Foam rolling is a mechanical technique that mimics massage by applying pressure to fascia and muscle. Not only does it help with various conditions, injuries, and pain prevention, but it also can enhance your fitness performance. It can be particularly painful when you first start, similar to having Sports Massage or starting a new activity.
Understanding Foam Rolling
So, what is fascia? Fascia is a connective tissue that surrounds every part of your body. It provides support to your muscles, tendons, ligaments, tissues, organs, nerves, joints, and bones. To visualise this, think of an orange. The orange inside represents our muscles, tendons and more! The pith represents the fascia surrounding those!
Benefits of Foam Rolling
What makes foam rolling a popular technique? The truth is, the benefits of foam rolling are still under-researched as it is a relatively new modality. However, several potential advantages have been observed:
- Increases your tolerance of pain and muscle soreness. This suggests that it has more of a ‘neurophysiological’ effect. (Which is the response that the nervous system makes).
- Enhances blood flow, which can increase oxygen levels to muscles, decrease tissue swelling, and enhance blood lactate removal.
- Improves range of motion (ROM) and possible muscle/fascia length. This leads to improved flexibility.
- Helps address muscle imbalance, especially when used in combination with massage and strengthening exercises.
Choosing the Right Foam Roller
As a beginner, we recommend starting with a straight foam roller as it can cause less pain initially.
As you get more comfortable and used to using the foam roller, you can advance to more detailed foam rollers. These can include spikes, patterns, and knobbly bits on them.
For those who lack the core or upper body strength to roll themselves on a foam roller, a self-release roller or a trigger point release (tennis, golf or spikey ball) can be used as an alternative.
How to Use a Foam Roller
To begin with, start off with 30 seconds on each muscle group. As you progress, you can increase the time and sets performed, e.g. 3 sets of 60 seconds. Time frames are individualised as each person has a different pain threshold.
Lower limb techniques
Lower limb foam rolling can focus on muscles such as Calfs, Hamstrings, Quadriceps, Glutes and fascia under foot (Plantar Fascia). Each body part requires a distinct technique, but the basic principle remains the same – apply pressure and roll up and down the muscle group. The focus is to relax the muscles rather than to press hard on the fascia or tendons. A great example of how to do this can be featured in this video.
A Word of Caution – IT Band
The IT band is a thick fibrous band of tissue that runs down the outside of your leg. It is mostly made up of collagen fibres. Unlike muscle fibres, collagen fibres don’t really stretch or contract. The IT band has no active control over how tight it feels. It’s actually the muscles that attach onto the IT band (the glutes, tensor fascia latae, lateral quads) that can cause it to feel tight. This is why focusing your foam rolling efforts on the IT band itself won’t really make it feel less tight (and will cause more pain than good). Instead, you should aim to relax the muscles that attach onto it.
The IT band is a thick fibrous band of tissue that runs down the outside of your leg. It is mostly made up of collagen fibres. Unlike muscle fibres, collagen fibres don’t really stretch or contract. The IT band has no active control over how tight it feels. It’s actually the muscles that attach onto the IT band (the glutes, tensor fascia latae, lateral quads) that can cause it to feel tight. This is why focusing your foam rolling efforts on the IT band itself won’t really make it feel less tight (and will cause more pain than good). Instead, you should aim to relax the muscles that attach onto it. Image from Physiopedia, read more about the ITB on Physiopedia here.
Final Thoughts
Foam rolling is an excellent self-help tool for muscle recovery and performance enhancement. If you’re looking to incorporate foam rolling into your routine, we have a range of foam rollers available at reception, with prices starting from £17.99.