What if I told you that you can relieve muscular pain while drastically improving your ability to function, all by just rolling around? Rolling around on a foam roller that is. Self Myofascial Release or 'foam rolling' is a self help technique that helps the following:
- increase joint range of motion
- increase neuromuscular efficiency
- decrease muscle soreness & relieve joint stress
- decrease neuromuscular hypertonicity
- Corrects muscle imbalances
- Maintain normal muscle function and length.
In other words using a foam roller on a daily basis basically improves the overall quality of your muscle tissue.
How does this work?
Foam rolling works very similar to a massage, except by using your own body weight to self massage (roll away) restrictions by breaking up knots and adhesions, that your body develops through exercise, activity, as well as from chronic inactivity and overload patterns such as poor posture from work related tasks (sitting hunched over at your desk all day).
How do you do this? To perform foam rolling you simply position a muscle on the roller and use your own body weight to apply pressure into the roller looking for tender spots. When a tender spot is noted just hold on that spot until the tenderness decreases by at least 50% - 70%. The knots or adhesions (that cause the tenderness) won't just disappear they will travel to different spots of the area you are working on, so be sure to scan the rest of the area you are working on to find where the knots and adhesions moved to. You can perform this on all the muscles of your body with the exception of directly on your neck and lower back.
When Should You Foam Roll?
It is best to Foam roll as part of your warm up (pre-exercise) before any kind of static (reach and hold) or dynamic (active/moving) flexibility work, as well as on your off days to help aid in recovery. You should perform you foam rolling work first because you will be freeing up your muscles allowing for better range of motion during your static or dynamic flexibility work, as well as prepping your body for more intense activity.
So give it a shot. For the next couple of weeks, every time you workout add a quick foam rolling session as part of your general warmup. I promise - you will be surprised at the results.
