Fixes your lower leg, too!
This page prescribes rolling the front and side of your upper legs and hips for alleviating not only IT band tightness and knee pain but also Achilles tendon pain and plantar fasciitis.
I wouldn’t have thought these exercises would directly affect the last two issues. I normally roll the bottom of my foot and lower calf for these problems. Although I always start with my quads and hips as they are always tight.
Another key area for me to roll and stretch are my shin muscles. This can alleviate ankle and top-of-the-foot pain.
Roll the shortened muscles; not the overstretched ones
The page in the above link contains a further gem of wisdom:
…in general the basic goal with foam rolling is to lengthen short muscles so that the lengthened muscles can also relax.
This vital point is illustrated with a typical complaint for runners: a sore hamstring. Stretching and rolling may do nothing because it is the opposing muscles, the quads, that are tight. The hamstring hurts because it is overstretched; not shortened.
In this case, you need to stretch the quads to relieve the pain. And sure enough, as soon as you touch the quads, you realise how tight they are. Ouch!
Nearly everyday
I’ve found preventative rolling and stretching can do so much to help dodge injury. Niggles sneak up on me when I get slack with it. I need to do it just about everyday, at least on my quads and hips. It’s also a matter of staying alert and noticing the first inkling of tightness.
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