Happy Tone It Up Tuesday.
It's Karena and Katrina form toneitup.com, and we're on Livestrong Woman.
Many of you have been asking us: What do we do post-run or post-workout to stretch?
So there's a few moves that we never go without.
Alright, the first thing that we're gonna do is myofascial release.
So were gonna grab a foam roller.
Foam rollers, you can now find in most gyms, PT offices, online.
They're cheap -- it's just a piece of foam.
If you have a rolling pin at home, you can do a lot of these moves.
Alright, now the first thing that we're gonna roll-out is our quads.
Alright, so you're gonna lay down, almost in a plank position, on your forearms.
On your forearms.
And roll all the way up to your hip flexors, and then back.
Good.
Keeping your abs tight.
Good.
Now you're just rolling over that belly of the muscle.
And myofascial release is just breaking up that lactic acid that you, you know, did during
your workout.
Your legs are on fire from your run or your squats or anything like that.
And it really loosens up the muscle.
Great job.
You might be sore.
I can tell Karena is going a little slow -- she's been working out pretty intensely lately.
When I have a little spot that's really tender, I like to hold it there too just a few extra
seconds.
Yeah.
Just breathe into it.
You know how you go to the deep tissue masseuse, and they just kinda like dig right where you're
tender?
That's what this if for.
Now, we love going to the masseuse.
And we go, you know, once every two weeks -- we try to go to one of our friends that's
a deep tissue masseuse.
And in between, she tells us to do this.
She said: Please, you'll make my job so much easier if you can do the foam roller.
Alright, now we're going to flip over onto our side and roll-out the IT band.
Now this is a little tricky -- you're gonna bend that top leg and roll from the top of
your IT band, all the way down to your knee.
Now the IT band runs along the side of your thigh.
Now if you have a little bit of knee pain, sometimes it's your IT band pulling on those
ligaments and the tendons in your knee.
So you definitely wanna roll this out every single time you work out.
Any intense class, even yoga or anything like that, can get the IT Band tight.
Great, so you wanna loosen it up.
This is definitely, definitely my favorite move on the foam roller here.
And if you hold it right up here, you may feel that little bit of pinching or tenderness
-- just let that lactic acid go.
Good.
And remember to breathe.
And another great thing that you can do with the foam roller is that you can actually do
the foam roller before you do a workout too, and that way you kinda warm-up the muscles.
Great.
Now we're gonna flip over onto our hamstrings.
Alright, so the hamstrings are the backs of the thighs, and these can get really tight,
and they're super neglected.
So you wanna rollover the belly of the muscle, all the way up to the buns, and then all the
way behind the knees.
There you go.
And this is also a triceps workout, as you rock back and forth.
Good.
I can tell you've been doing lots of squats and lunges.
Strong legs.
Good.
Keep going, nice and tall.
Karena's like inching forward on this.
We also have a full foam roller routine that's on our toneitup.com, that you can follow along.
These are great tips to take with you.
We'll also make a printable for this workout at the link below.
And from the hamstrings, we like to go to the calves.
Good.
Our calves get so tight with doing stairs, sprints -- even swimming, my calves get really
tight.
Now when you roll, you can actually stack your legs, even with the hamstring one too,
to make it more intense.
And that's what Karena wants.
That's what I usually do -- I like to make it hurt.
Good.
Now the top of the calf is the gastroc, so it's a bigger calf muscle.
So you wanna make sure you roll both sides of it.
You can roll almost side to side and rotate your foot.
And the soleus is the bottom of the calf muscle -- it's totally separate, but that's what
can really pull on a lot of the, like, the achilles down there.
So you want that to be flexible and rolled out.
And now, for my favorite body part to foam roll: The booty.
Oh yeah.
So with the booty, it's up to you how much pressure you wanna put down on the foam roller.
But your piriformis, which is almost like on the inside of your booty, gets really,
really tight.
Good.
Especially runners, athletes, mom's too.
Good.
So whenever you find that piriformis -- bend that right knee real quick for me Karena,
right there -- now find that tender spot, yeah, and hold it.
Make sure you breathe.
And after foam rolling, make sure you have a glass of water too -- because, you know,
this is also dehydrating.
Good.
Alright, and of course, you wanna do the other side.
And now we're gonna go through some of our favorite running stretches that we never go
without.
Alright, toss that aside.
Alright, you're gonna start on your knees, and then you're just gonna step forward with
one of your legs and do a Runner's Lunge.
Good.
Now Karena's gonna -- she's actually gonna have her back knee lifted up.
You can put it down if it's too intense.
Good.
And to just get more of a deep stretch into that right hip flexor, I just want you to
lift your right arm in the air and lean back.
Yes.
Good.
If you wanna get more of a shin stretch too, you can flatten that foot in the back.
Good.
Now to stretch out that quad, I want you to reach behind and grab that foot.
If it's difficult -- I know it can be tight.
We are tight today.
Somebody is really tight.
Usually, she can do this -- especially in yoga.
I'm always like: Ah, you're so much more flexible than me.
I have to hold a towel or a t-shirt around my toe and pull on that towel or t-shirt.
So it's just one of those things that I'm a little less flexible.
I've always been working on it.
You can get really crazy -- come down on your forearm too.
That will not happen for me.
You kinda look like a pretzel.
I am.
Let us know if you can do this.
And you can also stretch out your quads standing up in the same position with your legs straight.
Alright, and now you're gonna slowly release and come up and stretch those hamstrings.
Good.
And if you wanna stretch out the calves too, you can pull on that toe.
Great.
Now, we hold stretches for at least 20 to 30 seconds.
I know it's a lot just to sit there, but play some good tunes, a Pandora station.
What's your favorite Pandora station right now?
Angus and Julia Stone.
We'll put in the info details: It's awesome.
She's been playing it lately, and I have still have forgotten to add that station.
How do you feel?
Good.
Are you gonna do the other side now?
Alright, we'll see you next Tone It Up Tuesday.
Thank you so much.
Leave a comment below with what you guys wanna see next, and we will provide it for you.
Love you guys, bye.