I Foam Roll Everyday. Here’s Why
You’ve seen people rolling around on them at the gym. You’re curious.. but don’t feel the need to add anything new to your gym routine. Little do you know, foam rolling may be the game changer you need to optimize your performance, stretch tight muscles, and recover effectively.
Foam Rolling AKA Self-Myofascial Release (SMR) using a foam roller or foam massager is a form of stretching used to enhance peoples’ myofascial mobility. Myofascial tissues are a type of connective tissue that surround and support the muscles throughout your body and help provide structure of our bones and joints.
Fascia tissue lies under our skin and wraps around all of our muscles. Fascia is also where nerves and lymph nodes lie, making it a prime area for the sensation of pain. When we foam roll, the fascia tissue is lubricated and smoothed because of increased blood flow and lymphatic drainage.
Relaxing fascia tissues through SMR is known to relax muscles, reduce soreness, improve blood and lymph circulation, increase range of motion and flexibility, reduce inflammation and prevent injuries.**Now you may understand why the many people spend time down on the ground rolling on foam.. the benefits are endless!
Foam Rollers come in a variety of different sizes, densities, and shapes, but are most commonly 6 x 36 inches or 6 x 18 inches. The amount of pressure applied to the soft tissues during foam rolling is up to the individual participating. No matter what part of the body you're focusing on, your goal should be to roll back and forth about 5 times or for about 30 seconds – 1 minute for each muscle group.
Most common areas to apply SMR aka “trigger points” for tension relief:
· Back of legs (calves & hamstrings)
· Front of upper legs (quads and hips)
· Upper back (lats - bottom of ribcage to shoulder blades)
· Sides of back (lats)
Key Points:
Do not apply pressure via SMR to vulnerable areas of the spine like directly onto cervical or lumbar spine. This could cause more harm than good.
Do not use SMR if you do not know what you are doing.
Do not do SMR if it is painful or very uncomfortable for you. Mild discomfort is normal, but anything more than that may not be good for your body.
—It’s important to stay hydrated (in general) but especially if participating in SMR. The same goes for any type of massage, because our muscle is made up of about 70% water. When dehydrated, massage will likely be more uncomfortable and even hurt.
—Make sure to breathe effectively throughout SMR.
—You can use SMR before or after exercising. Personally, I like foam rolling in the morning before any other activities to ‘get my blood flowing’ and release tension from any sore areas, but many people enjoy foam rolling right before or after exercise, or at the end of the day.
Here are some great videos to watch before tying SMR on your own from Lauren Roxburgh, an Alignment Specialist and Foam Rolling Expert!Currently, there is no consensus on an optimal SMR program, so it is to be done at your own risk or with guidance from health professionals. In general, current research outlines that there is more of a benefit than harm to SMR when done correctly. That being said, everyone is different. I do not recommend people continue trying if it doesn’t feel good or they feel it’s not benefitting them.
Do you use SMR as a form of stretching? Does it benefit you? Let me know below! XOXO
Additional resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4637917/
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10999/why-you-should-foam-roll-every-day.html
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCqLr3GsXYPmgisQRT-hwkQ/videos
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/foam-rolling-101-heres-what-you-need-to-know
