3 essential relaxation tools for running without injury, which one is your favorite?

Stretching is a very important part of running. Many runners are often dismissive of stretching, thinking that as long as they finish running, they will complete the task, and they will not stretch at all or carelessly. It is important to know that if you do not stretch for a long time, the elasticity of the muscles will decrease and become stiff, which will lead to easy injury during running and slow recovery from fatigue.

Why do you stretch after a run?

There are two main purposes, one is to restore the muscle to its original length. When running, the muscles are constantly contracting and stretching. After the exercise, the muscles will shorten and become stiff due to fatigue. At this time, by stretching, the muscle fibers can be restored to their original lengths and the muscles can be relaxed.

The second purpose is to improve the elasticity and stretchability of the muscles. By lengthening the muscles during stretching, the elasticity and extensibility of the muscles can be improved. During exercise, the muscles can be pulled the shortest and pulled down the longest, and the exercise efficiency of the muscles can be improved.

However, there is no way to completely relax our muscles by stretching alone.

Because after exercising, in addition to shortening the muscle fibers, their order will also be disrupted, just like the messy hair when you just woke up in the morning. At this time, it is useless to lengthen your hair. If you want to keep your hair neat , it must be combed with a comb.

In addition, there are fascia inside and outside the muscle. People who cook often should know that there will be a white membrane on the meat, that is the fascia. The fascia not only wraps the muscles, it also separates the muscles, allowing them to work independently without affecting each other.

However, after a long period of exercise, the fascia will become tense, so that the contraction and extension of the muscles will be limited, reducing the economy of the exercise. In addition, the fascia will become entangled with the muscle fibers, resulting in "trigger points", which are knots. At this time, if you press it with your hand, you will find that it is particularly painful.

In these cases, stretching alone cannot solve it. At this time, some external equipment is needed to assist.

Generally speaking, to relax muscles, we will choose these 3 artifacts, fascia ball, foam roller and fascia gun.

Fascia ball, also known as massage ball, is a kind of small ball that massages muscles, some have contacts, some have no contacts. It can effectively relax the fascia, relieve muscle tension, reduce body tension, and improve body balance.

The fascia ball generally relies on its own body weight to exert pressure, and press it wherever it feels sour. When using the fascia ball, roll and knead for about 30-40 seconds in the position where the muscles are tense, and roll 3-4 sets. When rolling, if you roll to the trigger point, everyone who rolls over should know the sour feeling. But after using the fascia ball massage, the body is really comfortable.

However, the size of the fascia ball is small, and it is not particularly useful for some large muscle groups. However, massaging on some small muscle groups or at certain points does work well. Especially for people with plantar fasciitis, who often step on the fascia ball with their feet, the recovery effect is considerable.

I believe that many runners have a foam roller at home. This is definitely an artifact to relax muscles, and it is of high quality and low price.

Every time I run and stretch, I use the foam roller to roll again. It's really comfortable! After each roll, the muscle soreness basically disappeared.

Foam rollers are used by runners to apply pressure through their own body weight, which can speed up local blood return and eliminate the discharge of metabolites, thereby achieving a relaxing effect.

There are two ways to use foam rollers.

The first is to put the muscle to be relaxed on the foam roller, and then roll it. When rolling to the painful spot, stay for about 30 seconds, wait until the pain has decreased a little, and then move to other painful places. The position can be rolled for about 5 minutes, which can relax the muscles very well.

The second is to use your own weight to roll on the foam roller, rolling the muscle part you want to relax about 20-30 times, which can effectively loosen the fascia.

There is another type of foam roller, which is a rolling foam roller that can clamp the calf. Its operation is much simpler and more convenient than ordinary foam rollers. It does not need to rely on its own weight, but only needs to relax the thighs, calves, arms or cervical spine. Clamp, and then roll up and down to achieve the effect of relaxing the muscles.

After I usually run, I especially like to use this foam roller to relax, the effect is very good, and the operation is simple.

However, foam rollers have two drawbacks. One is that they are not very effective in relaxing some small places, such as the soles of the feet. In addition, the use of foam rollers requires a venue and can generally only be done at home.

Using the foam roller and the fascia ball together can relax the muscles of the body in all directions.

Fascia guns have only become popular in recent years, especially in the gym, where people can be seen using fascia guns to relax themselves. In the NBA, once a player is off the court, he will immediately pick up the fascia gun to relax himself.

So what is the principle of the fascia gun to relax the muscles?

The fascia gun reaches the deep layer of the muscle through high-frequency and deep vibration, and the impact loosens the adhesion between the muscle and the fascia, thereby achieving the effect of relaxing and massaging the muscles, relieving soreness and promoting blood circulation.

In addition to sports, back pain, shoulder and neck pain caused by prolonged sitting, the fascia gun can also come in handy at this time. It can be said to be a powerful tool to relax muscles at work and running.

Generally speaking, the fascia gun will be equipped with several different massage heads for different muscle groups. For example, the spherical head is more suitable for large muscle groups, while the bullet head is more suitable for relaxing the soles of the feet and palms. It can be said that a fascia gun can relax the muscles of the whole body, and the operation is simple.

Although the fascia gun has a good relaxation effect and is easy to operate, the price will be much higher than that of the fascia ball and foam roller.

These three muscle relaxation artifacts have their own advantages and disadvantages, but they are undoubtedly the best auxiliary equipment to relax muscles. Which one do you usually choose when relaxing your muscles?