Massage and stretches for Hips, Bands, Butts, and Knees

Pulling backa bit today.  Did 5 k nice and easy.  Just felt like I needed to take it easier from the longer run on Saturday.  I bumped into my chiropractor friend, whom I know is a faithful reader of this blog ( you know who you are, GRANT)  :) .  He checked my hip and confirmed that it is still my piriformis/gluteus minimus that is the culporate, which is an overtraining issue.  My foam roller being found the other day in a box from my move, I am now working on preventing an actual injury while training.  I have been stretching as much as I possibly can, which has warded off any further injuries.  If I had not started this, I would most likely be not running right now because of the terrible piriformis syndrome.

Let me stop here and just say that I am not a massage therapist and am no expert other than what I know for my own research and experience!  Check things out for yourself and get seen by professionals when the time is right!

My Two Main Office Stretches

I am including some pictures of the stretches I use in my office and at home for the limbering up of my glutes hips and knees.  One is called the figure four.  The sketch at the top of this posting  is a "laying down" version of the same stretch. 

The ITB leaning stretch, shown here:

gets at the Illiotibital Band, but I have found helps with my hip soreness from this piriformis muscle tightness and inflammation.  Also a good one to use at the office, although it looks  a little strange when you are stretching and tlaking to someone, like a lady who has to pee. HA.

This stretch, which can be difficult to nail the appropriate glute area, has been taught by a few different professionals to me, so it is a common one for piriformis issues.  I dont do this one in the office... it looks a little strange.

Myofascial Release and Massaging Tight Muscles

FOAM ROLLER Stretches...

I have blogged about this with video

but here are a few pictures of how this might look for those with the foam rollers.

For IT band

Another great idea is the use of a tennis ball for getting to trigger points, which is more specific to the spots that get pretty trigger-ish.  Be warned, foam rollers and tennis balls are not for the faint of heart int he pain department!  Trigger points and myofascial release are quite touchy and can be acute in the pain department.  This is partially how we know it is working, but is also why many people think its just torture!

For more, check out this site, it is very helpful with great photos of these and many other stretches and strength excercises.  Thank you to Patrick Ward, MS CSCS LMT for the great post he made on the subject and where all these great instructional photos I swiped come from!