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Foam Roller Question

Pmaldini

I recently purchased a foam roller to help with recovery, one of my training partners has advised me not to use it along my IT Bands but couldnt give me a specific reason why other than "someone said it to him", can anyone advise if it is a bad or good idea to use foam roller on this area?

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pgibbo

It's a given IMO. If I don't roll mine they get tight and running becomes uncomfortable. I guess it depends on the mileage you are doing. I try to ensure quads, ITB, TFL and glutes are done daily. I neglected lately and paid the price.

El Director

pgibbo wrote: »

It's a given IMO. If I don't roll mine they get tight and running becomes uncomfortable. I guess it depends on the mileage you are doing. I try to ensure quads, ITB, TFL and glutes are done daily. I neglected lately and paid the price.

Pmaldini

pgibbo wrote: »

It's a given IMO. If I don't roll mine they get tight and running becomes uncomfortable. I guess it depends on the mileage you are doing. I try to ensure quads, ITB, TFL and glutes are done daily. I neglected lately and paid the price.

Thanks pgibbo, what kind of time a day would you give to rolling? i was planning only a few times a week but with the training moving up a gear or 2 i might change that

pgibbo

I try to do a minimum of 15mins per day whilst watching TV. I try but it doesn't always work out that way. At a minimum I usually do the quads and ITB as they are my worst offenders. I try to do a 30 to 40 minute session a couple of times a week too. Horses for courses. I know some people that do sweet FA and get away with it. That wouldn't work for me.

sconhome

Pmaldini wrote: »

I recently purchased a foam roller to help with recovery, one of my training partners has advised me not to use it along my IT Bands but couldnt give me a specific reason why other than "someone said it to him", can anyone advise if it is a bad or good idea to use foam roller on this area?

I read something recently about this advice and TBH I think its a crock.

The advice was not to roll the ITB as with it not being elastic like a muscle you can over stretch it through rolling and this leads to issues with support in the hip and knee.

Maybe an issue if you are rolling continually all day everyday and are inactive. For normal people exercising at normal levels, regular full body foam rolling is an excellent and cheap form of body maintenance.

Be sure to roll all the quad and hamstring muscle around the ITB area too and avoid rolling the attachment points at the knee and hip.

Pmaldini

AKW wrote: »

I read something recently about this advice and TBH I think its a crock.

The advice was not to roll the ITB as with it not being elastic like a muscle you can over stretch it through rolling and this leads to issues with support in the hip and knee.

Maybe an issue if you are rolling continually all day everyday and are inactive. For normal people exercising at normal levels, regular full body foam rolling is an excellent and cheap form of body maintenance.

Be sure to roll all the quad and hamstring muscle around the ITB area too and avoid rolling the attachment points at the knee and hip.

Good advice, thank you AKW, by the way got a great deal on a pair of trail runners in your limerick shop, great service, thank you:)

Podge83

Another question on the aul foam roller:

Is it best to roll directly after a session (ie when muscles warmed up) or when when cold (ie at any time unconnected to a session)??

ecoli

With regards the original advice you were given I would agree to not foam roll the ITB itself because simply put your wasting your time. The IT band is non contractile connective tissue so effectively you can't loosen muscle tightness in the tissue itself.

This does not mean you can't loosen the IT band through foam rolling however given that the TFL inserts into the Iliotibial tract meaning that muscle tightness here can have a direct impact on the IT band. Target the TFL and glute medius will yield great benefits for foam rolling

tunney

ecoli wrote: »

With regards the original advice you were given I would agree to not foam roll the ITB itself because simply put your wasting your time. The IT band is non contractile connective tissue so effectively you can't loosen muscle tightness in the tissue itself.

This does not mean you can't loosen the IT band through foam rolling however given that the TFL inserts into the Iliotibial tract meaning that muscle tightness here can have a direct impact on the IT band. Target the TFL and glute medius will yield great benefits for foam rolling

This is what I was thinking but really wasn't inclined to try and roll that stone up the hill.