To this point in the season, I’ve managed to keep myself pretty much injury free. By absolutely no means do I feel that this is an accident. Pro-active body maintenance plays a pivotal role in lowering my chance of injury.
In a previous article I mentioned the importance of warming up, stretching, recovery, massage and Active Release Therapy (A.R.T.) as methods to combat injury, but there is another element that I neglected to mention (or wasn’t aware of at the time). It combines the benefits of stretching, massage and active release in to one magical device of both torture and relief.
It is the foam roller. (insert dramatic music here…)
Bearing in mind that nothing can really replace what a trained professional brings to the table, the foam roller acts as a very close second and is a fantastic way to maintain and extend the benefits of a great massage or active release therapist.
Now, I’m not going to lie to you – using a foam roller (especially on tight areas) hurts like a *$%&#^@, but just like a really deep massage, it’s a good pain that pays dividends after the fact ;-)
The foam roller is like a pool noodle, but a little denser and is used to perform ‘self myofascial release techniques‘ (SMRT). Effectively it stretches the muscles and fascia to help increase blood-flow and break up/release adhesions and scarred muscle tissue. The roller acts as a form of accupressure on trigger points, knots and sensitive areas in the muscle.
Knee pain was a chronic battle for me throughout my early cycling career and was directly affected by a combination of training load and intensity. The higher either of these variables got, the more pain I battled. Introducing the foam roller into my routine has not only almost eliminated my knee pain, but has also helped significantly with other sore spots and tight areas – namely my hips and glutes.
I won’t pretend to know what exercises you should be doing, but the marvelous intertubes offer many resources for those compelled to learn more. I would still probably recommend hooking up with a good A.R.T. specialist and letting them guide and jump start your recovery, but for those keen on fixin’ themselves up here are two great resources that offer both fantastic information, and informative videos (a quick Google search will offer hundreds more):
In my mind Dave Holmes does an outstanding job of explaining in detail how to not only properly conduct foam rolling exercises, but also goes into great detail as to the source of the muscle imbalances that tend to create these problems in the first place. Some of the videos are a little long, but if you’re interested in the physiology behind these things (I am!) they’re really interesting and I find they help me perform the exercises better, and help me to stay in tune with my body.
With Dave being an avid cyclist and having an office in Calgary, I’m definitely going to schedule an appointment next time things start acting up!
Foam Rolling – Michael Boyle
An oldie but a goodie. This article was actually originally published in 2006, but it does an good job of explaining precisely what foam rolling is, how it came about and offers some good exercises.The videos are a little less than informative, but at least they ‘show’ you a number of different exercises with descriptions underneath.
Another tool I’ve found helpful are myo-release-balls – To be honest I usually just use a tennis ball, but the smaller surface area really lets you get into hard to target areas.
The foam roller is probably my most important weapon against injury… With the amount that I ride, I probably don’t stretch nearly as much as I should, and often can’t make the time for regular massage or A.R.T. treatments. I find the foam roller helps me do a descent job with general stretching and an excellent job at stretching problem areas and areas resistant / difficult / impossible to stretch (like the IT band).
For around the $30 mark you should just go out and buy one, try a few exercises and thank me later. Nuff said.
Hey Ken, good post, well done :)
I forwarded this to the the guys at comingthru.com, I think they will find it helpfull!
See http://comingthru.com/2010/09/commuting-feeling-the-effort/
greetings from belgium,
Pascal
Awesome, thanks Pascal! Hopefully this will help Markus get back on top of things!
As an aside, it was super nice seeing you at the TR this year :-)
yeah, TR was an awesome experience! Good to see you there indeed! And good to read that you guys enjoyed it. I’m still writing my final report. It’s a lot to digest :)
Thanks for the article Ken, and thanks to Pascal for sending it my way. I’ll have to check it out. I’m already familiar with the tennis balls and have even used golf balls to really get the juice flowing ;)
I’ve been using the foam roller on my entire legs all summer (until recently) for a problem with a tight IT band, and it hasn’t helped at all. Just a warning, that I had my physio-therapist at the Glenn Sather Sports Medicine Clinic tell me to stop using a foam roller along my IT bands. He said that recent research shows that all the foam roller does is irritate the soft tissue and cause inflamation, this is especially true if there existing inflammation.
I haven’t researched this myself, and everyone else has told me to use the foam roller. But i thought it was worth mentioning.
@ Dana Suggest you could be onto something here. I had tight hips, but no IT band problems or other referred issues. I started using a foam roller for general maintenance & to help loosen up my hip area. Subsequently the IT band has become real sensitive & ive developed chrondromalacia also. I dont know whether this is a case of “getting worse before i get better” or whether foam rolling has caused this issue in the first place, but its definitely worth looking into. wish id never touched the foam roller.
Ok So i’m a nerd, and I (or at least the librarian in me) just did a few searches on Sport Discus, Medline, and EMBASE (three major medical and sports medicine datases) and I could not find any research to support the claim that foam rolling irritates or inflames soft tissue. So I’ll have to ask my PT why he is so against foam rollers, the next time I see him.
I’ve been using a foam roller as part of my recovery for years, but recently switched to a RumbleRoller (rumbleroller.com). In my opinion, it’s a lot more effective than other rollers or balls.
Yeah Dana, please let me know what you find out – as I’m a bit of an information nerd as well.
With that said, I also saw a couple of PTs for knee/IT band problems with no resolution. It wasn’t until I was referred to Doug Yee at Strathcona Chiro for ART treatment that things started to improve. (Hence me being a big advocate of ART)
I’ve heard different things from different people – I just kept trying alternative methods until I found something that worked for me, hopefully you’re able to do the same :-D
I would also clarify, that I probably wouldn’t classify my knee/IT problems as an “injury,” moreso as chronic pain. Perhaps that has something to do with your PTs recommendation?
In addition to a foam roller I use ‘The Stick. During Trans Rockies it really helped me recover after each stage. I have the Sprinter Stick.
Check it out:
http://thestick.ca/content/view/23/42/
Ken, I’m curious how long you went to ART before you began to have results.
I’ve been struggling with chronic IT band pain that has had me off the bike for the whole summer. I did ART twice a week for about 6 weeks with no results.
Hey Dana – I would say that I started to have result almost immediately (1-2 weeks), and was pretty much pain free after 4 months (as long as I kept my stretching/rolling routing regular).
With that said, I was having knee pain as a result of my IT band and some glute imbalances, not specific IT problems only.
It’s shitty that you’re struggling to find a solution – Hopefully you’re able to find something that works.
Dana, do you see a massage therapist regularly? I know many cyclists who do (including myself) and I know it helps me a lot.
I do not see a massage therapist regularly. Any suggestions of a good place or person in Edmonton?
I have been going to physio, regularly. At various times in the summer i have gone to acupuncture (I felt better but i think it just masks the pain because as soon as i stopped going the pain returned and at $60 a session i can’t afford to go twice a week), IMS, and ART.
I know Sheldon is a big fan of Sinderella’s, but back when I was living in Edmonton I went to Performance Chiropractic in St. Albert (for both ART & massage)