i used the roller for the first time last night. got pain in my calves, it bands and quads from it. good pain though, if that makes sense. i understand that pain is not the indication of effectiveness, but it was nice as it was the first time i used it, and it felt like it was doing something. i think it will take a little while to get used to using it and practising the techniques to target different areas.
Might be prompting more circulation. Does the pain stay or is it temporary? How much water are you drinking? Are you doing hot/cold showers?
The soreness that I get seems to go away by the next day usually.
The other pain that is where my shin splints hurt more can stay for hours, but it eventually calms down.
I usually drink fruit juice, not water, but juice and water totals up to around 64oz a day I’d say. I remmeber I tried drinking more water last month, like 6 liters a day, and when I went for a jog I noticed my muscles were more noticeably pumped, and I felt “different”…not sure if thats good though. I don’t do any hot/cold shower contrasts either. I haven’t even trained in a year due to my pain. I don’t know why, but my pain varies so much, its weird. Even throughout the course of one day, I think depending on my mood and hormones, I can sometimes be able to run without pain, but other times they hurt if I jog just a couple steps.
The calfs might just be hypertonic tissues that are painful when palpated - a sure sign you need to keep them stretched and reduce the muscle tonus.
I’m gonna be honest. I’ve never really stretched. For years I worked out without really stretching. The podiatrist said I have really tight calves and achilles heh.
I just dunno why my calves would feel sore after rolling. What did I really accomplish by making them sore? lol
if you are THAT tight, there may be some residual soreness after. Generally, that would happen only after something like deep tissue massage in very tight areas.
I was feelling the same way that you were about 3 weeks ago when i finally found money to go see a mesasge therapist regularly. Twice a week the therapist would do fascia work as well as deep work. On my own I focused my stretching on my anterior tib, soleus and gastroc. Also included was tons of ice massage. And as of right now im pain free. Which is a strange feeling.
How do you do ice massage? Just freeze water in a paper cup and rub that into your muscles?
Yup, and elevate whatever your icing, youll look like a goof but it helps. Keep the cup moving, never hold onto one spot longer than a couple of seconds, so pick a larger area like the lower part of your leg and run it over everything. It will eventually turn red. Thats what you want. Put a towel under you as it will melt and get everywhere.
lol haha thats gonna be retarded for me because I have two shins to do that with haha. you know…I’ve done icing(just held in one spot), but never elevated while icing really. makes me wonder if that defeated the purpose of icing
how long would you ice massage for?
usually until the area becomes num
The rolling is hurting less and less as I do it more.
Oh yeah, dunno if I’m on to something here or if this is just stupid, but on my inner calf, right at the top close to the knee, its a lot softer and easy to push in, but as I go down the calf, it feels really dense and hard to push in. Is that a sign of how tight I am?
I use “thestick” (medium) for my clients after workout and sometimes do stretching.
I have developed a preference for The Stick as well. I have a foam roller, but I think it can be a bit agressive for simple recovery massage. The Stick or a good old rolling pin can be used for simple flushing massage, which is hard to do with a foam roller. There’s a difference between massage and myofascial release, which is more intense and not really needed on a daily basis. I think a couple minutes a day with The Stick is a lot more helpful and much easier to do.
ok, i might try the rolling pin idea, sounds good. tim benjamin was telling me how he doesn’t use the foam roller anymore, as he got very used to it, and now uses a metal flask instead!!! however, from reading here, is he getting any further advantage from this? i’m guessing he may have meant that the roller no longer caused pain or discomfort, which you have said is not an indicator of effectiveness.