Why I Stretch And Foam Roll

So if you've been anywhere near me or this blog then you know that I have been dealing with a hip injury. And my first so-called event back into running was the Hershey10k.

Since then I have been working on improving my fitness and building some base miles. But I wanted to share with you what I feel was the turning point for me with this injury.

Drum roll please...


FOAM ROLLING/MASSAGE STICK and STRETCHING - yep - in the past these were things that I neglected.

I mean I always meant to foam roll and stretch, but I never got around to it. But once my physical therapist started doing intense stretching and rolling with our therapy sessions, and I actually found a YouTube video to help stretch my hip, I started seeing results. (And I can't seem to find the video again). But I created one to demonstrate the stretch.

It wasn't overnight results, but I could see results fairly quickly. And I realized that neglecting to use recovery was a big mistake on my part.

I have seriously set up reminders in my phone. I try to stretch every morning after I have exercised or after I have at least been up for a while (once my muscles are warmed up). In the evenings I try to foam roll every day even if it's just for a few minutes. I try to hit the key parts (calves, shins, quads, hams, butt, hip and IT band).

I had an extremely busy day and actually skipped my stretching and foam rolling. The following day I felt pain in my hip. So I know that I just have to make this a part of my daily routine. I mean seriously it doesn't take that long to do. And I am finding that the benefits from it are far greater than the time that it takes out of my day.

Here is an article from Runner's World on how to use a foam roller.

But it's really not complicated ;)

A post shared by Amy 🏃🏻‍♀️ 💪🏻 🍦 (@willrun4icecream) on Apr 17, 2017 at 3:54pm PDT

(And for my review of the foam roller that I am using, you can see there here)

And from my personal point of view it has made a difference of running or not running. So I'm going to choose to foam roll and stretch!

A post shared by Amy 🏃🏻‍♀️ 💪🏻 🍦 (@willrun4icecream) on Apr 9, 2017 at 5:11am PDT

So, don't be surprised if you see me rollin' rollin' rollin' :)

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