Hi All..
I get asked many times about Foam Rolling, When I see new clients in the Gym, And When I take them around for a session, I do from time to time get this question about what these people are doing rolling around on the ground with either a White,Blue or Orange roll of plastic.
Mostly New people joining gym have never seen this before, or barely notice these rolls when not being used.
I will try to inform people that Foam Rolling Can diminish Pain, Increase Performance, and Improve Overall Quality of Muscle Tissue,
So Okay, What if I said that you can relieve your muscular pain while drastically improving your strength training and ability to function, all by just rolling around on the floor? Rolling around on a foam roller that is.
Self Myofascial Release or ‘foam rolling’ is a self help technique that helps the following:
Corrects muscle imbalances
Increase neuromuscular efficiency
Increase joint range of motion
Decrease muscle soreness & relieve joint stress
Decrease neuromuscular hyper toxicity
Maintain normal muscle function and length. In other words using a foam roller on a daily basis basically improves the overall quality of your muscle tissue. How does this work? Foam rolling works very similar to a massage, except by using your own body weight to self massage (roll away) restrictions by breaking up knots and adhesions, that your body develops through exercise, activity,
as well as from chronic inactivity and overload patterns such as poor posture from work related tasks (sitting hunched over at your desk all day).
How do you do this?
To perform foam rolling you simply position a muscle on the roller and use your own body weight to apply pressure into the roller looking for tender spots. When a tender spot is noted just hold on that spot until the tenderness decreases by at least 50% – 70%.
The knots or adhesions (that cause the tenderness) won’t just disappear they will travel to different spots of the area you are working on, so be sure to scan the rest of the area you are working on to find where the knots and adhesions moved to.
You can perform this on all the muscles of your body with the exception of directly on your neck and lower back.
Which Roller is Right for You?
Deciding what foam roller is right for you is almost as important as a wizard selecting the correct wand … it can make all the difference.
White foam rollers: really only meant for people under 70kg. The foam will compress quickly and it won’t be as effective once this happens.
Black foam rollers: the most dense pure foam roller. Durable and great value.
The GRID: made with a hardcore centre with a foam coating. I like the GRID but I don’t like it’s size – too small to roll other parts of your body. But good to be able to transport around if you travel lots, They have a larger model which is better.
When Should You Foam Roll?
It is best to Foam roll as part of your warm up (pre-exercise) before any kind of static (reach and hold) or dynamic (active/moving) flexibility work, as well as on your off days
to help aid in recovery.
You can perform you foam rolling work first because you will be freeing up your muscles allowing for better range of motion during your static or dynamic flexibility work, as well as preparing your body for more intense activity.
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That’s all for now..
KMF ” Keep moving Forward’
Enjoy
Jason