A Therapeutic Use For Hippity Hops
A while back, I went to see my bodyworker Heather; my left knee had been bothering me for several weeks. I hadn’t tweaked it doing anything specific but I was pretty sure it was a running related injury.
Heather and I talked about my knee. She said it sounded like my IT bands were tight and my inner thigh muscles not as strong, thus pulling my knee out of alignment. She said she would do some work on it, and also recommended I use a small physio ball and do inner thigh squeezes a la Thighmaster to balance out the muscles. She proceeded to give me an incredible massage, including gentle work around the knees. Afterwards, she said that the IT band of the side I was experiencing trouble with was indeed really tight and that I needed to stretch, stretch, stretch and work on my inner thigh squeezes.
When I got home, I couldn’t find my physio ball. And as I was rooting around the basement I found what ended up being the next best thing: Laurel’s hippity hop type ball. Perfect size. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. I diligently started exhausting my inner thighs while watching TV, playing on the floor with Violet, etc.
Woo hoo — my knee is totally better! And I love the irony of having fixed it using a children’s toy.
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I love it!
I used to have lots of IT band trouble and the massages were brutal to keep it in check.
I had some seriously painful IT band issues last fall when I was training for my first half! I ended up wearing a patella strap to grit my way through it, but those massage are BRUTAL! And I also foam roll like it’s my job now. My foam roller and I have a love/hate relationship, but it really truly works.
I hadn’t heard this one, I’ll have to try it out. My opposite knee is now a little tweaked a little and I’m pretty sure it’s my other IT band.
Ooo, this is good to know. I know I’m not working my IT bands enough and good to know inner thighs are what to work. I need to find me a hippity hop ball!!