Exercise Tip Thursday - Muscle Maintenance

Thursday is here and with it comes another installment of Exercise Tip Thursday! Today, we're talking all things related to muscle maintenance. 

Have you ever felt sore after a workout? Or, has the dreaded plantar fasciitis or achilles tendonitis sidelined you from being active? With a muscle maintenance routine, you can stay in the game longer and stronger. Taking care of your muscles each day using a foam roller or self-muscle massage tool is beneficial in breaking apart knots and adhesions that can form during your workout and everyday activities. Just like you brush your hair every day, think of muscle maintenance as brushing your muscles apart and keeping them tangle free. Daily muscle maintenance increases elasticity in your muscle fibers, preventing tension in the plantar fascia and achilles tendon. In fact, it can even help cure you of plantar fasciitis and achilles tendonitis. How does it do this? We're glad you asked. Those two common running injuries are often due to a tight soleus or calf muscle pulling on that tissue. As you know, everything is connected in the body, so by loosening the soleus and calf, you are relieving the tension and thus, reducing the pain in those areas. Pretty neat, huh?

By now, you're probably thinking, "All of this sounds great, but I still don't know how to use a foam roller or massage stick," right? Not to worry! Every first Monday of the month at 7pm, we hold a Muscle Maintenance Class at our store designed to teach you all about how to use self-muscle massage tools and different techniques to employ on your muscles. Our massage expert and running guru, Jeff, will guide you through the process, and if you're lucky, he'll even offer to give you one of his famous calf massages. If you can't make it to that class, feel free to stop in our store at any time, and one of our knowledgeable staff members can provide a quick tutorial in how to use the massage tools. 

So just what self-massage tools do we offer here at Fleet Feet? A wide variety! We carry Addaday, RunMD, and TriggerPoint products in the form of foam rollers, TriggerPoint kits, and Type A, A+, Ultra Roller Plus, Type D+, Junior, and B+, among others. Visit us today to learn more about how a simple addition to your daily life can make such a difference.

 Pictured below are just a few of the options we offer: