My left leg has felt really off for the past few days. The knee and foot have felt stuck in bad rotations and I can't figure out what to do. I had a massage Monday and that didn't help. I ran the Monday night 5k trail race and had another poor time as I couldn't get that leg to work right. Monday night I tried working with weights on my leg as I did hip strengthening exercises and then I did an Active Isolated Stretching routine that I hadn't done in a long time. The foot still worked the same way.
Yesterday I was watching part of the Tour de France and was still uncomfortable and so I just pressed my fingers into the side of my left hip. I am not sure which muscle that is. I think it might be the insertion point of the gluteus medius at the top of the hip. Anyhow I noticed a tenderness at a certain point there so I started applying some pressure and working on it. When I was done, I walked around and noticed my knee and foot were lined up better and that left leg was back to feeling better again. I can't explain how or why this worked, but I always have strange things that work like that. It probably wouldn't work for anyone else as I think what my body does is pretty unique. I write it here so I can reference and remember it at some other time when the problem returns.
I thought I felt ready for a run. I headed out the door and felt real stiff as soon as I started running. I had to really plug away at the run. My energy was there but it was a real battle to move my body. I kept plugging away and never fully loosened up, but I made it through 12 miles. I was really tight and stiff particularly through the quads and hips. I reminded myself it may be good to use my TP Massage rollers on them later (which reminds me that I lost my TP Massage Ball in Hawaii- along with my iPod- they were in the same bag). I used to use the ball in the same spot on my hips as I leaned into a wall. I believe that the stretching I did the previous night had something to do with the tightness. So I need to ease back slowly into the stretching.
I found a new hip stretch that I like. It is something I found and saved to my computer a while back but never really tried before.
Seated Knee Circles
Procedure: 1. Sit on the ground with
your legs in an “Indian Posture.” 2. Put
both of your hands on one knee. 3.
Rotate and bend your torso toward the
opposite knee and begin circling your
nose around this knee. USE YOUR TORSO TO MAKE
YOUR NOSE CIRCLE THE KNEE, NOT JUST YOUR
HEAD! 4. Once you have gone both directions over one knee,
switch to the opposite knee.
Muscles Being Stretched: Quadratus Lumborum, Erector
Spinae, Transversospinalis
Duration of Stretch: 1 min. for each side.
Important: It is crucial to circle your nose using your torso not
just your neck.
Type of Stretch: Oscillitory
Modified
I like this as it stretches the quadratus lumborum (as well as the whole back) and I haven't found a stretch that does this adequately before. I find this one hard to do (but I definately feel things pulling and moving out of stuck positions) but maybe that is why it will be a good stretch. Here is another:
Knee Circles (static)
Procedure: 1. Sit on the ground with
your legs in an “Indian Posture.” 2. Cup
both of your hands around one knee then
lean forward toward the same knee.
Muscles Being Stretched: Quadratus
Lumborum, Erector Spinae, Transversospinalis
Duration of Stretch: 1 min. for each side.
Important: This is a good stretch to focus on your breath to
fully relax into the stretch.
Type of Stretch: Static
Here is a video that shows some stretches that are supposed to increase hip flexibility.
I had this as a video but it played everytime the page opened so now I am just listing it as a link. "Hi' I"m Leslie...." shouldn't startle you anymore!
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