The Benefits of Using a Foam Roller Pre/Post Workout

Foam rollers are effective for increasing flexibility, but when are they best utilized? The answer to that question isn’t necessarily limited to when it’s most beneficial to use a foam roller. It’s rather a matter of how. According to National Academy of Sports Medicine CEO and founder Mike Clark (h/t OutsideOnline.com), practically everyone fails to properly utilize foam rollers. Correctly using a foam roller before strenuous exercise can decrease your chances of contracting an injury and improve your workout.

Tension release from problem areas
Your basic instinct to gently roll back-and-forth consistently won’t yield optimal results from using a foam roller. Instead, it’s important to apply pressure on problem areas of your body, such as the hip flexors and glutes. Hip flexor strain is a common outcome of daily physical activity, like sitting upright in a desk chair during an eight-hour workday. It’s also a primary point of concentration for mild lower back pain. You can effectively release the tension in your hip flexors, and other problem areas of the body, by rolling your hips on a foam roller for approximately one to two minutes before a workout.

Optimized range of motion
Stretching is widely conceived as an important element of pre-workout activity, but conventional stretching technique does not directly target muscle receptors and tendons. While it’s entirely possible to warm-up each major muscle group through stretching, using a foam roller can help prepare tendons for strenuous activity and also decrease muscular-tension imbalances. Foam rolling can help increase your body’s overall range of motion and enable you to perform explosive weightlifting exercises with greater authority.

 

Decreased muscular imbalance
Muscular imbalances refer to certain muscle groups within the body being stronger than others. Over time, it’s likely that you’ve noticed peculiar variations in how your body reacts to strenuous exercise. For example, it’s possible you’ve realized your quadriceps are able to handle more weight in the squat rack than your chest can tolerate on the bench press. While this is relatively common among active gym-goers, it could be an outcome of muscular imbalance. Clark emphasizes that foam rollers activate the Golgi tendon organ, which effectively allows conventional stretching to activate muscle receptors. This process helps create balance within the body, thus enabling you to exercise at optimal capacity.

Increased strength and flexibility
According to research published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, a dynamic warm-up model will increase strength in the quadriceps and flexibility in the hamstrings. A conventional warm-up period typically consists of moderate stretching activity and low-intensity exercise. However, combining the use of a foam roller with a regular stretching regimen, and performing five minutes of moderately intense cardiovascular activity, such as spinning, has the potential to enhance your body’s ability to execute strenuous exercises. Although research regarding foam rolling and its correlative effect on exercise remains limited, experts like Clark tout foam rollers ability to stimulate muscle receptors, which aid the process of lengthening muscle fibers.

 

Enhanced effectiveness of stretching
The ultimate benefit of utilizing a foam roller both before and after a workout is that it enhances the effectiveness of conventional stretching methods. Foam rollers apply deep pressure to problem areas, especially those in the pelvic region. This consequently activates muscle receptors, which increases your overall range of motion, decreases muscular imbalance, and helps maximize your strength and flexibility.

John Shea is a team sports fanatic and fitness aficionado. His work has been published across a wide platform of online audiences in the realm of health and fitness. His passion for fitness is exemplified in his writing, as he aims to help readers improve their overall well-being.

Source

Benefits of Foam Rolling: What is it, and How Does it Help?

This past fall, I began attending a yoga class with a friend of mine who happened to be in the middle of getting her personal trainer certification.  As a result, she was often rushing into yoga class after already having worked out earlier in the day.  I was on the phone with her one evening, asking her how she felt, and she said that her legs were really sore.  I figured that meant she would not be in class that night, and understandably so!  When she came strolling in later, looking chipper as ever, I asked her if she was sure she was up for another class.  “Oh totally,” she said, “I foam rolled!”
At that moment, I had never heard of such a thing before.  We went over to her house after class so she could show me what she was talking about, and how on Earth it had helped her.  What she brought out was undoubtedly a foam roll -meaning a roll made of foam.  She then began showing me how she used it on her legs by a combination of balancing on it, and rolling it over her thighs.  She said it really helped take that post-workout soreness away.  I was sold immediately, and told my husband I wanted one for Christmas.  When I opened it that morning, he said “I still don’t know what that is, but I’m glad the sporting goods store had it”.  So was I.

What is Foam Rolling?

The fancy term for the process is “Self-myofascial release”.  Or, in other words, self massage to help with muscle soreness, tightness and overwork.  It has become a more popular trend in recent years.  The reason my husband and I had never heard of it before was because it was mainly reserved for physical therapists, coaches, and professional athletes.  Still, common sense says that if it is helpful to them, it can be helpful to you too!
You use the foam roller to apply pressure to specific areas of your body.  This helps reduce soreness, and promotes healing and elasticity. Technically speaking, you could also use a lacrosse ball, or a round cane to do the same thing, but you are probably going to need that aforementioned coach or physical therapist there to help you.  Foam rolling is something you do yourself, whenever you need it.

How Do I Know if I Need to Use One?

That depends on how you answer this question: How do you feel the day after a workout?  There’s that “good” kind of sore, which is not really soreness, but more of a feeling that your muscles were worked really well – and then there is the bad kind.  If you have ever limped into work after “leg day”, or watched your favorite TV show with pillows stuffed behind your back to make the chair bearable, then you are the bad kind of sore.
Another way to tell is by massaging the sore area.  What you probably feel are some points that are more tender than others.  We sometimes call these “knots” or “trigger points”. You will feel pain when these are pressed on, but not anything sharp or stabbing.  After rubbing the area for a few minutes, it should feel better.  If that is the case, then you are going to love your foam roller when you get it.

Why Are My Muscles So Sore in the First Place?

We really throw a lot at our bodies, don’t we?  We sit in desk chairs all day, we maybe don’t eat the healthiest foods all the time, we push our bedtimes back too far, and we can sometimes really overdo it at the gym to try and compensate for all that.  Our bodies are pretty incredible, and they can adapt to most situations, but when too many things stack up all at once (a sleep deprived, slightly dehydrated hour of CrossFit, for instance) our systems get overloaded.  Our bodies can not repair the damage fast enough, and we experience that “crash”.  Sore muscles, exhaustion, etc.
This is where foam rolling can really help you out.  By using a combination of strategic roll placement, and body weight, you can apply therapeutic pressure to your worn out muscles, and begin to feel better sooner.  The motions will help soothe any inflamed muscle tissue or tendons, while also promoting better blood circulation to the areas that need it most.

My Friend Says She Tried it, and it Kind of Hurt!  What the Heck?

If you have ever gone in for what they call a “deep tissue” or “sports” massage, you probably felt a similar level of pain in that too.  Remember that it is not really that the foam roller “hurt” you, it is more than your muscles are already hurt, and applying pressure, even good pressure, can be pretty uncomfortable.  Naturally, you always want to run new fitness routines by your doctor before you begin, so do let him or her know that you would like to begin foam rolling.  That way, if anything really troubling does turn up (again, a sharp or stabbing pain), you can bring it to your doctor’s attention right away.

How Do I Get Started?

With all this talk or soreness and injury, you might think that foam rollers are only beneficial on your worst days.  Actually, you can use them anytime, and still enjoy the benefits!  No need to reserve the foam roll for only the times when you are feeling sore.  Paying attention to your muscles regularly, stretching, foam rolling, massaging and proper hydration are all good things to do no matter what.  Foam rolling can be a great addition to your warm ups or cool downs, and you may begin to find that those “bad days” don’t really come around that often anymore.


Source