Favorite foot massage routines (rated PG)

Now I'm increasing my mileage (albeit measured over here in km, but kilometerage as a word sucks...), my feet, calves etc are getting quite tense.

I know I should be massaging them more than I am, and then I realised that I really don't know much about how best to massage for sports purposes.

So I was wondering what you all do. From the toes up or from calf down? Acupressure/shiatsu style or soft stroke?

All tips welcome - but note the film board classification ;-)
 
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I'm not getting your PG13 angle but I do probably more than average amounts of foot self-massage. I go in for the 'what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger' theory. I harden my feet, toughen them up.

I've gone into techniques often enough... Could write a few specifics tomorrow.
 
Once or twice a day I stand on a tennis ball or golf ball and roll my foot around on it...if I i find any sore or tight muscles I'll push on those area's a bit longer. If a really bad spot is there I'll hold in place on that spot for 30 seconds to a minute to try to break up any knot in the muscle. Over time of doing this often its rare for me find any sore spots but early on when I first started barefoot I found lots of tight muscles. Now and then my arch muscles will get cramps after really long runs so use a tennis ball on the arch sides of my feets...I think that maybe related to diet too....maybe some lack of electrolytes.

For the calf and knee area's I massage with a tennis ball...works great and you will find your trouble spots. Mostly even if there is some soreness it doesn't mean anything is really wrong and usually resolve itself after a couple further runs. It takes some time to really get some body awareness on the difference between minor soreness or something worse.
 
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Thanks for those tips, all. Seems like using tennis or golf balls is more popular than hand massage. I'm a bit poor with using those on the top of my feet - need to practise more to stop the ball rolling off in all directions.

(Btw: the rating was a precautionary measure to try to stop the discussion straying into the realms of the naughty (was late here when I posted and was probably overthinking - I wasn't thinking of Oregon especially - just says more about how my mind works :-0 )
 
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all you guys i take offense to that! :mad: i don't say anything dirty. i just point out what others say can be interpreted that way and i make open ended statements that you can take that way. where you mind takes you is your problem, not mine. :cool:

to be serious now. :hilarious: a golf ball, or smaller rubber ball is better. for the top of your feet use your hands, or supported thumbs. a tennis ball isn't very good because they're too squishy and won't work as fast as a harder ball. :p
 
? Use your hand to roll the ball up and down and across the top of the foot. Better than a golf or tennis ball is a dedicated knobby or spiky massage ball.

Thanks, Willie. The question mark must mean "what? Can't you control a ball rolling around your foot?" - the answer is: no, I do that really badly! I'm a right muppet with things like that.
 
all you guys i take offense to that! :mad: i don't say anything dirty. i just point out what others say can be interpreted that way and i make open ended statements that you can take that way. where you mind takes you is your problem, not mine. :cool:

to be serious now. :hilarious: a golf ball, or smaller rubber ball is better. for the top of your feet use your hands, or supported thumbs. a tennis ball isn't very good because they're too squishy and won't work as fast as a harder ball. :p
Thanks for the ideas Mike, even though you've taken offence (which makes me sad, as it wasn't my intention).

What do you mean by "supported thumbs"?
 
that was sarcasm. i used the emoticons to stress it since it really doesn't come across in text.

make a fist and stick your thumb out. the base of your thumb MUST be resting against your index finger. if you do it with you thumb sticking straight out you can dislocate it easily. you will still get a sore thumb but less chance of dislocation or jamming it. you can then use your other thumb to support it and add more pressure.
 
@Migangelo - Thought so, but better safe than sorry. Thanks for reassuring me.

Thanks also for that clarification. Sounds like I should/could apply a lot of pressure (considering the dislocation warning). I'll start easy and see...
 
In the 5 weeks since I've begun to go around pretty much shoeless or in Xeros or in flip-flops, my feet, ankles and calves have been developing an intimate relationship with a golf ball. But now the past couple of mornings, I think I might be discovering my favorite way of myofascial release for the bottom of the foot -- walking down the chip-seal road I live on to a gravel driveway and walking on that some and then back home. When I step back on to the smooth asphalt of the driveway, it feels almost like stepping on soft butter and my feet and calves have a good tingle going to them.

Am I right though? Do we get any myofascial release of the tissue under the foot if we walk on gravel and the rough pavement of chip-seal? I hope so, but even if there is nothing like that, I still like the way it ends up making my feet feel even if gets a bit uncomfortable at times while I walk over it.
 
Oh yeah, I've been attacking the calves and shins with a golf ball daily. I don't know if there's good way to do those areas on a gravel driveway, and it might be a bit odd if you start rolling around on a gravel driveway in some way to apply pressure to the calves and shins. People might think I'm crazy enough if they were to see me walking barefoot on it.

I suppose maybe the feeling I get after walking barefoot on gravel feels especially good right now because of a few factors -- first is that it's something almost entirely new since my feet have been pretty much shod most of the time for 40+ years, second is that it is something that my feet have probably needing anyhow, and third is a bit of ego boost from now being able to do something I would have thought to be impossible just 6 weeks ago.
 
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