This Is How I Roll...

So I will be the first to tell you, I am resistant to anything that to me seems like a "fad."

And for the longest time, that included foam rolling.

A friend of mine is a Physical Therapy Assistant.  (Those who have read my blog before will know this is my girl Coley.)  Well, she's a pretty serious runner.  And by that I mean
that she takes running very seriously. 

I'm more of a "go out and wing it" kind of gal myself.  But Coley has training plans and regimes that she follows.  Religiously.  It's not too often our runs line up together, but we have run a few races together in the past and that's usually where the overlap occurs.

I promise, we're getting to the part about foam rolling...

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So when Coley started harping on me about foam rolling and how I NEEDED to do it, part of me thought "Well that's just a bunch of nonsense."

It wasn't until August this year that I finally had some sense knocked in to me.

LITERALLY.

I was out trail running with a woman I had met through facebook.  We had just met about an hour before and right there in our run she asks me "So, do you foam roll?"  I answer no and before I know what's happening...

SMACK!  "Why not, fool?!?!"

Ok, I probably had that coming.  

So after months of hounding by my friend who does physical therapy as a career, it took a smack from a complete stranger to convince me to stop on my way home and actually buy a foam roller. 

Now that I've started though, I have found it to be pretty enjoyable.  Which is crazy, because everyone I hear talk about foam rolling is always saying how much it hurts...

Maybe I'm doing it wrong?  But it hurts so good!

I've found that foam rolling can be particularly nice after activities that even have nothing to do with running.  I haven't been running much as of late because of the injury to my LCL, but I have replaced running with weight training.  And, while my LCL injury flares up with running (because of the high impact), if I use proper form, it doesn't bother me to add in some lunges and squats.  Increasing my hamstring and quad strength can help with rehabbing the knee injury anyways.

But all this increased weight training has definitely taken a toll on my body and I've definitely felt pretty tight as a result.  So throwing myself on the mercy of my foam roller at the end of the day hashelped to ease some pain.  Below are a few of the foam rolling techniques I've been using to help keep my muscles from being so tight after a good day of throwing around some heavy objects.

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Much credit for these goes out to TruFit for the helpful instructional videos.  There's tons of resources out there for you on what to look for in a foam roller and how-to videos on foam rolling almost any muscle group that is giving you troubles.

Word to the wise though:  Just because your gym has foam rollers in the "stretching area" doesn't mean you should foam roll in public.  Especially your adductors... 

Weird looks.  Inappropriate suggestions.

JUST.  DON'T.  DO IT.

#runlove, y'all!