How to use the Foam Roller
Massage has several benefits including improved circulation, decreased muscle tension,reduced risk for injuries, improved lymphatic flow,increased flexibility and mobility. The foam roller is a self massage tool that has been gaining popularity in the past years due to its low cost and high effectiveness. I recommend to my clients to have one at home and use on daily basis. I am a big fan of hard work since it produces greater results (no surprise here) but I also believe it is silly to take pride on being sore from every workout every day after. The amount of soreness you experience is an indication of how hard you worked but also of how badly you recovered. Using a foam roller before, after and at-home on daily basis will decrease muscle soreness which will allow you to keep working hard everyday and see better results because of that.
My recommendation is that you use the foam roller before workouts to target areas of high tension such as a sore lower back from sitting all day. After working out use the foam roller specially on the areas that you targetes on that workout and follow up with stretches. You can also use at home or the office to decrease muscle tension everytime is needed.
Here are a few videos on how to use the foam roller:
The back muscles:
The glutes, hamstrings and calves:
Foam rolling the glutes,hamstrings and calves
The quads, abductors and adductors:
Foam rolling the quads, abductors and adductors
Keep in mind that there are some contraindications such foam rolling on injured tissues, open cuts or varicose veins. As a rule of thumb spend 30 seconds to 2 minutes on each area and perform stretches after for better results. The foam roller is a fantastic tool and it retails for only 20 dollars. There are a few different kinds, I recommend starting with a soft one such as the one in the videos and progress to harder surfaces as you get used to the pressure. At the beginning it can be an uncomfortable experience so you might have to take it slow but that only shows how much you body is in need of massage. I have known about foam rollers for several years but only started using them about 3 years ago and it has been a fantastic addition to my personal routine and that of my clients. If you have any questions about foam rolling send me a message and I will gladly answer them.
Luis
Here is the link to where you can get foam rollers online: www.performbetter.com
Luis
