Loading ...I think the whole thing was started when I began getting a feeling of stiffness in my hip flexors and all my efforts get over it by stretching my body failed to bring any relief. I followed the next logical steps, like reducing my running and cardio workouts, practiced more yoga, and even increased the number of rest days, but no, it wouldn’t go away.
Fast-forward two months. My lower back was troubling me; I could feel its stiffness in the mornings and would take its own time to get near normal. In no time my hamstrings too followed suit; would get very rigid and bending down to tie my sneakers was painful. It was more pronounced in the mornings Till I couldn’t take anymore of it.
I like to think I’ve always been athletic, at least throughout my adulthood. I am passionate about anything that breaks a sweat. Running and biking are my two favorites. I’ve taught spinning classes since spinning began. I’ve completed triathlons and half-marathons, all for kicks, and mostly with no foundation of training. Here I just woke up and felt like running a road race so off I went.
Or at least I used to. I get irked by physical limitations. I’m only 45 years old, for criminy sakes (and 45 is the new 29, right?).
But wait, my husband (I met him on one of the 5K road races, just sharing it with you) would like me to amend to include that it wasn’t my hamstring alone, but my personality also that tightened. Moral of the story is that if I miss my daily workouts, it affects everybody around me at home.
As luck would have it, or should I say by His grace, I came to know of the foam roller exercises conducted in New York by a notable teacher named Susan Hitzmann; the owner of Longevity Fitness Inc.. She is the conductor of a program called M.E.L.T., meaning Myofascial Energetic Length Technique. Now, pilates roller is all I want to use.
I coincidentally ended up in one of her many workshops about fascia and what to do about it. She offers tools (many on the foam roller) to add length and to therefore relieve muscular discomfort. Turns out that it wasn’t just my muscles that were tight but the overlying and surrounding sheath of fascia that were giving me problems.
But what’s fascia? It’s like having a wet web or a net that snugly fits over your muscles Some people have more than others.
She educated us on how to roll on a foam roller to re-hydrate the body to bring forth a sense of length, space and release. Oh, what a weighty release, man! As if you unbuttoned your jeans after a hearty heavy meal.
Just one workshop and I got obsessed! . I was prompted to purchase an exercising foam roller, akin to a yoga mat with foam in it and slightly bigger.
My muscles melted, which loosened up my lower back, which helped me sleep better. This enabled me get up in the mornings without that feeling of uneasiness in the body as I felt rested and flexible. I could start again with my daily cardio routine and strength training. End of the day, my moods started getting back to normal. Finally, I retained all my good old affection for my family and life got normal for everybody in the family.