If you don’t own a spiky ball, get one! One of the best investments you can make as they shouldn’t cost more than about $15 for a decent one. In the mean time, grab a tennis or lacrosse ball and keep reading.
I’ve recently started doing this particular spiky ball release down my quads and have had a great result for myself and my clients. The quadricep muscles are sneaky little buggers. They can tighten up and create inefficient movement patterns throughout the lower body and cause various symptoms throughout the lower back and knees. This particular part of the quads, the Vastus Lateralis, can become over loaded when paired with weak core and glute muscles. One very common symptom is front knee pain.
Vastus Lateralis
The Vastus Lateralis is the most lateral of the quad muscles; it runs down the outside of our thigh beside the infamous IT Band. The IT Band is that thick, fibrous, connective band-like tissue that runs down the very side of our thigh and gets a lot of flack for being tight in runners. However, I find that we put too much blame on the IT Band, and not enough focus on the tightness and overuse of the Vastus Lateralis.
Therefore, I want to focus on releasing this part of the quadriceps to help alleviate knee pain and overall hip and lower back stiffness. Alleviating this muscle will help create more “room” in the hips, and will help keep the knee in better alignment. And if you’re wondering how this will help with lower back stiffness, head to our previous post about how “the site of pain may not be the source of pain”.
Try this before a run or cycle … or any workout.
Quad Releasewith Spiky Ball – Lie on your side and place the ball in front of the top of your thigh. Gently lean your body weight onto the ball so the outer quadriceps muscle press into the ball. This may feel tender; only go as far as you can tolerate. “Roll” on/off the muscle 3-5 times, then move the ball down the thigh about 5-10cm. Repeat this rolling pressure release 3-5 times at each 5-10cm segment down the thigh until you reach above the knee (as shown in the photos). Repeat on the other leg. Some areas may be more tender than others and may need extra attention.
Although this will feel tender while you do it, it will feel much better afterwards!
Stay tuned for our next post when we show you how to strengthen the glute muscles to help off-set the strain and overuse of the quads!
jozervas@gmail.com
February 21, 2017How did it work for you, Sarah ?
Sarah Keyte
February 13, 2017This is awesome. I’ll give this a go before training tomorrow 🙂