When preparing for your next workout, take 5-10mins to warm up using myofascial release tools such as a foam roller or Franklin Balls. Why? If we start a workout with short tight muscles or ‘long’ tight muscles then we won’t get the full strength or power from the opposing muscle groups. An example would be starting a workout with short hip flexors and therefore not getting the full strength or power from our glutes.
Here are a few examples of what you can try…
Chest release to get the most from your back muscles.
Lay on your front and place the ball on your sternum (rest your forehead on your hands) Move your rib cages side to side staying heavy on the ball. We suggest doing this along the sternum in three places, just below where the collarbones meet, in the middle of the sternum and just above where the ribs meet.
And/Or
Laying on your front, leaning toward the side of the chest you are going to release, place the ball or a foam roller just inside the shoulder. You can relax down once you’ve found your ‘sweet spot’ or move at a slight angle down from the shoulder towards the sternum.
Lat release to get the most from your chest.
In a side-lying position place the foam roller or a ball just in behind the armpit. Relax down onto it with as much pressure as feels right for you and roll back about 2-3 inches at a slight angle down towards the spine.
Quad opening to get the most from your hamstrings.
Lay on your front with a ball in the middle of your quad (approximately halfway between your knee and hip). Relax your hips and upper body down on mat. Flex and extend at your knee as if kicking your glutes with your heel.
Hip opening to get the most from your glutes.
Lay on your front with a ball just inside your hip bone, relax your upper body down and engage your glute on the same side lifting the same leg slightly off the ground. This feels like a slight burning sensation as the fascia from the iliacus (one of your hip flexors) opens up.
And/Or
Lay on your front with a softish ball between your belly button and the boney bit at the front of your hip. This is for releasing your Psoas muscle, but as you are near organs you want to go gently into this one and only do if it feels safe. (This is one you may want a physio or experienced trainer to help you find.) You are going to relax down and just breath for 5-10 belly breaths. To know you are on the muscle, on the same side, lightly push your knee into the ground to feel a contraction under the ball.
There is heaps you can do before a workout to help get the most from your workouts.
If you would like to get ideas specific to your body, book into see one of us at the studio soon.
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