Does foam rolling help with knee pain?
I get lots of questions around foam rolling
Should I foam roll?
What is foam rolling?
Will foam rolling get rid of my knee pain?
When is the best time to foam roll?
Where should I foam roll for my knee?
Does foam rolling my IT band help knee pain?
learn how to foam roll your IT Band
I love foam rolling. It has its time and its place, though. It’s not the cure all for knee pain but it certainly helps reduce and prevent it.
Should I foam roll?
Yep you probably should. Are you someone who exercises regularly? Are you someone who wants to avoid knee pain? Or get rid of knee pain?
I recommend foam rolling. It’s wonderful. You can roll out tight muscles and massage out painful spots.
What is foam rolling?
Foam rolling is a technique in which you take a firm roll made of foam and you move it over your body (usually using your body and body weight for propulsion and pressure). Foam rolling is quite popular with runners, athletes and anyone really.
Will foam rolling get rid of my knee pain?
Hmm this is a tough one. Maybe. I find that foam rolling helps the best for tenderness and muscle knots, not joint pain. So if your pain is more of a tenderness of the muscle, or a muscle knot then I find that foam rolling helps a lot. If you have joint pain I don’t think foam rolling will do much of anything… but having said that, it probably won’t hurt it either. So you might as well try it.
When is the best time to foam roll?
I like to foam roll before or after a workout. It doesn’t matter what time of day I foam roll. (You may think differently).
If I’ve been running regularly and my muscles are a bit tighter and stiffer overall I like to foam roll before I go out for a run or jump on the treadmill for a run.
If I’m not really sore or tender I will foam roll after a workout to prevent the tenderness and pain from setting in. My favorite places to foam roll regularly, whether I have knee pain or not, is my IT Band. I find that my IT band tends to get really tender, and it gets tender quickly. If my IT band gets too tender I end up limping around. So I’ll keep it happy by regularly foam rolling it.
Where should I foam roll for my knee?
My favorite places to foam roll to keep my knees happy are:
My ITband,
My quads,
My glutes
My piriforimis
My calf muscles
My hamstrings
These are the groups of muscles I regularly foam roll to keep my knees happy and reduce or prevent knee pain when I’m exercising regularly or running.
If you’re looking for knee pain relief check out this free guide I created just for you