The evil blue roller of extreme uncomfortableness

Everybody over 30 who works out in any way will have their own favourite 'alternative' therapist, and mine is the team at Osteoworks in Kangaroo Point. Over the years John White & Rebecca Edwards have used their osteopathy talents to help me cope with backache, neck pain, scoliosis, hip pain, shin splints and even a thoracic hernia. They also have a kick-arse massage therapist on the team - Peta Payne is both an excellent skater and a masseuse who has worked with national and international sporting teams. Kick arse she does - if you request a remedial deep tissue massage she slips a strap of leather between your teeth to stop you chewing the upholstery on her table. And as well as being very good at their jobs they're also all lovely people, which is good because if they weren't so nice you'd probably end up punching them to stop the pain during treatment. So if you're suffering from muscular aches & pains, give them a call and see what they can do and say hello from me*. Unless you're the regular US or Russian reader of this blog, in which case a it's a bit far to go. But please add a comment on how you found me - sadly I suspect they're just web-bots.

Anyway, I visited Bec on Tuesday to get my knee looked at. It turns out it's not particularly my knees fault, more my feet, legs and hips have become a mess of tangled tightened muscle and overstretched tendons, and that's putting unusual loads on my knee. Running will do that to you (I blame Nike). Bec started to loosen everything up using what felt like trigger point therapy, finding knots of twisted muscle fibres and leaning heavily into them with pointy elbows & fingers whilst I stared into middle distance and mentally retired to my 'happy place'. It may not be pleasant at the time but it really makes a difference when it's done.  

She also recommended the use of a foam roller at home to keep everything loosened up.

Blog readers will now be divided into two camps. Some will be looking at the photo wondering what it is, whilst others will be hiding behind the sofa hardly daring to look like a kid watching Dr Who meet the daleks for the first time. The idea is that you lay on this innocuous looking thing and roll your tight muscles back and forth across it. It's not so bad on the front of your legs, but most people who ride, run or walk will have a very tight Iliotibial band (IT band) which is on the side of the thigh. I'm supposed to roll for 60 seconds on each side, but currently I can only manage one full roll before I'm whimpering in a corner & planning to throw the thing over the balcony.

*Note - Bec doesn't agree with barefoot running on tarmac & concrete, so if you do see her keep mum about that bit ;)