Guidelines for effective and safe foam rolling
Just a few minutes of rolling can help make your muscles more receptive to stretching and relieve muscle soreness, too.
Foam rolling is a self-myofascial release (SMR) technique. It can help relieve muscle tightness, soreness, and inflammation, and increase your joint range of motion.
SMR can be done with a variety of tools beyond foam rollers, such as tennis balls, handheld rollers or other assistive devices. Foam rollers vary in density, surface structure, and even temperature modifications. Whatever the tool or variation selected, SMR focuses on the neural and fascial systems in the body that can be negatively influenced by poor posture, repetitive motions, or dysfunctional movements.
Most people can enjoy foam rolling on their own once they’ve been instructed on how to properly perform the exercises. Foam rolling is not appropriate for everyone, including those with congestive heart failure, kidney failure, or any organ failure, bleeding disorders, contagious skin conditions, circulatory problems, pregnancy or diabetes, or serious injury such as a muscle tear or break.
Foam rolling can be an effective tool to add to your warm-up or cooldown, before and after exercise. Follow these tips to get started:
Start with light pressure and build up as you get used to foam rolling. You may find it painful to foam roll at first if your muscles are tight. To adjust pressure, reduce the amount of body weight you’re putting onto the roller or pad the roller with a towel. For example, if you’re rolling out your calf, use your arms to help support your body and take some of your body weight off of the roller. Slowly roll the targeted area until the most tender spot is found. Hold on that spot while relaxing the targeted area and discomfort is reduced, between 30 seconds and 90 seconds. The intensity of the sensations should be moderate. If you're feeling like a “10” on a 1-10 scale, your body will not relax and therefore not benefit from the activity. Be sure to breathe deeply and allow the nervous system to acclimate and adapt to the pressure/discomfort. Sensations like pulsing, numbing, tingling and shooting are signals to stop! This probably indicates you are irritating a nerve. Also avoid rolling on/over bones (knees, ankles, low back and neck in particular).
During the exercises it is important to maintain core stability. Use the drawing-in maneuver (pulling the navel in toward the spine) to maintain stability in the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. Take the time to experience the exercises and discover how slightly modifying positions or angles can target different areas of the muscle. Be sure to drink plenty of water after foam rolling to help with recovery.
And remember, always talk to your doctor before adding any new tools or activities to your daily routine.
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