Foam Rolling

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  • ForStMicheal
    ForStMicheal Posts: 54 Member
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    if you are rolling with the rolling pin thing on your claves standing up... it probably hurt more because your calve muslces were contracted and under load. I don't think you will get quite the same benefit this way as if the muscle was relaxed when you rolled it. it would be a little more comfortable at least.

    personally, I think you pain you feel from massaging a soar muscle is quite qualitatively different then what you would experience from pressing on an injury that is no where near healed.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
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    Roll at a pressure a good little bit before you can't stand it, it's a myofascial tissue release and can ease and get rid of knots as well. this will help loosen up and lengthen your muscles back out. I roll out after workouts. definitely find a site that has a guide with pictures, and don't just roll out what's bothering you, try other areas too.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    edited March 2015
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    esjones12 wrote: »
    Just wanted to throw a word of caution out there. I've recently been dealing with calf cramping issues (related to Overtrainng Syndrome) and was foam rolling like crazy to help loosen my calves. Finally went to a Sports Medicine Doctor and one of the first things he said was lay off the foam roller. You can actually do more harm than good with them. Here is a blog post that recaps what the doctor was talking about: http://reciprocalinnervations.com/blog/?p=594

    I see a lot of people just roll on them for a minute or two. I highly doubt they are getting any possible real benefit out of that. And then there are those who do spend time really foam rolling it out, including myself before I knew better. As the article above stated, how much do you really know about your muscles and trigger points and how much pressure and for how long you should be applying it, etc.

    Bye bye foam rolling. Hello stretching. And even a semi-regular massage visit!

    Did you read the study the blog author referred to? The study was analyzing the benefit of foam rolling or planking pre-exercise as a means to improve athletic performance, it had nothing to do with injury and nor did it indicate it could cause injury. I don't believe we're discussing athletic performance here, just flexibility and recovery. There are many many studies on this topic, here are just three. I can't link you into my school's library but you might find them on PubMed or Google Scholar.

    Foam Rolling for Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness and
    Recovery of Dynamic Performance Measures
    Gregory E. P. Pearcey, MSc*; David J. Bradbury-Squires, MSc*; Jon-Erik
    Kawamoto, MSc*; Eric J. Drinkwater, PhD*†; David G. Behm, PhD*; Duane C.
    Button, PhD*Journal of Athletic Training 2015;50(1):5–13
    doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-50.1.01
    by the National Athletic

    ROLLER-MASSAGER APPLICATION TO THE HAMSTRINGS INCREASES SIT-AND-REACH RANGE OF MOTION WITHIN FIVE TO TEN SECONDS WITHOUT PERFORMANCE IMPAIRMENTS.
    Authors:
    Sullivan, Kathleen M.1
    J. Silvey, Dustin B.1
    Button, Duane C.1
    Behm, David G.1dbehm@mun.ca
    Source:
    International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy Jun2013, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p228 9p.

    AN ACUTE BOUT OF SELF-MYOFASCIAL RELEASE INCREASES RANGE OF MOTION WITHOUT A SUBSEQUENT DECREASE IN MUSCLE ACTIVATION OR FORCE.
    Authors:
    MACDONALD, GRAHAM Z.
    H. PENNEY, MICHAEL D.
    MULLALEY, MICHELLE E.
    CUCONATO, AMANDA L.
    J. DRAKE, COREY D.
    BEHM, DAVID G.
    BUTTON, DUANE C.dbutton@mun.ca
    Source:
    Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) Mar2013, Vol. 27 Issue 3, p812 10p.

    I have yet to see any research supporting that Sports Med Doctors statement. I would be curious where his information is coming from.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    Foam rolling (self-myofascial release) is a great add to your program. You want the muscle relaxed when you roll, so don’t do the calves while standing. What you want to do when rolling is roll with enough pressure that you find the spots that need a little release (that spot will hurt), just hold that pressure for about 30 seconds and you’ll feel the fascia soften (and the pain will subside). Each muscle will take about a minute or two.

    I’ll roll out warm muscles (I do a warm up, then roll) before a workout and then, roll out the areas that took the brunt of the work during the workout. For example, when we’re doing an jumping work (jump rope, box jumps), my tibias anterior really tighten ups. So I’ll use a lacrosse ball, really smash it out before and after the workout. It really helps me perform better and reduces DOMS.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    All the research is about pre-exercise rolling; I've found benefits for recovery & DOMS prevention after working out, any thoughts on this?
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    tomatoey wrote: »
    All the research is about pre-exercise rolling; I've found benefits for recovery & DOMS prevention after working out, any thoughts on this?

    I’ve found a good roll out can help my performance, especially where a given muscle (tibia anterior) tightening up would have been a limiting factor.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    AllanMisner wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    All the research is about pre-exercise rolling; I've found benefits for recovery & DOMS prevention after working out, any thoughts on this?

    I’ve found a good roll out can help my performance, especially where a given muscle (tibia anterior) tightening up would have been a limiting factor.

    Hunh, interesting! I wonder why that is...
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    tomatoey wrote: »
    AllanMisner wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    All the research is about pre-exercise rolling; I've found benefits for recovery & DOMS prevention after working out, any thoughts on this?

    I’ve found a good roll out can help my performance, especially where a given muscle (tibia anterior) tightening up would have been a limiting factor.

    Hunh, interesting! I wonder why that is...

    When I jump rope (and sometimes with box jumps), the muscle just seems to knot up. It isn’t a cramp, but definitely contracted as long as there is weight on my leg (standing, jumping). Smashing it out before helps me get through the workout. Depending on how hard I hit it, I’ll also smash it out after.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    tomatoey wrote: »
    AllanMisner wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    All the research is about pre-exercise rolling; I've found benefits for recovery & DOMS prevention after working out, any thoughts on this?

    I’ve found a good roll out can help my performance, especially where a given muscle (tibia anterior) tightening up would have been a limiting factor.

    Hunh, interesting! I wonder why that is...

    Altered Reciprocal Inhibition. If your muscles don't function correctly then you will not move correctly and if you are unable to move correctly you will not perform correctly in an exercise or sport.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    AllanMisner wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    All the research is about pre-exercise rolling; I've found benefits for recovery & DOMS prevention after working out, any thoughts on this?

    I’ve found a good roll out can help my performance, especially where a given muscle (tibia anterior) tightening up would have been a limiting factor.

    Hunh, interesting! I wonder why that is...

    Altered Reciprocal Inhibition. If your muscles don't function correctly then you will not move correctly and if you are unable to move correctly you will not perform correctly in an exercise or sport.

    Thank you!
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    tomatoey wrote: »
    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    AllanMisner wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    All the research is about pre-exercise rolling; I've found benefits for recovery & DOMS prevention after working out, any thoughts on this?

    I’ve found a good roll out can help my performance, especially where a given muscle (tibia anterior) tightening up would have been a limiting factor.

    Hunh, interesting! I wonder why that is...

    Altered Reciprocal Inhibition. If your muscles don't function correctly then you will not move correctly and if you are unable to move correctly you will not perform correctly in an exercise or sport.

    Thank you!

    That's why it's so important to be careful in understanding the population of some of these studies. A study with college athletes for example; those athletes are in really good shape, likely have a strength & conditioning coach, and have few dysfunctions and few to none that limit performance. So to expect foam rolling to improve their performance is silly because they're likely mobile enough to only need a dynamic warm-up or AI stretching at most. Now you take an office worker that sits on their *kitten* 50 hours a week and goes to the gym 3 or 4 days, now there's a good chance that foam rolling will initially improve their performance because there will be less limitations in their kinematics. Although over time if they're consistent with their mobility work, then the performance improvement will probably diminish because their movement will be consistently good or better.

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