I laughed at foam rolling my IT band until my knee locked up at mile 10

I used to think those foam rolling cult guys were just making stuff up to sell more foam. I'd see people wincing on their quads and think, 'just stretch, dude.' Then two cycles ago I had my knee lock up mid run on a long 14 mile training day. Couldn't bend it without a sharp pinch. My buddy at the run club convinced me to try rolling my IT band for 2 minutes before my next run. I did it grudgingly and honestly the difference was wild. The tightness released after like 90 seconds and my next 10 miler felt totally normal. Now I'm paranoid I won't have a roller with me on race day. Has anyone else had a thing they swore was fake that ended up being the fix?

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

mark6112mo ago

...and I used to swear by those cold plunges everyone talks about until I tried putting ice packs on my shins after a muddy trail run. Thought it was some Instagram fad. Nope. My shin splints that had been hanging around for months actually calmed down after a week of doing that stupid ice trick. Now I look like a weirdo at work with frozen peas strapped to my legs but hey, whatever works.

6

oliverbailey2mo ago

You mention that friend convincing you to try rolling, and that kinda gets at something people miss... sometimes it's not the tool itself but having someone else watch your form and tell you when you're doing it wrong. I rolled my IT band for months with zero results because I was just mashing the side of my leg instead of finding the actual trigger point. That buddy of yours probably saved you a lot of wasted time.

1