How to Stretch for the IT Band

Stretching for the IT Band Post Play/Workout

The soft tissue structure of the ITB has been shown through research not to change in length by even 1% using almost one ton of pressure

I consider the following MET an appropriate procedure to be included within a treatment plan, as I feel that it will assist in some way to alter the “tone” of the TFL muscle, rather than altering the length of the connective tissue component, i.e. the ITB.

It makes a lot more sense to me to use the PIR effect of METs on the TFL muscle, as I personally believe that this technique helps relax the TFL and hopefully will induce some reduction in tone in the ITB.

Below I have outlined my preferred way of treating these structures, rather than spending a great deal of time on deep massage (generally called stripping the ITB), or advocating the use of a foam roller, to help lengthen the ITB.

Techniques of this type (foam roller in particular) may not actually be doing what they have supposedly been designed for in the past, because the soft tissue structure of the ITB has been shown through research not to change in length by even 1% using almost one ton of pressure.

Foam Rolling can be extremely useful ... but not always!

Let me give you an example to illustrate the above. When the weather is particularly warm at my clinic in Oxford, and especially when I am lecturing, I tend to look out of the window and across the running track to a small area of grass.

Almost every day (only when the weather is good), I see a young man spending anywhere between two and three hours rolling his legs using a foam roller.

He has been given the nickname “Roller Dave” for obvious reasons, and I have even questioned him on why he does this to his legs.

He simply tells me that his therapist recommends doing this every day to release his ITBs ... I will leave that thought process with you! 

Muscle Energy Techniques - Learn More

MET Treatment Protocol