Foam Rolling: It’s Good in a Pinch

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Foam Rolling: It’s Good in a Pinch

Anyone who has any experience with exercise has probably heard of foam rolling. If you haven’t, I’m here to help explain what it is, why it’s necessary and some tips and tricks to make it not quite so uncomfortable and to give you some suggestions on which ones you can buy.

Foam rolling is a great thing to have in your arsenal to help relieve muscle soreness, tension and to help increase range of motion. There are a variety of foam rolling benefits which I’ll go over in this post.

What is Foam Rolling?

Foam rolling is a self-myofascial release technique, more commonly called trigger point therapy. That’s a fancy word for deep tissue massage. You use a foam roller to help relieve muscle tension, soreness, and inflammation and to increase range of motion. Putting pressure on tight muscles

Foam rollers come in various sizes, shapes, levels of firmness and textures. There is no one size fits all with them. You may need to try out a few to pick the one that’s right for your needs. Here are a few of the different types.

 

Smooth foam rollers are your most common variety. They are less invasive than a textured roller or a massage ball.

Textured foam rollers have bumps on the surface and in general, are more aggressive than the smooth variety

Massage balls & sticks are smaller versions of trigger point therapy tools. They are smaller and more targeted than a foam roller. It’s easier to hit a specific spot with them. You can also use a lacrosse ball as well.

 

We’ve got this foam roller at home and it fits the bill for MOST of our needs. It’s a smooth firm density foam roller. We use a combination of the roller and a baseball for trigger point therapy. A baseball is rather invasive but it’s very effective. A lacrosse ball or baseball is helpful when the area you’re trying to target is smaller. You have much more control over the exact spot you hit.

Why is Foam Rolling Important?

Foam rolling is an important tool to have in your arsenal. Most of my experience with any kind of deep tissue work has shown me just how valuable it really is. Many times, it’s meant the difference between hitting depth on my squat or having a certain lift be pain-free through the range of motion.

I usually have issues with my shoulders. Getting under a bar to squat isn’t usually comfortable because of tight muscles around my neck and shoulders. I use a baseball to loosen up so that way I can get under the bar and have it be pain-free.

Foam rolling can also be effective at helping to ease sore muscles. I have been super sore the past few days from my squat workout. My boyfriend reminded me that light foam rolling can help ease the soreness that my workout caused. It was incredibly uncomfortable but DID help the soreness to go away a little bit faster. You generally want soreness to go away as fast as possible and in this instance, it hurt A LOT to get going but I was happy that I did.

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How to use a Foam Roller Effectively

Using a foam roller can be a little tricky if you aren’t used to it.

To start I try to feel where in my body I need to work on. I will stand and go through whatever motion it is that can help me feel that muscle.

Let’s use my legs as an example.

I’ll stand upright with my feet about where I place them when I’m doing barbell squats. I close my eyes and do a few air squats and try to hit depth and really FEEL the muscles working.

By doing this I can feel where I’m most tight and where it may be a bit uncomfortable through the range of motion.

Now I know where I need to start.

I’ll lay the foam roller down and position myself perpendicular to it starting at just below my hip.

Then I slowly press down on the roller and roll my body over it working my way down the muscle.

Now, keep in mind this will NOT feel good. It absolutely is uncomfortable, and it can hurt but often the pain we feel is aggravated sensory nerves.

You alleviate this by relaxing the muscle tissue around the affected area. This helps you feel better overall.

You can also use a foam roller to help stretch out. A good stretch I’ve used is to lay down on my back with the foam roller along my spine and slowly let gravity do its thing. This helps stretch your shoulders and chest.

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4 Tips and Reminders for better Foam Rolling Experience

Here are a couple of quick tips for a better foam rolling experience

1. It is uncomfortable and sometimes painful so it may help to have a glass of wine or whatever other methods of relaxation you prefer ahead of time.
2. Foam rolling releases lots of toxins into the blood (like a massage does) so drink lots of water after you’ve finished that day and the next day.
3. It can be stimulating so it might not be a good idea to foam roll to close to bedtime. It really depends on the person. I usually don’t have any issues falling asleep when I’ve been doing deep tissue work at night.
4. Sometimes a foam roller is to big hit a spot the right way you may need a smaller massage ball, lacrosse ball, or even a golf ball to properly work on a knot in the muscle.

Closing

Foam rolling is a great tool if used properly to help further your fitness. It’s something that’s often overlooked by many people. Deep tissue work is something that I overlooked for the longest time. I can definitely say that I would not have come as far as I have without it. I hope you found this post informative and helpful. Leave a comment letting me know what you think!

Here’s a link with lots of great options to choose from.

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