I’ve just come back from a week’s hiking in the Alps, in the region around Mont Blanc. The weather was (mainly) very kind and the scenary was beautiful as always.
We’ve done similar trips the last couple of years, where we do about 7-8 hours a day, covering anything up to 20km and 1,500m of height gain. While it’s great to be away from a desk (I feel the difference in my hips and upper back), it’s less good for the state of my plantar fascia and the soft tissue quality of my calves and adductors.
In previous years, I just suffered while I was away and had to work hard on them when I got back. This year, I was determined not to let the week punish me in the same way, so I thought in advance how I was going to manage it. With a little bit of thought, I came up with a travel-sized kit so that I could do some soft tissue work on the move: a baseball and a short length of 2 inch diameter PVC pipe.
Ideally, I think the PVC pipe would be a little bit wider (maybe 3 inches) but it is OK so long as you have a hard floor and not a deep carpet to lie on. The baseball is good as the stitching helps the ball to grip on a harder floor. I have found that a hockey ball or a smooth ball slips too much when I really dig into my rotator cuff.
With the PVC pipe, I can help to undo the damage that I’m doing to my body by hiking by rolling my:
- calves,
- IT band, and
- (if I use a step to hang my foot over) my adductors.
With the baseball, I can continue to work on my rotator cuff, rhomboids and front deltoids (my ongoing issues) but also help aid the recovery from hiking by rolling my:
- glutes, and
- hip flexors.
It’s definitely made a big difference to how I feel now I’ve got back from holiday and I’m hoping that it carries over into my workouts this week.
I write a post every day so don’t forget to subscribe or you’ll miss out
Pingback: Great links for the weekend!