Rolling IT Bands – You’re Flogging a Dead Horse

Still rolling your IT bands ? , Your therapist persists in sticking their elbows in them ? Yeh it hurts doesn’t it , in-fact it’s Bloody excruciating . So Why ??

Firstly what is it and what does it do?
The ” IT band ” , iliotibila tract to use it’s anatomical description , synergises leg abduction , rotation. and flexion and also stabilises the knee . It is a dense piece of connective sinnuse Spanning the Gluteal maximus tendons and tensor fascia lata ( Your bum and side of your hip ) and going on to connect to the Lateral Condyle of the Tibia (side of your knee). It’s part tendon part fascia , it is RIDICULOUSLY strong .

In-fact it’s that strong a study by ‘chaundry et al’ concluded : A force of over 9000 Newton’s (900kg) is required to produce just a 1% change to it’s structural length .
Putting that into normal perspective , it’s the equivalent to having a Fiat 500 drive up and down the side of your leg .

So next time you look at that Foam roller, or your Sports Massage Therapist starts polishing their elbows. Pause for thought and ask yourself . Is all that pain actually worth it ??? There are other things you can do to help release the structure as a whole , not intrusive and not painful and I will discuss them next time