Foam Rolling
Summary:
Foam rolling can be effective at increasing range of motion pre-exercise and reducing delayed onset muscle soreness post-exercise.
Pre-exercise – shorter bouts of foam rolling are recommended (>5 mins).
Post-exercise – 20 minutes of foam rolling immediately after exercise and every 24 hours thereafter for 2-3 days may reduce the likelihood of muscle tenderness (DOMS) and decrements in multijointed dynamic movements.
Foam rolling appears to be effective depending on
a) When you do it.
b) How long for.
c) For what purpose.
The magnitude of the effect is likely to be small so you’ll need to assess whether it is worth your time.
If range of motion is a limiting factor then foam rolling pre-exercise appears to be beneficial, providing the foam rolling bout is not too long (>5 mins). It is likely that longer bouts may relax the muscle too much and reduce muscle contractile properties, similar to extended bouts of static stretching.
If muscle soreness is hindering subsequent sessions (or just affecting quality of life), foam rolling directly after exercise and every 24 hours thereafter appears to reduce muscle tenderness and decrements in multijoint dynamic movements. If you know a muscle is particularly susceptible to soreness, it may be prudent to foam roll that muscle group after each session it is used.
How to Foam Roll:
- Place the foam roller at either the origin or insertion of the targeted muscle (either end).
- Place as much body mass as is tolerable on the foam roller.
- You can use small rolls, working your way along the muscle or long sweeping rolls across the whole muscle.
- Roll for 45s, rest for 15s and repeat once on each muscle group (90s total per muscle group).
