Posts Tagged with: "Foam roller"

I’m quite picky when it comes to my running gear.  It’s either I love the product, use it, and tell every running soul about it, or it gets stuck in a storage bin to never see the light of day.  This new piece of equipment, sent to me by Chris Sports, has found its rightful place in my bedroom, right beside another one of my faves, the foam roller and I was compelled to tell you about it, especially you ITBS sufferers!

WHAT IS IT?

Tiger Tail is a rolling muscle massager, a hand-held foam roller if you will.  In it’s brochure, they say the Tiger Tail will “turn sore muscles into happy muscles by helping relieve muscle knots, aches, cramping, spasms, and stiffness.”

I’ll be the first to admit that I knew of a similar and more popular product called The Stick.  In fact, I was pining for one for the longest time, especially after seeing people use it along the course of NYC Marathon, but never got around to actually purchasing one.  In New York, since my ITBS had acted up on race day, right after the race, I asked relatives for a rolling pin instead and used this daily to release the tight muscles.

Tiger Tail works the same way but—take it from me—it’s much more comfortable than a wooden rolling pin.  Using the Tiger Tail, you just apply pressure with both hands and roll gently over tight areas.  You should feel slight discomfort and occasional bumps which are those tiny muscle knots that you have to release. I personally try not to release this all in one rolling, especially if I know I’m going to run the following day.  I just make sure to massage daily as maintenance for my leg muscles.

Tiger Tail can be used, not just for the ITB, but for all the other tight muscles in a runner’s body, such as calves, hamstrings, glutes, quads, and feet.  Of course, you can use it for other tight areas such as the back, shoulders, arms and neck.

Click HERE to download the PDF brochure

TBR REVIEW

The past few weeks, I’ve been focused on training for Run United 21k on March 6.  So, I’ve had a lot of speedwork at the track, tempo runs at BGC, and long runs on weekends.  This automatically leads to a tight ITB for me, which if not managed well, will eventually lead to my left knee going sore.

It’s been a habit for me to foam roll almost everyday, especially after a workout.  But, now that I’ve got the Tiger Tail I use it instead on my ITB, quads, hamstrings, and VMO (inner thighs).  I’m almost embarrassed to admit that it really does lead to “happy muscles”!   As a side note, my foam roller has found a new role as my platform when I do my crunches.  Resourceful eh?!

PROS
– super useful
– smooth rolling, consistent pressure all throughout
– easy to use, no need to roll on the floor
– portable (it fits in my gym bag)
– washable
– value for money (equivalent to 1 deep tissue massage)

CONS
– none

WHERE TO BUY

Tiger Tail is available at all Chris Sports Outlets. Click HERE to view website.

HOW MUCH

18 inches: Php 1,089
22 inches: Php 1,289

To TBR Dream Marathoners, we asked Chris Sports to provide us with Tiger Tail for our race.  So we’ll have Tiger Tail in medical aid stations along the course!  Wooohooo!  Thanks to Chris Sports!

After our TRX Suspension Trainer Seminar, Coach Jim Saret arrived to discuss a product that I believe all runners should have: the foam roller.

The foam roller is a product that I searched far and wide for during my ITBS days earlier this year.  I had done extensive research on stretching and loosening up my tight ITB muscles and I learned that the foam roller could be a good ally in the battle against ITBS.  Unfortunately, to my knowledge, it wasn’t available locally.  

I did the next best thing. I wore my Martha Stewart hat and proceeded to create my very own foam roller.  I bought a PVC pipe at the local hardware store, cut up my old yoga mat, wrapped it around the pipe twice, and voila, I had a foam roller that was a quarter of the cost of the original!  I foam rolled on my ITB thrice a day.  A couple of days later, when I paid a visit to my doctor, he looked at my black-and-blued thigh in horror and said “What have you been doing?!”  I replied proudly, “foam rolling!”  He advised me to stop it unless I got a real foam roller, which was probably 10x softer.  So much for resourcefulness!

So, here I was in the gym.  This time, with the real foam roller in my hands (yes, it was a lot softer than my PVC pipe or a rolling pin…duh!) and, even better, one of the most sought after coaches was right before me to teach me how to use it!

It’s very simple, really. Here are tips from Coach Jim on how to use the foam roller effectively:

1. Place hot compress on the area or warm up with jumping jacks or easy run.
2. Foam roll on the area:

ITB: lie sideways and slowly move up and down the upper thigh (Click here to view the You Tube video I followed during my ITBS days. A quick search in youtube will provide you with enough demos to guide you on proper use)

– Hec demos foam rolling on ITB. Tongue exercise need not be followed. For progression, you could lift both legs off the floor –

CALVES: sit up with legs outstretched and foam roller under the calves. Variations: foot outward, inward, straight

– Mitch Felipe rolls on her calves, muscles that get extremely tight for runners –

QUADS: face downward and place foam roller under the quads

– Coach Jim rolls on his quads –

3. The slower the movement, the better.
4. Run.
* You can also perform the exercises anytime during the day.

PREVIOUS POST: TRX Suspension Trainer Seminar 
NEXT POST: Coach Jim Saret on Core, Stability & Strengthening for Runners (Best brief talk I had ever been to for runners!)

Foam rollers are available at Chris Sports.