Lower Extremity Foam Rolling

There are many quick and effective ways to help maintain your body's tissues as you endure the rigors of your workouts and the wear and tear of daily living.  Foam rolling is one of these popular modalities.  I find myself teaching this to people every day in the clinic.

Why use a foam roller?  The easy answer is that it will make you feel better.  Grab one and give it a try the next time you're at the gym, and see for yourself how it can help reduce your post-workout soreness and leave you feeling more flexible.  This answer falls into the anecdotal, non evidence-based bucket.  But since we are always looking to validate our interventions with research, here is an excellent summation of the current literature on foam rolling, done by strength and conditioning researcher Chris Beardsley:

http://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/foam-rolling-self-myofascial-release/#3

Because I'm always demonstrating how to use a foam roller, I made a brief video to readily share with my patients.  It focuses on how to roll out your lower extremities, and here it is:

I am always cognizant of keeping people's home programs simple and inexpensive, and foam rolling fits that bill.  The one I'm using in the clip above is a high density, 36" x 6" diameter roller.  They also come in smaller sizes, and in lower densities (softer).  They can be picked up at your local sports store, but your best bet is to go to Amazon where you can purchase one for nearly have the price at about $22.

A little self-maintenance will serve your body well.  Foam rolling is a nice place to start, so give it a try and experience the benefits for yourself.

The Hills of Ithaca

This past weekend my wife and I went up to Ithaca, NY to attend my college reunion.  The weather was as beautiful as I've ever seen it in Western New York, and we took advantage with a good walking tour of the campus.

Kristen noted several times that Cornell is so hilly.  It reminded me of the toll those slopes took on me when I first arrived on campus as freshman all those years ago.

During that first semester I developed a nasty case of shin splints.  I had no idea at the time what was going on, nor did I do anything to address it.  Eventually, the condition improved and ultimately disappeared.  A few years later, I spent the spring semester of my junior year in Washington, D.C. as part of a Cornell in Washington program.  Later that fall, after returning to the hills of Ithaca, so too returned the shin splints.

As an 18-22 year old, I had no idea that I would end up in a career as a physical therapist.  I was too preoccupied with all the other things going on in college to really analyze what happened with my shins, and why it happened when it did.  But after this weekend's reminder, it's very evident to me why I developed pain in my legs from simply walking.

It was a matter of tissue overload.

Many of our musculoskeletal issues are caused when the demands on our tissues exceed our body's ability to adapt to them.  That's exactly what happened to my shins when hills became a part of my regular routine during my freshman and senior years.  Prior to that, I had lived in an environment with virtually no exposure to gradient changes.

The good news is that we have the capacity to fortify ourselves against these higher imposed demands.  It's called the S.A.I.D Principle, which stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand.  If you want your body to be better prepared for unexpected changes in forces imposed on it, you can train for it.

Last night, I took a misstep going down some stairs in the dark.  My rear left foot struck the edge of a step and I lunged forward.  I felt a strong pull in my quad tendon, just above my patella (knee cap).  Thankfully, I walked it off and awoke this morning without any signs of injury.  I've seen this mechanism of injury land folks in my clinic with surgically repaired ruptured quad tendons.  I feel partly lucky that nothing happened, but mainly grateful that I've spent time doing things like squats and lunges in order to keep my muscles and tendons prepared for such moments.

All your tissues can be maintained.  Weight training will make your muscles and tendons more resilient.  Cardio training will make your cardiopulmonary system more resilient.  Even your brain can be trained.  The next time you try to remember the name of a person, place or thing, see if you can use your powers of recall to exercise your neurons rather than going immediately for your phone for a Google search.  I just run through the alphabet, and am amazed at how often the first letter alone will elicit the answer.  Studies show that those who stay mentally engaged in activities such as crossword puzzles demonstrate lower incidences of dementia-related symptoms as they age.  There is no reason to allow ourselves to become dumber as our phones get smarter.

There are no foolproof safeguards against injury.  Unfortunately, they can and will happen no matter how many preventative measures we take.  But risk can be mitigated through a little effort.  It's never a waste of time, as not only will it reduce injury risk, it will improve your overall function.

With your body and mind, as with most things in life, expect to get back what you put in.