Foam Rolling Using Proper Technique - How to Get Rid of Back and Knee Pain

The body needs foam rolling, just as much as you need to work out. As much as you are actively living your life, it is as much as you should maintain your muscles to do so.

As always from me, Easy button logic; Rolling releases tension in the body that causes your muscles to get unaligned, stay out of light, and cause pain and even injury. Furthermore, it increases blood flow by creating more oxygen to that locked-up area (backs, legs, and calves, for example) which prohibits movement and flexibility. Foam rolling does not make you more flexible; that is what stretching is for. Foam rolling deals with tension, which cannot be stretched out and must be 'pressed' out, so to speak. Painful? Yes. Effective? Hell yes!

Where did this come from?

Mostly this has been associated with running and the Iliotibial Band (IT Band), which runs outside the quad. The IT band is a band of fascia that inserts in the outside of the hips, runs down the leg, and inserts into the outer part of the knee. This IT Band is tight on every one person. However, when you are active, it gets tighter and causes either knee or hip pain, most commonly the knee. Tension knots form along the band, causing itself to become tighter, pulling on the knee cap. The knee is pulled out, so the LCL or inner knee starts to cause mysterious pain. Foam rolling takes care of this. However, a doctor would love to cut you open instead. I have saved many knee surgeries by teaching my clients how to roll. I require all my clients to have foam rollers. With all that said, cardio being the main reason anyone can generate a tight IT Band, weight light, especially squats, can cause this.

So, you may ask, what should I foam roll? Everything! From the base of your neck to the Achilles tendon and everything in between. Never rolling over a joint, however. More specifically, the Cervical spine (upper back), Thoracic or T-Spine (mid back), Lats (between armpit area and rib cage), Lumbar spine (low back), glutes, hips, groin, inner thighs (adductors), TFL (out hip muscles), hamstrings (back of legs), quadriceps (thigh), Iliotibial band ( IT band ) calves, and soleus (second/outer calf muscle along side of shin) to name the most important areas to roll. Pectorals are also a major muscle group I have my male clients roll.