2015 NPAA Magazine 2015 volume 1 | Page 58

Travel roller workout Top 3: Travel Roller® Exercises for a Healthy Back Your spine is like a Tree. The Integrity of the Tree is only as strong and balanced as the roots and branches. To have a strong Tree Trunk that can weather the storms of life stress and training we must have the proper balance of stability and mobility. Using Try these Top 3 Travel Roller® Exercises for a Healthy Back Start with the Roots, the FEET. Rolling your feet with Acupressure Balls is the first place to affect the superficial back line where a lot of tension is stored. Using the Travel Roller Acupressure Kit Balls start with the yellow softest ball and progress to the medium orange ball and then hardest red ball on the feet. Work through the arch of the foot, the heel and the toes. Create good compression and stretch on the toes and plantar flexion with some shin angle changes for 1-2 mins per foot. This can be done pre and post training anytime. By using this SMR technique we are effectively lengthening the “superficial back line” that runs up through the feet, calves, hamstrings and erector spine muscles and the back of the neck and head, according to Thomas Myers - Anatomy Trains. Try a bent over hamstring test to see how tight your back line is. Notice the effect that simply rolling the feet has on your body and back. the Travel Roller® 4.3 we can effectively balance out tight over loaded areas of the body and relieve back pain with daily self-myofascial release (SMR) techniques. We tend to think that if our back is in pain or hurts then that is the part that needs fixing. Rolling our back always feels good but might be a short-term fix to a chronic overload pattern in our body. 57. Secondly, how much of your day is spent in a sitting or bent over position. If your tree is constantly hunched over not having straight up posture then it’s going to become imbalanced. Tightness is most dominant in the Hip Flexors, which influences the position of the hip, which results in lordosis and potential imbalance in the low back. Specifically the Rectis Femoris and the Psoas as predominant hip flexors are the focus of SMR care for a healthy back. Focusing your intension on unwinding the hip flexor and psoas as well as recruiting the pelvic floor, core and glutes are essential to create a long term consistent healthy back that can take the overload of life. By rolling out and unlocking the hip flexor we are affecting the superficial front line critical for anyone wanting a healthy back!