Roll The Foam

On order to get better we have to do more than simply train harder and ride more. Trying to accelerate your progress isn’t going to work very well if you unknowingly have your foot on the brakes. Instead of working harder, being smart and addressing the little things that are holding you back is sometimes the fastest way to improvements.

One of those “little things” that almost every rider needs to address is the knots and adhesions in their muscles. Some of the most common complaints I hear from riders is that they are tight and lack good hip mobility, which interfere with their “trail flow”, and that their legs fatigue and cramp towards the end of a hard race or ride.  While some riders do use stretching as a way to increase mobility and decrease excessive muscle fatigue it only addresses a small part of the actual problem.

The real issue is the excessive muscle tension brought on by repeated powerful contractions during pedaling. Let me give you an analogy to explain why this is. imagine that you have a rubber band that you want to stretch. When you stretch it the rubber band lengthens, right? Now imagine that you tie a knot in that rubber band and stretch it again. This time it doesn’t stretch as far and you made the knot tighter.

The same thing happens in your muscles. When you press into a muscle and it is sore or even hurts then you have knots and adhesions in that muscle. Static stretching tries to lengthen the muscle without addressing the knots and adhesions that are causing it to tighten up and shorten in the first place. You can stretch all day and you will never get the length and mobility you are looking for.

While stretching can help it will never give you the results you could get by adding in foam rolling. In essence the foam roller allows you to give yourself a very targeted massage. It will help increase hip mobility for better skills and also decrease excessive muscle tension that causes premature fatigue and cramping in the legs.

For those of you that don’t know the foam roller is a round tube of dense foam, usually about 6 inches in diameter and 1 to 3 feet long. They are usually associated with physical therapy and can be found online or at a local physical therapy supply store rather easily. They come in various densities; I recommend getting a high density one since they will work better and last longer.

Don’t let the foam roller’s unassuming appearance fool you – it is the most valuable tool you are not currently using. It addresses a problem that you probably don’t even know that you have but is costing you big time on the trail. The biggest hurdle to increasing your performance is probably not it adding to your VO2Max but in decreasing excessive muscle tension.

Luckily foam rolling is one of the easiest things to add into your program. For about $30 you can get a good high density foam roller and by spending 15-20 minutes at night while watching T.V. hitting some key areas you can make a huge impact on your muscle tightness, soreness and mobility. Most importantly you will feel better flow on the trail and experience less leg fatigue.

The main areas I recommend for any mountain biker are the glutes, adductors, quads, IT band, upper back and lats. The main idea with foam rolling is to look for the tightest, most uncomfortable areas and concentrate on them. I tell my clients that the more it hurts the more you need it so grit your teeth and get after those deep knots.

Here is a video demo of me going over some basic foam rolling drills to help you get the most out of this valuable tool.

 

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James’ last tip stirred up some great controversy and debate on the boards.  Perhaps this one will be less controversial?  This is certainly a tip I am going to start using right away.  Have you tried this?  Are you planning to?  Roll it over here…