Release tension and improve flexibility in under 2 minutes? Just step on my balls...

The first thing I do in any session with a brand new client is to introduce them to my balls… its not what many are expecting when they sign up for a personal training session but its an unexpected way to break the ice! It always surprises the client with how quickly they can loosen up in only 2 minutes with such a small everyday tool. The process is simple, I ask the client take off their shoes and bend over to try to touch their toes in order to get an idea of their flexibility. I ask them to take note of how far they can stretch. That’s when I reach in my pocket and whip out a pair…

…of golf balls.

This cheap and easily portable tool is a must have in my gym bag that I use to warm up before every session, so now that I've got all of my puns out of the way, lets get to the technique, which is called a Plantar Fascia Mobilisation Drill. We each take one and place it on the floor and the spend the next 2 minutes having a chat while placing the arch of the foot on top of the ball and rolling it around to find any points of tension. The idea is to try to massage out these tight parts using the hard surface of the ball. Pretty simple, eh? After 1 minute on each foot we go back to the “bend over and touch your toes” test and there is always a noticeable improvement in how far someone can reach.