IT band

by Luke
(Chicago)

What is the best way to deal with IT band injuries / soreness ?

"I noticed in another section you discussed a few injuries and ways to help but I didn't see anything regarding the very common soreness in the IT band. Do you recomend anything to alleviate these issues?

If I have some soreness in the shins and slight IT band friction syndrome on one leg, should I back off on mileage or try other things? Can I replace running with using the bike for a week and then do very light runs? I noticed you mentioned to one runner not to stretch hamstrings.

I just started a hip strengthening and IT band strentching program. I would love to hear your thoughts.

thank you,Luke"

Answer: Hi Luke and thank you for the question.

My # 1 recommendation is to use cross friction massage in order to deal with this. In the 100 day marathon plan, you can see how I illustrate in one of the videos massage of the vastus lateralis muscle. Now, this technique will also deal with the IT band/tensor fascia lata muscle that is located right next to this muscle - if you do it all the way from the knee up to the hips. Do this almost every day, 15-20 minutes at a time.

In addition to this, you may want to do cold baths after your runs. These two things are the best way to deal with it.

Structuring the training well is also important and run really, really easy on the easy days ! Also, remember the SS* after your runs. You can also try the bike for 7-10 days BUT in this period, run easy every other day : so you do the hard workouts on the bike, but the easy days running to keep the running going abit.

In terms of the stretching, you may try this but I'm not a big fan of stretching (and most studies support my view on this) Some do have benefits though, but almost 100 % will have benefits from the cross friction massage.

When it comes to mileage, in general try and cut some of the harder runs down a bit while keeping the easy mileage for a period. In addition to this, try and go a bit more progressive on the hard workouts - meaning you start off a bit easier and work your way up in pace each interval for interval. That way you'll use all your motoric units and it will help the muscular tension in your quads.

I wish you all the best with your training.

Kind regards,
Marius

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