For those who foam roll, when you come across a tight/painful area do you roll over it or REST on it? I’ve heard it’s better to rest on it for 30-45 seconds instead of rolling over it. Or even when using a tennis ball to isolate areas.
My psoas near the hip flexors are always tight and I’ve been working that area for awhile now with a tennis ball. Is the tightness suppose to eventually go away or do i need some kind of release by a trained therapist?
In addition, please share any techniques you found to be helpful.
I do both. I rest on it as you say and then I actively roll it and repeat. Foam rolling or ball rolling is good stuff but yes IMO nothing beats having a training specialist work on you, Im partial to ART myself. Depending on the area and your size a tennis ball isn’t always hard enough. Baseballs, golf balls and lacrosse balls can be more effective
[quote]bluerock wrote:
For those who foam roll, when you come across a tight/painful area do you roll over it or REST on it? I’ve heard it’s better to rest on it for 30-45 seconds instead of rolling over it. Or even when using a tennis ball to isolate areas.
My psoas near the hip flexors are always tight and I’ve been working that area for awhile now with a tennis ball. Is the tightness suppose to eventually go away or do i need some kind of release by a trained therapist?
In addition, please share any techniques you found to be helpful. [/quote]
Great question but the fact is if you’re inducing pain by resting or rolling a spot, you’re actually inducing the nervous system’s key response to say “stop that; change what you’re doing”
If your psoas or related muscles are tight, a question might be is the psoas the problem or is something else going on, somewhere else that is causing the psoas to clench?
Do you have a model for why a muscle gets tight?
generally, it’s to inihibit an action the nervous system is not confident you can take - that will jeopardise survival.
I can’t tell you now the hundreds of athletes i’ve worked with who have said what you’ve said, and after doing some assessments the first thing we do generally is work on the movement in their feet and ankles, get rid of rigid soles and get rid of tight lacing.
We then do drills to open up the movement especially around the tarsals and ankle bones in the feet. Do that and suddenly wow, motion restored, tightness be gone.
Why? it seems that since 24% of the joints in our body are in our feet, if our feet are not perceived to be moving well that maps as “problem” to the CNS, so no amount of whaling away with a roller is going to open that up. And causing pain just tells the nervous system to shut down further. You may feel temporary relief, but have you tested your muscle strength after doing this with a muscle test to know if you’re actually stronger not just supposedly loser? or have you just numbed sensation so next time you have to drive in harder?
There are faster, pain free alternatives to get better and lasting results.
[quote]bluerock wrote:
For those who foam roll, when you come across a tight/painful area do you roll over it or REST on it? I’ve heard it’s better to rest on it for 30-45 seconds instead of rolling over it. Or even when using a tennis ball to isolate areas.
My psoas near the hip flexors are always tight and I’ve been working that area for awhile now with a tennis ball. Is the tightness suppose to eventually go away or do i need some kind of release by a trained therapist?
In addition, please share any techniques you found to be helpful. [/quote]
Great question but the fact is if you’re inducing pain by resting or rolling a spot, you’re actually inducing the nervous system’s key response to say “stop that; change what you’re doing”
If your psoas or related muscles are tight, a question might be is the psoas the problem or is something else going on, somewhere else that is causing the psoas to clench?
Do you have a model for why a muscle gets tight?
generally, it’s to inihibit an action the nervous system is not confident you can take - that will jeopardise survival.
I can’t tell you now the hundreds of athletes i’ve worked with who have said what you’ve said, and after doing some assessments the first thing we do generally is work on the movement in their feet and ankles, get rid of rigid soles and get rid of tight lacing.
We then do drills to open up the movement especially around the tarsals and ankle bones in the feet. Do that and suddenly wow, motion restored, tightness be gone.
Why? it seems that since 24% of the joints in our body are in our feet, if our feet are not perceived to be moving well that maps as “problem” to the CNS, so no amount of whaling away with a roller is going to open that up. And causing pain just tells the nervous system to shut down further. You may feel temporary relief, but have you tested your muscle strength after doing this with a muscle test to know if you’re actually stronger not just supposedly loser? or have you just numbed sensation so next time you have to drive in harder?
There are faster, pain free alternatives to get better and lasting results.
mc
[/quote]
Thanks, the tightness in the psoas could very well be cause by my feet since i have flat feet, not to mention sitting at work all day. i should look into seeing a podiatrist or custom shoe stores.
I am going to see a licensed therapist to assess and treat the muscle and hopefully they can make it better. (btw, no pain persists from psoas just when i roll on it, it’s crazy tight.
Thanks, the tightness in the psoas could very well be cause by my feet since i have flat feet, not to mention sitting at work all day. i should look into seeing a podiatrist or custom shoe stores.
the numbers of folks i’ve seen are too many to count now who have said “i have flat feet”
the arch is not just from bone shape but from muscular work in the foot.
The more structured and stiff the shoe, the more the muscles work, the more the arch comes back.
very very few people really have flat feet such that working the foot does not restore the foot.
If there’s no pain custom arches/orthotics could well be the last place you’d go.
gently move towards more foot/less shoe and let your body be the body it’s designed to be.
get some movement in there - maybe start with R-phase drills from z-health
[quote]
I am going to see a licensed therapist to assess and treat the muscle and hopefully they can make it better. (btw, no pain persists from psoas just when i roll on it, it’s crazy tight. [/quote]
if i can leave you with one thing:
the site of pain may not be the source of pain. working with your whole body movement and getting that to a happier place is a lasting effect. working on a muscle while lying on a table may offer temporary relief, but how make it stick? need an active work plan
And if it hurts to role on your psoas DON’T ROLL ON YOUR PSOAS - never move into pain if someone doesn’t have a gun to your head.
Thanks, the tightness in the psoas could very well be cause by my feet since i have flat feet, not to mention sitting at work all day. i should look into seeing a podiatrist or custom shoe stores.
the numbers of folks i’ve seen are too many to count now who have said “i have flat feet”
the arch is not just from bone shape but from muscular work in the foot.
The more structured and stiff the shoe, the more the muscles work, the more the arch comes back.
very very few people really have flat feet such that working the foot does not restore the foot.
If there’s no pain custom arches/orthotics could well be the last place you’d go.
gently move towards more foot/less shoe and let your body be the body it’s designed to be.
get some movement in there - maybe start with R-phase drills from z-health
What do you think about chuck taylor shoes? I wear them at the gym and does wonders for squating and Deadlifts, sometimes i go barefooted when doing these exercises. i dont think our gym allows it tho but i go barefooted when i can.
What do you think about chuck taylor shoes? I wear them at the gym and does wonders for squating and Deadlifts, sometimes i go barefooted when doing these exercises. i dont think our gym allows it tho but i go barefooted when i can.
[/quote]
great start - the article above on free your feet lists a bunch, too. sambas, asics tiger tai chis, vibram fivefingers, the more mobility you can get into your feet the better.