How & Why to Massage the I.T. Band (Iliotibial Band)

How & Why to Massage the I.T. Band (Iliotibial Band)

Bob and Brad describe how and why you should massage your IT band or iliotibial band. The Tensor Fascia Lata muscle attaches to the Iliotibial Band and is a good place to start with your message. Bob and Brad demonstrate using a massage gun on these areas.

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[Didgeridoo]

It's crazy to me that I'll have a problem with a muscle group and Bob and Brad will release a video specifically about it that day, it's like some astral projection or something.

[susanherley]

Fabulous! I have this issue and it was an excellent explanation. Keep it up! Tysm

[helenbailey]

I just received the Q2 Mini Massage Gun that I purchased because of the terrible pain I am experiencing with the IT band. I can’t wait to start using it!

[melissameyer]

so glad I found this particular video, this is exactly the problem I have right now. The diagram showing the location and where they attach is great.

[ruthk]

Haven’t slept well in a month-and-half😭
Pain running from upper back to head, resulting in throbbing headache. Restricted neck movement (can’t turn to check to reverse the car). Was gonna go to a chiropractor but I’d rather learn from Bob and Brad especially if it’s lifestyle changes that are needed....far better than a chiropractor’s quick fixes without resolving the root cause. Thanks Bob and Brad!❤️

[originaljoshuabryant]

Thanks for the content. You guys are the BEST!

[QuangNguyen-xcfp]

Thank you Bob and Brad for the interesting video. Could you please make a video to show how can we place electrodes to treat ITBand with TENS.

[Su-ksqb]

Anytime I’ve had treatment to my IT band for knots, my knees end up feeling unstable almost like I’m going to bend my knee in the opposite direction so I’m scared of Physio now. Looking for an alternative to trigger point release with Physiotherapist using elbows bc I think it’s too aggressive for me. Is percussion gun a better option?

[cosmicrancher]

Reminds me of the " car guys" from NPR.

[joyceshaw]

You two are really producting several videos a day. Love you guys!

[marjoriewalker]

I tend to massage each side of the IT band and the TFL - surely the IT band itself is like steel and not malleable ? No ?

[kellilewis]

What are the it band stretches your friend did to help him get back to running ?

[Ashutosh]

I fell off from top of a slide in a park in 1999 when I was 12 years old. It caused my hamstring muscles to tighten up. Now, I am 34 and a year back I started feel extreme pain on outer side of both knees especially when I run or desend down on stairs. Is it because of ITBS? I'd yes, What excercises would you recommend?

[Chief_Eagle_Dropping]

Sorry, wrong video. I was looking for the most famous physical therapists on the internet. Will keep







Thanks for all of the info, I think that its helping my sciatica?? Always hurts so who

[afterthesmash]

Massage done right is a lot like martial arts. The goal is to apply force through your own body without causing stress in your own tissues while you do it.

I have little trouble massaging the upper 2/3 of my IT band using the smallest two or three knuckles of my fist (fingers curled, palm facing up) or even the outside of a stiff hand. These knuckles and surfaces are a bit blunt, so you need to apply a lot of force through the wrist. If you constantly adjust the knuckle surface, and the two angles of the wrist, you can apply force through the wrist with very little strain. You do have to find a different set of parameters for every different spot on the IT band to keep the wrist neutral. It's quite a bit of mental work.

Additionally you have to supply a large, constant force from the back of your upper arm and around into the scapula. These are collectively a pretty large muscle group and won't fatigue all that fast. You can move the shoulder around while holding a high level of pressure on the IT band, which actually feels pretty good for the shoulder. But at all times you have to keep the forces flowing through your your shoulder, arm, wrist and hand as neutral as possible, so you have to stay alert and sense you body mechanics the entire time.

There are also ways to create different kinds of fists that stiffen the fingers in different ways. If you press all fingertips into the palm, extended as far toward the wrist as possible (also bracing each other laterally) and then compress your straight thumb over top (which sticks way out like Pinocchio's nose), this box-like structure makes an excellent massage mallet. If you get the angles right and you constantly change it up, you probably aren't putting a bad stress on your own upper body while you perform IT-band massage on your own leg.

Once you get down to the knee, the leverage arm becomes ugly and I don't have the Popeye forearms top get much out of this. You can brace your working arm with your free arm, and change the level arms in doing so. Wrapping the fingers of my left arm around the top surface of my right wrist while applying pressure to my IT band near the knee almost achieves a useful effect. This helps to stabilize the wrist as well, because you can push into the supporting fingers, rather than trying to calculate an internal balance point.

It's not easy, but just now I found a set of angles for both hands that really hammers my IT band near the knee without any wrist discomfort. Working near the knee, I find that many angles that would otherwise work produce a strain on the outside of the wrist (pinky side) in the notch where the wrist flexes flexes. That little spot does not soak up much abuse for very long before it really howls. So I gave up, flipped my hand 180° and found a different approach that was less problematic. The bottom 1/3 of the IT band requires fairly advanced arm geometry, so I usually grab an implement for this region instead. (As a Ukrainian refugee, I wouldn't count on _having_ an implement, so it's good to know you've got a self-contained option if can't flex your plastic to buy a massage gun on the run.)

Manual massage done right is about 80% paying attention to you own body mechanics, so that you can provide a solid, precise and stable force while working though the natural tensegrity angles of your biomechanical frame.

If your attempt at manual self-massage is giving yourself RSI at the drop of a pin, you haven't got the first clue how to do this properly, or every judo practitionar who ever living would be crippled after the first week of training.

[lindaocean]

thank you so much for the videos. They have been v helpful for me and I have referred friends and family to your videos. I bought the massage gun and it is a good buy. Your guys success shows that nice guys do well. Thanks again.

[janetrumfeltdavis]

Where can I purchase the small massager and what company makes this?

[ritarevell]

When my R knee replacement was done, the surgeon cut my IT band, which really helped my healing and rehabilitation after the surgery.

[hakunamatata]

Hi Brad and Bob: Here's an idea if you want it. I am a middle aged woman with a history of back pain (but none now for several years). I want to stay fit. Maybe none of that matters for the question, but here goes: If you were to imagine yourselves as architects for a small apartment space to have all the right gear and hooks and whatnot, what qualities and size requirements would that involve; what stuff would you include and how would you set it up? I could buy some IKEA cupboards or something to store the stuff - I would like it tidy and neat and accessible but nothing over the top. What I don't want is for the area to look like I raided the local gym (sorry). I like your way of seeing things and would love it if you considered the idea.

[DrewSorensenMusic]

“Right about where your packet is”
Whoa. This is a family show, Brad.