Foam Rolling Quads with Dr. Justin

All you are going to do to begin is place that foam roller flat on the ground. For this one the placement of the foam roller is going to be really important. You are going to go ahead and lay right on top of it, and be sure to place it right in the center of your thigh. You can use your forearms for support, or even keep your back feet on the ground if you'd like to minimize pressure if it is too much. From here you are just going to try to roll the foam roller all the way to the top of your kneecap, and then roll it all the way up to the top part of your hips. Then you just keep rolling back and forth here, trying to keep that leg straight. If you want more pressure, you could cross your legs to intensify it. For example, if you want to foam roll your right quad more, you can take your left leg and place it on top of your right leg so that only your right leg is now touching the foam roller to add a little bit more pressure, and continue rolling back and forth.

Now if you find a great knot, meaning that you're finding some tenderness or tension as you foam roll that quad, you can isolate a little bit by bending your knee and rolling yourself back and forth on top of the foam roller. So rather than the foam roller rolling over it, you are just rolling your quad over that knot that you found. Once it starts to feel a little less intense on the knot, straighten out that leg again. Most of us are pretty quad dominant from sitting all day long, which can add more pressure into your knees and into your hips while you are weight training, so this is a great area to be foam rolling.

You can also kind of roll inward a little bit to get the inside part of that quad to the knee, and you can turn out a little bit to get more of the quad and IT band area as well. Roll up and down about 5 times, working out any knots along the way. Carry out the same process on your other leg if you crossed them for more intensity to effectively loosen up your quads and help protect your knees during your workout!