I am so intrigued by foam roller myofascial release stretches. I am starting a sprinter in about two weeks who had a severly strained hamstring (she's now out of therapy and ready for a personal trainer). I thought I might use this technique with her. Has anyone used it?
There are a few things about it that I still find confusing. Do you do these with static and/or dynamic stretches, or strictly by themselves? I know that if you reach a tender spot, you stop...but do you then pick up again when the spot is no longer sore?
its not so much of a stretch as a massage with a foam roller... pt on the net has some articles or check out Annette Lang or Mike Boyle they have DVD's out on SMR I bought Mike Boyle's ...it is pretty basic but you will get an idea what SMR is about from it.
Again checking out pt on the net is the cheapest way to go if you are a member(you should be).
basically SMR just releases trigger points in the muscles. some people use it prior to workouts for really tight areas and after a workout for deep tissue work. it can also be used as a local warm up to a troubled area that needs attention. Remember that foam rolling is an inhibitor so static right after foam rolling is VERY effective but with that extra length comes instability so tighten the antagonist before working the joint
do with dynamic before and static after workouts...always dynamic prior unless targeting a really tight side of a joint then do SMR, static then dynamic prior.
for your runner I would focus on a good warm up, foam rolling, strengthening a full range of motion with minimal flexibility work at first.... in that order
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If a person wants something that they have never had, they have to do something that they have never done. - Shawn Fears, CPT
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