The Canadian high school football season is over and soon it will be all out 2019!
This time range is when we really see if the kids are foam rolling and stretching, taking care of their bodies. One of the problems we have with high impact position such as OL, LB and RB is upper back and trap soreness/stiffness.
The upper back stiffness is an easy problem to solve, lots of foam rolling. For a more aggressive approach I would suggest that you use a piece of PVC pipe or a softball, that will give you that really hard feeling that will allow you to really dig in. One tip, if you aren’t grimacing while rolling you aren’t doing a good enough job. Really get deep, the soreness usually lies deep in the muscles, so don’t be gentle.
The neck and trap stiffness is a little bit of a different issue. This happens very easily for football guys because of the head and neck hits that they take. If you don’t take care of your neck and traps, there is a possibility if getting headaches and being at a higher risk for a concussion. Release your traps can be done a few different ways, I have attached a video that shows a few different ways to make it happen! The two best ways shown in this video is the traction with the bar and the traction with the band. Keeping up with maintenance on your neck and traps is very important because of how vital our head and brain is to our functionality!
To all the football players and coaches out there reading this, we here at SST Burlington wish you all the luck that you need leading up to playoff, GO GET EM!
Oh, and remember to check out our Big Man Camp:
Starts January 28th, 2019 – HERE