efforts withoutsufcient rest, particularly if you follow thispattern week after week. Some experts arecautious about recommending regular speedtraining for certain runners, especially those whoget hurt easily. Its ne for those chasing podiumplacements or age-group awards. But for mid-and back-of-the-packers? You might get vepercent faster, but your injury risk could climbby 25 percent, Verran says. Thats a bad risk-benet ratio. I think most runners can hit theirgoals without going harder than tempo pace.

ACTION PLAN

Recognize that races take a heavy toll, so giveyourself plenty of recovery time (one day for each

mile raced). If you are trying to quicken your pacefor a specic goal, add a weekly speedworksession to your training plan, but be judiciousabout it. Even Olympic gold medalists only dove to 10 percent of their training at 5-K racepace and faster. If youre coming back from aninjury or have chronic issues youre fearful ofaggravating, consider Verrans advice. Do yourfaster workouts at tempo pace (5-K pace plus 25to 35 seconds per mile).

Few running practices are as hallowed as

stretching. And none have been debated asmuch in recent years. Studies have failed toreliably show that the addition of stretching to awarmup before activity reduces overuse injuries.The jurys been out on stretching for abouta decade, says Michael Ryan, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And as far as I can tell, it hasnt comein yet. Yet few experts in the eld are ready toabandon stretching. The reasoning: Runners aretight in predictable areas, they get injured in and

around these areas, and therefore they shouldincrease exibility in these areas. The musclegroups at the back of the legsthe hamstringsand calf musclesstand atop most lists of bestmuscles for runners to stretch. Hamstringand hip-exor exibility seems to improve kneefunction (several reports link poor hamstring andhip-exor exibility with larger knee joint loads),and calf exibility may keep the Achilles tendonand plantar fascia healthy.

ACTION PLAN

Little evidence indicates that stretching preventsoveruse injuries. That said, knee and Achillesproblems are among runners most frequentcomplaints, and so experts recommendincreasing the range of motion of muscles thatcan strain these areas if there is underlyingtightness. Just dont do static stretches (holdingan elongated muscle in a xed position for 30seconds or longer) before running. However,

dynamic stretching can be done as a safe,effective prerun warmup.


9/14

Running is hard on the body, although claims thatit creates impact forces up to seven to eight timesbody weight are exaggerated, according to theexperts I consulted. But they acknowledge theforces can reach two to three times body weightwith each stride, and even more on downhills. Itsno surprise that our muscles, joints, and connectivetissues get weary from all this shock-absorbing. Soexperts agree that most runners benet from at least

one nonrunning day a week, and that injury-prone

runners should avoid consecutive days of running.Cross-training offers a great alternative.

ACTION PLAN

Use cross-training activities to supplement yourrunning, improve your muscle balance, and keepyou injury-free. Swimming, cycling, elliptical training,and rowing will burn a lot of calories and improveyour aerobic tness, but be careful not to aggravate

injury-prone areas.

Running shoes have changed a lot over the years. Theybreathe better, are more likely to come in various widths,and are constructed from superior materials. Mostimportant, there are far more shoes to choose from(racing, training, track, cross-country). There are evenminimalist shoes designed to mimic barefoot running(although theres no scientic evidence that forgoingshoes decreases injury risk). This gives you more options.Of course, you still have to gure out which shoe will workbest for younot an easy task. Theres no single bestshoe for every runner, says J. D. Denton, who has owneda Fleet Feet running store in Davis, California, for 14 years.Not only that, but its impossible to say that shoe ABC willeliminate injury XYZ. Denton and his staff are careful to draw a line between giving medical advice and suggestinga top-notch shoe. Were careful not to say, This shoe willcure your plantar fasciitis, Denton says. Shoes arentdesigned to cure injuries. Our goal is to make sure you

get the shoe that ts and functions best on your feet.

Others are less cautious than Denton. They pointout that while a given shoe isnt guaranteed to heal agiven injury, the right shoe on the right runner can help.Verran says that he has been able to help patientsovercome injuries by suggesting a better t. Ithappens all the time, Verran says. Its a matter ofnding the shoe thats right for a certain foot type.

ACTION PLANDont expect shoes to correct an injury resulting fromtraining error or muscular imbalance. However, whenyou need new shoes (replace them every 300 to 500miles), go to a specialty store to get expert advice. Asa general rule, buy less shoe rather than more shoe(unless you weigh 220 pounds or know you need theMonster Mash model). Studies show that shoes performbest when they t best. Ask your shoe salesperson:Why is this the best shoe for me? If he or she

cant provide a sound answer, nd another store.


10/14

FIND THE CAUSE.I look at injuries as a puzzle. Mytemptation is always to addressthe symptom or the pain withoutlooking into what is causing thepain. I have had injuries beforethat, when I treated the opposingmuscle to the injured muscle,

the pain actually went away. Thesymptoms need to be addressedbut the most important thing isto address the cause. So whenyoure discussing your path tohealth with your therapist ordoctor make sure to ask whatscausing the problem?

TALK TO OTHERS. Tap intoas many people as you can whohave worked through the sameinjury youre experiencing. We areso blessed to live in an age whenthe Internet makes it so easy toconnect with people who have hadsimilar injuries or illnesses to what

you are battling. When I had plantarfasciitis, I talked to as many peopleas I could who had the same injury,and there were a lot of them. Iheard 101 ways to get rid of plantarfasciitis and I tried many of them.Im not sure all of them worked butthere were a few that really helped.

When injuries comeand if you are training hard something will probably pop up at some time or anotherthe rst goal is to get aproper medical diagnosis so you know what exactly youre dealing with. Without knowing exactly what is going on its impossibleto know how to treat it and then learn why it happened and how to prevent it going forward.

DO WHAT YOU CAN TO SPEEDHEALING. Ive learned with certain injuries that,for me, the best way to recover is not to take timeoff, but rather to start doing specic strengtheningexercises. After I pulled out of the London OlympicMarathon with hamstring tendonitis I came homeand got right to work doing single-leg Romaniandead lifts. I was surprised how fast the injury healed

when I started doing strengthening exercises.Obviously there are injuries, like stress fractures,when strengthening is not a good idea, but fortendon inammations in particular strengtheningcan really help. Also, Ive learned that blood owis key to increasing healing so things like contrastbaths (going back and forth between soaking in acold tub and a hot tub) can really help.




11/14

3. SLEEP:YOU DIDNT SLEEP WELL OR ENOUGH

A pattern of consistently good sleep will giveyou a boost of growth hormones, which aregreat for rebuilding muscle bers. Several nightsin a row of bad sleep will decrease reactiontime along with immune, motor, and cognitivefunctionsnot a good combination for a workout.

2. RESTING HEART RATE:

YOUR RESTING HEART RATE IS ELEVATED

Take your pulse each morning before you get outof bed to nd whats normal for you. An elevatedresting heart rate is one sign of stress. It meansyour nervous system prepared for ght or ight byreleasing hormones that sped up your heart to movemore oxygen to the muscles and brain. Your bodywont know the difference between physical andpsychological stress. A hard run and a hard day atwork both require extra recovery.

1. BODY MASS:YOU LOST WEIGHT FROM YESTERDAY

A two percent drop in weight from one day to the next indicates a body-uid uctuation. Most likely, you didnt hydrate enough during or afteryour last workout. Dehydration negatively impacts both physical and mentalperformance, and could compromise the quality of your next workout.

4. HYDRATION:YOUR PEE IS DARK YELLOW

This can be an indicator of dehydration, barring

the consumption of vitamins, supplements, orcertain foods the evening before. The darker thecolor, the more youre struggling to retain uids,because theres not enough to go around. Youneed H2O to operate (and recover).

5. ENERGY LEVEL:

YOURE RUN DOWN

If your energy level is low, theres something amiss .The key is honesty. Athletes can block out signs offatigue to push through it, thinking it will make themstronger. It wont always work that way.

9. PERFORMANCE:YOUR WORKOUT WENT POORLY

This is a subjective measure of workout quality,not quantity nor intensity. If you felt great on

yesterdays run, youd evaluate that as good.If you felt sluggish on that same run, youdcount it as poor. Trending workout qualitymultiple poors in a rowis one of the easiestways to identify the need for more recovery.

10. OXYGEN SATURATION::YOUR OXYGEN LEVEL HAS DIPPEDThe amount of oxygen in the hemoglobin of the red blood cells can be measured by placing your ngertip in a portablepulse oximeter, a gadget available online for about $40. The higher the percentage, the better: Above 95 percent isthe norm at sea level or for an athlete who is fully acclimated to a given altitude. This is a new area in recovery science,requiring more research, but there may be a link between low oxygen saturation and the need for more recovery.

8. PAIN:YOURE SORE OR NURSING AN INJURY

Whether youre sore from overworkedmuscles or an injury, your body needs moreenergy to put toward repair, lengtheningtotal recovery time.

7. WELLNESS:YOURE SICK

Any illness, or even a womans menstrualcycle, will increase your need for energy torefuel your immune system, which is havingto work overtime. This means fewer resourcesavailable for recovering from training.

6. MOOD STATE:YOURE CRANKY

When your body is overwhelmed by training (or other stressors), itproduces hormones like cortisol that can cause irritability or anxiety.Stress also halts chemicals like dopamine, a neurotransmitter inthe brain that has a big bummer effect on mood when depleted.Crankiness probably means not enough recovery.

If you dont take time for proper R&R, your body wont adapt

to the stress of your trainingyou wont get stronger or

faster, explains Stacy Sims, Ph.D., at the Stanford Prevention-

Research Center, School of Medicine. Neglect recovery for

too long, and you will start to lose strength and speed. Youll

sink into the black hole known as overtraining.

First, your sleep patterns and energy levels will feel the effects.Eventually, your immune system crashes, and you lose your appetite.Its like burning out your engine. And you dont have to be logging100-mile weeks to suffer. Recreational runners can overtrain, too.With deadlines, chores, bills, kids, and lack of sleep, its more

challenging to recover properly from your runs, says Sims.

Pay attention to the following 10 markers. If three or more of

these indicators raise a red ag, you should consider a few

easy sessions or off days so you can return to running strong.

PAY ATTENTION TO 10 BODY

INDICATORS TO GAUGE WHENTO RUN AND WHEN TO BACK OFF

IS IT TIMETO REST?


12/14

The best advice I ever got for dealing with plantar fasciitis (PF) came from an old-time runner thatI crossed paths with while getting therapy at a PT clinic. He told me, Listen, the bad news isits going to hurt; the good news is, its going to get better. While this doesnt really seem likeadvice it really helped me deal with PF.

Sometimes, the emotional and psychological toll an injury can take on the runner can beworse than the actual physical pain. When I heard this advice it helped me come to peacewith my injury and that alone made the process easier for me. With that said, there weresome tangible things that helped speed my recovery from plantar fasciitis:

1. The most effective therapy I got was shockwave therapy, which basically uses a verydeep penetrating sound wave to actually cause trauma to the area and then stimulatethe bodys natural healing response. This is a very painful and expensive process andrequires 12 consecutive treatments done weekly.

2. Running in well-cushioned shoes on soft surfaces.

3. Warming up apple cider vinegar as hot as I could stand it and soaking my foot in it before every run and before bed.

4. Being patient and also realizing that time off might not be the answer.I took 3 weeks off after the Olympic Marathon Trials, hoping to ridmyself of PF, yet my rst run back was just as painful as prior to my break. I talked to a friend whod had PF and took an entire year off and still had PF when he came back fromhis break. The moral of the story for me was not to take more time off, but to do things likeexercises such as towel pulls that promote blood ow.

RYANS TAKE:

HOW I CURED MY

PLANTARFASCIITIS




13/14

FOUR WAYS TO BREAK UP PAINFUL KNOTS AND GET RELIEF.

BY MYATT MURPHY

Unlocking your bodys true potential isnt always about logging tons of miles or lifting weightsits howyou pamper your body afterwards that really counts. Rolling your muscles along a foam roller isnt

just a terric way to give your muscles a quick massage, but it can break up the knots that could becreating pain after a hard workout. Foam rolling also helps to improve your circulation and range ofmotion, while simultaneously reducing scar tissue, joint stress, and muscle inammation.

Foam rolling is something that anyone serious about their exercise should try. Here are four waysyou can incorporate the technique into your workouts right now:

Youll perform each of the moves below for 20 to 30 seconds each. As you roll, avoid rolling ontobones or joints. The roller should only touch your muscles at all times.

FOR YOUR CALVES:Sit on the oor and placethe roller underneath your calves. Put your hands on

the oor behind you and lift your butt up off the oorso that all of your bodyweight rests on your handsand on the roller. Slowly roll forward and backward;the roller should travel up and down from just belowyour knees to just above your ankles.

FOR YOUR ILIOTIBIAL BAND (IT BAND):

Lie on your right side with the roller positionedjust below your right hip. Bend your arm so that

youre resting your weight on your elbow andforearm. Finally, cross your left leg over your rightso that your left foot rests on the oor in front ofyou. Using your right arm for support, roll backand forth so you feel the roller move up anddown between the area just below your hip tojust above your knee. Continue to roll back andforth for the allotted time, then switch positionsto work your left leg.

FOR YOUR HAMSTRINGS AND GLUTES:

Sit with your legs straight out in front of you andthe roller underneath your thighs. Place your handsat on the oor behind you for support. Slowly rollforward and backwardthe roller should travel upand down from between the bottom of your glutes(buttocks) to just above your knees.

FOR YOUR QUADRICEPS:Lie face downwith the roller placed beneath your thigh(s). Bendyour elbows so that your forearms are at on the

oor to support your weight; your foot/feet shouldremain suspended above the oor. Use your armsto gently roll your body forward and backward sothat you feel the roller move up and down betweenyour pelvic bone down to just above your knee(s).

HOW RYAN ROLLS

As any marathon runner can attest, somemornings you wake up and are greetedwith the aches and pains that come withramping up miles and miles of running. Ive foundthat the easiest way for me to stay injury-free isto keep injuries from happening in the rst place.One of the most effective ways I accomplish thisis by making a eld hockey ball my best friend.

In my opinion, there is nothing that can replacethe healing touch of human hands, butthe eld hockey ball comes close. Tomaintain my health in between my bi-weeklymassages, I spend 10 to 15 minutes perday rolling on those achy areas. A eldhockey ball is great for rolling on your

glutes, hamstrings, and lower back.

I usually use a foam roller toself-massage my quads andcalves. Rolling is a very simpleyet effective technique butit does require some paintolerance. I know I am on theright spot when I am rolling andI hit a painful area. These areusually the best places to keep

the pressure on and try andrelax your muscles around theball. Deep breathing is a goodtechnique to relax through thepain. This simple approachto self-therapy can go a longway in preventing injuriesfrom happening and it doesnttake long but the cumulativeeffects are sure to make adifference in your training and

performance on race day.The advice in this document should not be used in place of professional medical advice.Promptly consult your physician if youre experiencing pain, injury, or other health issues.


14/14

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