It was Taco Tuesday at Coyote's, our favorite Mexican restaurant here in Shenzhen, so we walked to dinner. My legs and feet were a little achey after we returned, probably from those 5 miles on the treadmill.
I grabbed some lotion and gave myself a self-massage. For someone who foam rolls (almost) every damn day, how do I end up with a knot that feels like the size of a golf ball? Well, for starters that inner part of my quad is seriously tender. I might not spend enough time there since it makes me want to cry.
If I were back home, I would call Dr. Brian for a little Active Release Therapy or Graston to release that bugger. Instead I turned to Dr. Google.
Here's what I found:
1. That muscle is called Vastus Medialis.
2. It's not a knot (haha). There is a trigger point RIGHT there.
3. Catching yourself mid-slip/fall can overload the quad (as a whole) and activate the trigger point. That may be what happened to me. I slipped and fell on a run a couple of weeks ago.
4. Running is a common cause for overloading this muscle too.
5. Treating trigger points can be done at home (yay!) by locating the spot and then applying pressure for 10-60 seconds.
In my research I also read that an active VM trigger point could cause knee pain. Hmmm. After a few minutes of self massage last night, my cranky knee is feeling better.
Crossing my fingers that this is the cause and I can go back to swimming laps.
Today's workout:
Strength training: in the apartment. stability ball workout, ninja ab workout, and this PopSugar plank workout that showed up in my inbox this morning. Note: I modified the circuit to 10 reps. Repeat 2x.
Cross training: a little bike ride around the 'hood and an evening walk with mrC.
Tomorrow the weather is looking questionable: 80% chance of rain/thunderstorms. I'm either going on another sight-seeing trip with friends or biking it to the fitness center for another treadmill workout.
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