TLDR: Foam rolling can help you to improve blood flow and decrease some soreness in your muscles. It won’t fix everything but it is a good addition to your workout and wellness routine to help take care of your muscles.
If you go to the gym, or follow anybody on Instagram that works out or is some type of so-called “fitness influencer”, you are probably familiar with what a foam roller is. Even if you don’t know how to use it or what it does or what to do with it, most people are likely to know what a foam roller is.
Since it has been more and more popular over the years in the fitness world, let’s talk about what it is and why people love it and what the goal of it is. Foam rolling is a type of self-myofascial release.
First, a quick lesson on the fascia! The fascia is connective tissue that surrounds every muscle, bone, organ, nerve, and blood vessel in the body and helps to protect everything and keep it in place. The fascia is supposed to help the muscles to function better, but sometimes we end up with adhesions in the fascia, aka knots or trigger points. These adhesions can cause discomfort in the areas where they are and the surrounding areas as well.
The goal of foam rolling as a self-myofascial release technique is to help to relieve those areas of discomfort. There is mixed research and we are always learning on how exactly foam rolling works, but we know at least part of it is that it can help to increase blood flow, cause muscle relaxation, and improve mobility (at least in the short term) of the areas that you are focusing on. By allowing those things to happen, you can then focus on other techniques of healing and strengthening and mobility that will help you to feel better, and to help to decrease the risk of these areas of adhesions happening again.
If you are going to foam roll, you can foam roll before and after your workouts, though if you are only going to do one, do it after your workout! You want to spend at least 30 seconds-1 minute on the area that you are focused on. You may feel some discomfort as you are doing it because you are putting pressure into areas that have adhesions, but if it is overly painful talk to a healthcare professional and see if it is okay that you are doing that specific area and make sure there isn’t something else that needs to be addressed first. You should never be in excruciating pain, uncomfortable is okay with this, but pain is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong.
There are so many types of foam rollers nowadays too, but just using a basic, smooth, longer foam roller is effective and efficient for most areas. The foam rollers that have “spikes” or “bumps” will help you to pinpoint more specific areas in the area that you are foam rolling, but it also makes it much harder to tolerate and complete because you are focused on such a small area. The basic foam roller allows you to spread that pressure out throughout a bigger area of the muscle and still allows it to be effective, while being more comfortable.
There is SO much to learn and know about foam rolling and self-myofascial release techniques as well. To keep learning about all of this and to ask any questions you may have, email me at livewithoutlimitspt@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at the link below!
Thanks for being here!
Dr. Katie
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