Arterial blood flow of the lateral thigh increased significantly after foam rolling exercises compared with baseline

Arterial blood flow of the lateral thigh increased significantly after foam rolling exercises compared with baseline"

There are those in the camp that foam rolling is a waste of time, and those who swear by these various methods of self-soft tissue work. We are in the camp that it is helpful, but more so, if it seems to work for you then do it often. There have been journal articles in the last year that deep soft tissue within an hour of an aggressive workout helps recovery, which supports our camp. This is just one more piece supporting that "doing something" is better than a sofa, beer and Doritos.

Acute Effects of Lateral Thigh Foam Rolling on Arterial Tissue Perfusion Determined by Spectral Doppler and Power Doppler Ultrasound
Hotfiel, Thilo; Swoboda, Bernd; Krinner, Sebastian; Grim, Casper; Engelhardt, Martin; Uder, Michael; Heiss, Rafael U.
The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: April 2017 - Volume 31 - Issue 4 - p 893–900

Is Turning off the Quads a good thing?

Especially in light of the Vastis lateralis acting as an internal rotator in closed chain? 

"Foam rolling of the quadriceps muscle is associated with decreased biceps femoris activation, an effect that may be related to pain perception, according to research from the Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, Canada.

In 18 recreationally active individuals (eight women), the investigators used surface electromyography to assess vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and biceps femoris activation during a single-leg landing from a hurdle jump under four foam-rolling conditions: application to the hamstrings only, the quadriceps only, both, and neither.

Biceps femoris activation was significantly lower for the conditions in which foam rolling was applied to the quadriceps. However, the reverse was not true: Foam rolling of the hamstrings had no significant effect on activation of either of the quadriceps muscles.

The authors hypothesized that the perceived pain associated with quadriceps foam rolling, which was significantly greater than that associated with hamstrings foam rolling, may trigger the alteration in antagonist muscle function."

Cavanaugh MT, Aboodarda SJ, Hodgson D, Behm DG. Foam rolling of quadriceps decreases biceps femoris activation. J Strength Cond Res 2016 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Foam rolling, a literature review - Anatomy & Physiotherapy→

What does the literature say about foam rolling?

The folks here bring up a good point: “ Despite these findings, without clearly defined parameters and more importantly, mechanisms of action, to what extent should we incorporate SMR and foam rolling into our programming?”

Podcast 50: Lactate Thresholds, Fartleks ? & more.

A. Link to our server:

http://thegaitguys.libsyn.com/pod-50

B. iTunes link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gait-guys-podcast/id559864138

C. Gait Guys online /download store (National Shoe Fit Certification and more !) :

http://store.payloadz.com/results/results.aspx?m=80204

D. other web based Gait Guys lectures:

www.onlinece.com   type in Dr. Waerlop or Dr. Allen,  ”Biomechanics”

________________________________________

* Today’s show notes:

Neuroscience

1. Yes, this is dog: No More Woof aims to translate canine thoughts into human speech
http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/18/no-more-woof-indiegogo-concept-dog-headset/

2. Foot Drop solution ?

http://www.walkaide.com/en-US/Pages/default.aspx

3. Mini Implantable Microscopes to Watch Living Cells Inside the Body
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/mini-implantable-microscopes-to-watch-living-cells-inside-the-body-16286695?%3Fsrc=rss

4. Gait Talk:

How Your Running Form Changes During Long Runs and Easy Runs
http://www.formbeforefootwear.com/how-your-running-form-changes-during-long-runs-and-easy-runs/

4B . Lactate Threshold Talk

5. Footprints of the gait gods.

6. Fascial NeuroBiology: An explanation for possible manual therapy treatment effects «
http://www.thebodymechanic.ca/2012/10/28/fascial-neurobiology-an-explanation-for-possible-manual-therapy-treatment-effects/

7. National Shoe Fit Certification Program

The Clown Shoe That’s Changing Minimalist Running
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/footwear/Sole-Power-Nicolas-Mermoud-Minimalist-Running.html

8. Email:

Hi Guys -
I’m based in the UK. I’ve been running again for a year. I upped to 35 miles per week a month ago (from 25/30) and two weeks later I was injured with an inflamed piriformis muscle (it’s not syndrome). The pain is on my left side. I have a weaker gluteus medius on my left side. I did also put a chainsaw through my right inner thigh near the knee (it fell short of the bone and main artery in the leg) when i was 18 (i am now 40) - which may also have something to do with my question, but maybe not.
When I run, my right foot points outward during my right foot’s swing phase (but it lands straight). I can’t find an answer anywhere: is my outward pointing right foot perhaps the cause of the piriformis inflammation, and if so, how do i correct my foot movement during the swing phase? Help!!!
Weirdly, i have been obsessing about it for months but cannot correct it, and because of that I’ve noticed that a number of other people have from the same problem.

* Disclaimer

10 . How Does Foam Rolling Work? And Why “SMR” Should be Called “SMT” | Bret Contreras
http://bretcontreras.com/how-does-foam-rolling-work-and-why-smr-should-be-called-smt/

11. Behold The ‘Strength Axle’

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/eye-performance/201312/strength-axle-craig-thompson-core-training-fitness-innovation

You create your own gait problems.

Just a simple reminder. Most shoes have EVA foam between the hard outsole rubber. EVA foam compresses but it also has memory. If you have a running form issue or a foot type that drives abnormal biomechanics into the shoe then over time the shoe’s EVA foam will break down into that pattern. Not only does this then support the problem, but it enables you to engrain the pattern (which means you are not engraining a cleaner pattern) meaining that every other joint and muscle then assumes that this is the norm and begins to alter their function based on the premise. A sign issue can drive many issues and many other complaints.  This client had a rigid rear foot varus , obviously as you can see by the wear pattern (yes, we gently and lovingly flogged this running for wearing the shoes this long into this pattern) but it was made worse by letting the shoe entrench this pattern so deeply. You see, their rear foot varus was no where nearly as bad as the wear into this shoe. But they continued to wear it and the foam continued to break down further and deeper into this varus wedged pattern. They came into see us for lateral knee pain and a tight IT band that was not responding to foam rolling (we immediately began to whimper and then proceeded to thump our forehead into our desk, repeatedly).  Some things should be obvious, but even we are far from perfect or wise at times.  

Key point, you have heard this here over and over again from us, have 2 or 3 pairs of shoes. Introduce the new shoe into your running repertoire at the 200 mile mark. At that point start rotating your shoes so that you are only a day away from a newer shoe that his not broken down into a faulty pattern and thus deformed EVA foam.  Even by the time the one shoe is dead and done, you have not been in it every run.  You should never kill a shoe to the 500 mile mark and then buy a new shoe. The pattern you have worn into your shoe will suddenly disappear when you put on the new shoe. Injuries occur from repeated events or sudden changes. Reduce your risk and rotated at least 2 pairs of shoes, one newer and one older.  

We talk about alot of these issues, and so much more, in the National Shoe Fit Certification Program. Email us if you think you might be interested.   thegaitguys@gmail.com

And ……when it comes to your feet and shoes, use your head.

Shawn and Ivo, The Gait Guys