Foam roller fixed my knees

[Webbie]

Just thought I'd share for those experiencing occasional knee discomfort. I was feeling "creaky" anytime I would sit or lie down for a long time. I would also have pain during workouts that felt like something was impinged. I started using a foam roller every night before bed and a little bit before my workouts and my knees feel brand new again. I focus on trying to loosen up all of my muscles that distally attach right into the knee area. It was as if the tight quad muscles were binding my patella and patella tendons down tight enough to cause pain and stiffness. I was taking Advil on workout days but haven't needed any for the last two weeks.

I have hamstring issues too but haven't found a good self massage technique yet. I use an old softball to try to get at my hamstrings...it's not as effective as the foam roller for my quads though.

[chevyguy3]

Which roller are you using? I'm at the point where I need to start doing it, but am lost in all the different rollers out there. Might go for PVC just so I don't have to choose.

[allyn703]

I need to get one too. I noticed that my shin pain was being cause by tight quad muscles. I started stretching and the pain is gone.

[TomC]

Any foam roller will probably be fine. The white, open cell foam gets squishy the fastest. When you are ready to step up to something more painful that will never get squishy, 6" diameter PVC pipe is the way.

[Webbie]

I picked up a red colored roller from the local Dick's sporting goods. I think it's stiffer than the white ones. Maybe I'll try PVC when this one wears out.

[chevyguy3]

I picked up some 4" PVC today and wrapped it with athletic tape as somebody in one of the other threads did. We'll see how it goes.

[famendoza]

Aside from a bit of nice cracking at the upper back, I haven't yet experienced any improvements with foam roller. Everything is slightly, to very painful.

Upper back (crossover arms) - not too bad.
Glutes (one leg over knee) - not too bad which probably means I'm doing it wrong
Lat roll - painful
Pec roll - painful
Side scapula roll (crossarms leaning towards either my left or right) - painful
Ham roll - not painful, probably doing it wrong.
Quad roll - slightly painful
Side of leg, ostensibly the ITB roll - very painful
Calf roll - soleus - VERY painful
Calf roll - gastrocnemius - HOLY CHRIST PAINFUL

I assume I just keep doing these until they aren't painful (including the calf ones)?? I guess I'm paying an arm and a leg, figuratively, for all these knots I've developed over the years in the calves...

Foam roll is the standard 36 inch roller - white. The 30 bucks kind.

[Guido]

Aside from a bit of nice cracking at the upper back, I haven't yet experienced any improvements with foam roller. Everything is slightly, to very painful.

Upper back (crossover arms) - not too bad.
Glutes (one leg over knee) - not too bad which probably means I'm doing it wrong
Lat roll - painful
Pec roll - painful
Side scapula roll (crossarms leaning towards either my left or right) - painful
Ham roll - not painful, probably doing it wrong.
Quad roll - slightly painful
Side of leg, ostensibly the ITB roll - very painful
Calf roll - soleus - VERY painful
Calf roll - gastrocnemius - HOLY CHRIST PAINFUL

I assume I just keep doing these until they aren't painful (including the calf ones)?? I guess I'm paying an arm and a leg, figuratively, for all these knots I've developed over the years in the calves...

Foam roll is the standard 36 inch roller - white. The 30 bucks kind.

Yikes! Yes, keep doing every day or two for a couple weeks and see if it becomes less painful. It should. If you are using the white roller and it still hurts that bad you must be all kinds of messed up, though. Might need to see a good massage therapist to work some of those real trouble areas out first.

[cjangelo]

probably doing it wrong.

http://www.tmuscle.com/readArticle.do?id=475832

I don't like this website, but I do like Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson.

[gman]

http://www.tmuscle.com/readArticle.do?id=475832

I don't like this website, but I do like Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson.


Here is a more direct link to Mike's Self-Myofascial release manual. More comprehensive and easier to print out.

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/downloads/Self-Myofascial-Release-Purpose-Methods-and-Techniques.pdf

[Webbie]

I decided to up the ante in the recovery game the last few weeks. I've been to the myocascial release therapist 3 weeks in a row and I feel great. My nightly foam rolling is not needed right now and my last three weeks of progress on the squat have been smooth from 321-346 5x3. It almost feels like when I was back in the 200's again. I had done two resets at 320 5x3 so I'm surprised at how much farther I have progressed through this sticking point. My therapist has focused on the hamstrings as there were literally knots in there along with scar tissue from several years of pulled muscles (from night time softball leagues) I'll be headed to the pain office again next week after I nail 351. My leg muscles just feel like they are working better now...a very big difference from the foam roller alone.

[cjangelo]

I decided to up the ante in the recovery game the last few weeks. I've been to the myocascial release therapist 3 weeks in a row and I feel great. My nightly foam rolling is not needed right now and my last three weeks of progress on the squat have been smooth from 321-346 5x3. It almost feels like when I was back in the 200's again. I had done two resets at 320 5x3 so I'm surprised at how much farther I have progressed through this sticking point. My therapist has focused on the hamstrings as there were literally knots in there along with scar tissue from several years of pulled muscles (from night time softball leagues) I'll be headed to the pain office again next week after I nail 351. My leg muscles just feel like they are working better now...a very big difference from the foam roller alone.

What are you paying per session? How long is each session?

[Webbie]

$65 for an hour and then I give a $20 tip

[homerj742]

$65 for an hour and then I give a $20 tip

Is this customary? If so, I feel like a real douche.

[gman]

Is this customary? If so, I feel like a real douche.

The guy that I go to actually owns his own business, so when he runs my credit card, there is never a line on the receipt to leave a tip. I took this to mean that since he owns his own business vs. working for someone else, he does not expect a tip. Also, it is cheaper for me to buy a 10pack instead of paying for 1 session at a time. Something to look into if you know you'll be going back frequently.

[homerj742]

I see, the person I go to runs their own business too, and is the sole employee. It's cash or check only though.

[Webbie]

Is this customary? If so, I feel like a real douche.

I don't know actually. My wife told me to tip. She goes to the spas for the hot oil b.s. deals and always tips. I used to tip 10 bucks but since this MyoFascial stuff is harder work I thought I'd give a bigger tip.