Leg Exercise - How to Foam Roll Your Quads

Commonly Used For: Knee pain.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to foam roll your quads, which is the muscle in the front of your thigh here. It helps to relieve tightness here which commonly causes knee pain especially right below the knee cap there. So what you need is a foam roller which you can get online or in most sporting good stores [here's one at Amazon.com]. You're going to put it down perpendicular to you, come forward so that the foam roller is on your thighs; start just below the boney parts of your hips and then slowly roll yourself forward making sure that you don't roll over your actual knee cap. If you want more pressure just on one thigh to make it more intense, just pick your opposite foot up and cross it over your other leg and then again don't go over your actual knee cap. So that's how you foam roll your quads.

Leg Exercise - Foam Roll Your IT Band (Iliotibial Band)

Commonly Used For: Hip pain or knee pain.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to foam roll your IT band, which is a connective tissue that runs from our hip here down connects down at your knee. Tightness in this area is a very common cause of lateral and inferior knee pain. So what you want to do is you're going to need a foam roller, which you can get online or at a sporting goods store [here's one at Amazon.com]. You're going to lay it down perpendicular to your leg. The side you're going to roll is going to be on the foam roller. You want to make sure that you're below the bony part of your hip. And then, you're just slowly going to roll down your thigh, that outside edge, down to your knee. Again, don't roll over the bony part of your knee, just staying along the side. There. When you find spots that are particularly painful, that's where you want to focus. The tighter your IT band is, the more discomfort you're going to feel when you foam roll but it'll slowly go away. The more you foam roll, the less uncomfortable it will be. So that's how you foam roll your IT band.

Leg Exercise - How to Foam Roll Your Calf Muscles

Commonly Used For: Heel pain or foot pain.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to foam roll your calf muscle, which is a good way to relieve tightness down here in your calf. You're going to need a foam roller, which you can get online or at most sporting good stores [here's one at Amazon.com]. So you're going to lay that down on the floor. Sit down. Put the leg that you need to foam roll on top of the foam roll. You're going to put the opposite leg across on top just to get some added pressure. You're going to need some good arm strength because you have to lift up and then you're going to roll down onto your calf. Just slowly back and forth. You're going to feel the discomfort in your calf there. The tighter you are, the more discomfort you're going to feel but the more you foam roll it, the less discomfort will be in your calf. So that's how you foam roll your calf.

Chest Stretch - Foam Roll Pec Stretch

Commonly Used For: Shoulder pain and neck pain.

Video Transcription: I'm going to show you how to stretch out the front of your chest — your pecs — using a foam roller. This you can get online [here's one at Amazon.com] or at most sporting goods stores. So what you're going to do is you're going to lay the foam roller down. You want to sit on the very end of it and walk yourself back, making sure that your head is still supported on the foam roller. You're going to take your arms and bring them out to the side like this, until you feel a stretch across the front of your chest. You should not feel any numbness or tingling in your hands. If you do, the stretch might be too intense for you and you can prop your arms up on a pillow or a cushion - anything that'll make it so that your arms don't drop down quite so far. And again, you should feel the stretch right across your chest. If this stretch is not intense enough for you, you can bring one arm in and focus on just stretching one side. Roll slightly away from the side that you're stretching and you'll feel a more intense stretch across the one side that you're stretching and then you can repeat on the other side.