Marathon Preparation Tips

Although stretching is key for relieving tightness and maintaining muscle length prior to your race a foam roller can be another important tool to keep your muscles supple. I often advise my clients to use this initially to establish which muscles require the most attention before focusing your  stretching on them. 

If you are planning to get a sports massage prior to your race I recommend to my clients to do this no later than 3 days prior to a race. This ensures that if you are left with any post massage tenderness that your body has plenty of time to recover prior to race day.

Below are some simple foam roller exercises for you to try.  Roll the length of the muscles for 1-2 minutes, if you find a nodule focus on this area rocking back and forth in a small range for around 30 seconds until you feel some relief. 

IT Band 

This is a heavily debated exercise, the IT band is a facial band, some say to roller it others say not to. 
I feel it is personal preference however from a sports massage perspective i find the best results come from focusing on the TFL which is located on the outer part of the hip, although you can use a foam roller to release this a tennis or cricket ball is often more effective. 

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Gluts

This is an area of tightness in most people. Sit on the roller, cross your left ankle on your right thigh and take your left knee down towards the roller. Roll gently back and forth. Repeat the same on the other side. 

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Quads

People are often surprised how tight these muscle are particularly around the knee. Whilst rolling move your foot around to target different areas of the muscle. 

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Hamstrings 

This exercise can be performed as pictured or with one leg crossed over the other or one foot on top of thigh to apply added pressure. 

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Calfs 

These are often an area of tightness in runners. Depending on how much discomfort you can tolerate will depend on which position suits you best. Roll through the muscle slowly focusing on areas where it is sore of around 30 seconds. 

The second image shows a reduced load roll which is better for beginners. 

Tibialis Anterior

I often find not many people are aware that you can roll through this area, it is surprisingly satisfying particularly for those who do lots of hill running which is normally most runners as lets face it running on a flat surface gets boring! 

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Lower Back

Another area which can be overlooked and often gets very tight and stiff in the running population is the lower back. It is really important to keep this area supple. This area should only be attempted with a smooth surface roller not one with nodules as it can cause discomfort in the spine. 
You can either roll up and down with your shoulders level  as pictured or you can lean over to one side working into the area around your waist. 

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