Hi i’m Chloe from Gochlo Pilates, and this is good moves with well and good. Today i’m, going to take you through a foam roller workout and when i say workout you’re, not going to actually work hard. It’s kind of more, like a foam roller massage session.
I love my roller to release all the tension around my body and all the tightness um. Today I’ve got a really short one, but if you’ve got a long one. You can use a long one. I love those ones as well.
It doesn’t really matter, but let’s get started. We’re, going to start by rolling out and releasing our quads, our quadriceps, so the front of our thighs. So what you’re going to do is come down. You’re, going to slide that foam roller a little bit over to the right.
We’re, going to release the right one first and you’re. Going to lay yourself down with the foam roller in the middle of your right quad, you’re, going to come down onto your elbows and your left leg is going to come out to the side like that.
Then you’re, going to roll your body back, so the roller comes to the top of your quad, the top of your thigh, and then you’re, going to crawl your hands forward. You can move that knee up and roll just above your knee.
Now you don’t want to go over your kneecap, because that just won’t feel good, but you want to go just above the kneecap and then you’re just going to keep that going up and down so Rolling through your body sometimes stretching while it is important, isn’t enough to really release tightness in some of the big muscle groups around the body.
I love using my foam roller. I’m, genuinely addicted to using it, because i do a lot of pilates and i teach a lot of pilates. So i really rely on my roller to release some of that tightness. That builds up also with all of us working out and working from home.
We have a lot of little things that come up in our body that may be never used to a lot of postural tightness that is coming up. So i really want to try today and use the roller to release some of that tightness as well, and we’re going to do that now.
Keep that going, but just move your toes a little to the left. So you’re. Still rolling through the front of the thigh, but a little bit out to the side as you go up and down notice. If that feels a little bit, tighter definitely does for me good.
We’ll, go a couple more like this. Remember if you’ve had enough of any of these, you can just pause and wait for the next one. So if it’s too intense or if you’re new to this go slow, be patient, be kind to yourself.
It’s all right. If you need a break all right and then we’re gonna come on to the side of the thigh, so what you’re gonna do is roll to the outer edge of that leg. This elbow stays down. So we’re all the way on our side, and this leg is going to come up and over.
So you’re stepping it over all right like that, then you’re, going to roll all the way up to the side of the hip, and you’re, going to roll all the way down to the side of The knee and this time you can go a little bit further down because you’re.
Not you, don’t have the kneecap in the way. Now this is your itb or your called your iliotibial band. It’s. A thick band of fascia, which runs down the side of the leg when this band gets tight. Sometimes we can feel it in our knee joints, which we don’t want.
We can get pain in the knee, so it’s. A really great way to release that tightness that can build up through the side of the leg we’ll. Just go a couple more like this. This one hurts, i know i’m, just used to it, but i promise you.
I’m screaming on the inside one more like that up and down all right and we’re done come on off and we’ll. Try all of that again on the other side, so we ‘ Ll start with our quad, so the front of the leg, the front of the thigh, so we’ll slide it off a little bit.
We’ll, take the leg down on top of that roller. The other leg comes out to the side. We’re down on the elbows. We’re going to crawl up, so we’re just above the knee, and then we’re going to move down until we come to the front of the hip.
So up and down like that, and as you do this, i want you to really compare the two sides notice. If one side feels tighter than the other often it does just naturally, because we aren’t fully symmetrical beings.
We have asymmetries in our bodies and often one side can feel tighter than the other, and this is impacted. Maybe, by the way we sit. Maybe we tend to cross one leg over the other. When we sit maybe the way we stand, we tend to sit into one hip, but just be mindful of these asymmetries in your own body.
As we learn more about our own bodies, our own postural alignment good, keep that going up and down, but now turn the toes just a little in so we’re still rolling through the quad, but we’re just a little bit Out to the side – and this part of the quad often feels a bit tighter breathe.
You got this up and down. We’ll, just go for a couple more like this and then from here you’re, going to roll over onto your side and i’m going to spin around. So i can look at you, but you’re gonna roll yourself over if you’re still now on the outside of that same leg, this top leg is gonna step over on top and we’re gon Na roll up and down so we roll up to the side of the hip, and then we roll down all the way down to the side of the knee.
Now, if you go up and down once and that’s enough for you today, that’s, fine, it takes time to really sort of build up, build up your tolerance of this movement good. If it’s really tight, it’s, going to feel much more challenging.
So maybe you come back to it in a few days and you try it again and then a few days later you try it again. So you might need to come back to it, but if you’re still with me, we ‘ Ve got a few more up and down just like that, breathe through it, one more like that up and down, and then you can come off there all right from here.
We are now going to release through our inner thighs. So adductor muscles run up the inside of the thigh. I’m, going to show you how to do this, so we’re, going to come back down onto our elbows, but the roll is going to come next.
You like that. Let’s start with it on the left side and then take your left leg. You’re, going to bend it up onto the roller like so so it’s, sort of pressing into the inside of the thigh. Just above the knee elbows come down and we’re going to roll in towards it, and we’re going to roll back out so rolling our inner thighs, our adductor muscles.
Oh, this one can get really tight, always just naturally, but maybe if you’ve been doing a bit of inner thigh, strengthening work, maybe even tighter good, but really important muscle to release because it attaches right up into your pubic bone.
So it affects the way that our pelvis is aligned and also attaches down into the side of the knee joint. So it also affects the way that our knee joint is aligned whew and if you find a good spot, i want you to hold it there and just do a little movement forward and back just for five for four for three four two and one come off There and we’ll, just roll it straight over to the other side.
Right leg comes on, elbows come down and we’re just going to go all the way up into the inner edge of that hip. The inside of the groin and then down towards the inside of the knee good up and down your legs are going to feel amazing after this that’s, it and then again just noticing how it feels notice.
If there’s, one spot one part of the muscle that feels really tight and if you find a spot like that, just hold it and just do a little movement forward and back really releasing into that part of the muscle for five.
Four. Three four two and one, and then you can come up there and we’re gonna come into a seated position and we’re. Actually gonna take a seat on the roller we ‘ Ve worked. We’ve, released through the front and the inside of the hip, and now we’re going to release through the back our glute muscles.
So you’re, going to bring it behind you and you’re. Literally, just going to take a seat like that, like it’s, a little chair and you’re, going to take your hands behind you, we’ll, start again. Let’s start on the right side.
Let’s, sit this roller more on the right, hip, so sort of turn your body a little. So you ‘ Ve got more weight on that right side and then you’re just going to roll up and down through the back of the hip like so now this one i really like sort of like a gentle massage, where the other ones are a bit More intense, but if you want to make this more intense, if you feel like you need a bit more, what you can do is take your right, ankle cross it over your left.
Thigh, like that, so the muscle is on a bit of a stretch and then you can roll it out like that up and down. So you’re sort of rolling right to the top of the hip. Think about like the top of your butt.
All the way down to the bottom, that’s, it you can shift the weight a little bit more to the outer edge. So you’re rolling a little bit more through the outside of the hip. You can come a little bit more into the center just sort of explore it a little bit there’s, no real wrong way to do this part, so just explore what feels good for you if you find a spot that feels like it needs A little more love just slow down a little more rock back and forth on that spot and breathe and breathe great.
We’ll, do one more little forward and back motion and then we ‘ Ll switch it to the other side. So we’re more on that left side of the hip shift the weight a little bit more onto that left side and we just roll up and down.
This is a great way to release through your glutes. Also really great. If you’ve ever experienced low back pain or any sort of sciatic nerve pain, this is a great way to release any tightness through that part of your body around the back of the hip.
The sciatic nerve actually runs through the back of the hip through these muscles good. That might be enough for you just like that, or maybe you take that left ankle cross it over like so putting it on a bit of a stretch, and then we rock up and down from there good, really exploring it.
This is all about tuning in to how it feels on your body noticing, if you need to slow down a little bit, go a little quicker noticing. If you need to focus in on one area of the muscle that’s, it go a little bit longer.
We’ve got a few more like that good once more up and down, and then you can uncross that leg and come off the roller all right. We’re, going to move up the body into our upper back. This is great for releasing tension.
Postural tension from all the sitting. Computer work desk work that we do so we’re, going to take the roller now into your upper back, so you’re, going to roll it up like that sort of at the bottom of your rib cage like so feet are Going to be flat about hip width, distance, walk them away from you.
A little bit. Take your hands behind your head. So we’re supporting the neck. We’re, going to press through the feet and lift the hips into a little bridge, good elbows, nice and wide, and we’re going to roll that foam roller up towards the top of the shoulder blade.
And then we’re, going to roll it down slowly to the bottom of the ribcage. So we’re only working in our upper back. It’s called our thoracic spine. That part of the back that part of the spine is where our ribcage attaches and go nice and slow.
So you’re feeling the roller glide over each of those little bones our vertebrae in our spine, good noticing, if some parts feel really stiff or if the whole thing feels really good and just being mindful of that sensation in your own body.
Good and then see if you can find one spot that feels maybe a little bit stiffer than the rest and then hold it. There set your hips down butt’s, going to stay down, find a little bit of a flattening of the low back and think about extending relaxing the upper back up and over the foam roller on that spot.
Let the elbows open wide! So you feel that broad opening, through the front of the chest and the shoulders holding it there, take a big breath in and out lifting the head and the chest up and then lift your hips give your upper back another little roll up and down.
But this time hug your elbows in around your ears, so we’re, creating a little bit more space, a little bit more space for the roller to glide over the muscles in the upper back again noticing how that feels.
Finding one spot that feels like it needs a little bit more love drop the hips down abdominals draw in slightly elbows open wide and extend back over the roller holding it there. In that stretch, let those elbows open wide, maybe even close your eyes.
We’re, going to take three deep, breaths here, big breath in through your nose and out through your mouth and again deep breath in and out one more like that big breath in and out lifting yourself. All the way up, beautiful all right from here, we’re, going to release it into the back of the shoulders and our lat muscles.
So you’re, going to roll yourself more onto your side. Now, like so, and you’re, going to nestle the roller like sort of between your armpit and your shoulder blade like that, so you’re, going to stack your knees like so bend them in.
Take your hands behind your head and you’re riding that sort of little curve at the back of your armpit. Really it’s where your lat muscles are, and then from here you’re gonna roll, your body a little forward, and then you’re gonna take this top elbow and you’re gonna Roll it back, so you’re gonna point.
The elbow forward rolling the upper body forward and then you’re, going to rock it back and what you’re doing here is gliding over this band of muscle through the back of the shoulder that’s. It another group of muscles that get quite tight if we spend a lot of time looking at our laptop or our phones good.
I know i’m – definitely guilty of that, but i can feel it good. Keep it going back and forth. Try and relax the muscles around your face as you do this and breathe and breathe, go forward and back one more time and then just find a spot again wherever it feels the most tight and hold it there and just do a tiny little movement forward and Back just for four and three and two just one more like that good and then we’re going to come and do it the other side.
So you can spin yourself around or flip around. I’m, going to do a full spin and come on down onto the other side, so we nestle that foam roller underneath the arm hands come behind the head knees in front of you.
We roll that elbow forward and we rock it back good forward and back feeling that release through those muscles. Underneath the shoulder feels good. It’s, intense right, but it’s, good intense, i think so anyway, forward and back noticing how this side feels compared to the other side that’s, it keep it going great.
This is a great one to do. If you have a long work day, doing this at the end of the day feels so good and then, as you do, the next one find a spot that feels like it needs a little bit more love holding it there and just move small movements forward and Back forward, and back just for four and three and two last one like that, and then you can come all the way up.
Thank you so much for moving with me. I hope that your bodies feel open and lengthened and stretched out don’t. Forget to subscribe to well and good my name’s Chloe, and i will see you soon. Bye,