4. Exercises with Foam Roller
4.1 Foam roller for IT band
The IT band is a place where cyclists should take special care, neglected often causes severe pain on the side of the knee. This is a specific region because it has a significant tendency to lose flexibility and trigger points. When rolling, you must position yourself sideways as if you were on a side plank, the leg you are going to massage is straight and placed on a roller. Place the opposite leg in front of you and support your weight on it. Massage the area below the hip plate by going down to the knee with the roller, but not on the knee.
4.2 Foam roller for legs
Another sensitive area is the group of adductor muscles, which, if neglected and shrunk, can affect knee swaying, and the hamstring group (back of the thigh), which tends to shorten and contract. To roll the adductors, position the roller perpendicular to the massaged leg and move it from the hips towards the knee, but without getting on the knee. When you feel a more painful place, stop in it by straightening and bending the leg several times, thanks to which the roller will penetrate your tissues more strongly and will allow you to loosen the trigger points.
To roll the hamstring group sit on the roller and position it below the buttocks, support yourself with your hands behind your back and massage the entire rear part of your thigh without entering the roller under your knee! It is worth to weigh down the opposite foot of the massaged one, in order for the roller to enter the muscles more strongly.
4.3 Foam roller on calves
Calves is an area which, when there is too much muscle tension in it, can lead to contractions, especially in the case of increased activity. In order to relax the calves we massage in a position similar to the hamstring group, but the roller is placed on the crus and massage in the direction of the Achilles tendon. If you come across a painful place, stop for a moment in it and move your foot away from yourself and towards yourself. You can also make circular movements. To increase the load you can use the opposite leg and increase the load on it.
4.4 Foam roller quads
Riding a bike you spend a lot of time in a sitting position, in which there is constant tension in the straight thigh muscle (one of the quads head), and while pedalling most of the work is done by a whole group of quads, if you do not take care of their condition in time, it can lead to their overload and as a result of injury. In order to develop this muscle group well, you place your thigh on a roller, the opposite leg is bent to the side. You massage the entire front thigh along the course of the muscles, i.e. from the hip to the knee – without getting on the knee! When you come across a trigger point, you stop there and stretch your leg for a moment alternately relaxing by bending and straightening the leg in the knee. At first, it will certainly cause you a lot of pain, but you have to withstand it because with time it will get better and better.
Do not be discouraged by the initial considerable pain of these exercises, because only regular use of them will allow you to fully take care of the good condition of your legs, and yet for the cyclist is most important to cover long distances without the occurrence of pain.