Foam Rolling

David 1 May, 2017
23 Comments

Foam Rolling

We´re going to learn how to foam rolling. I love my foam roller so much, I´m even worried! Maybe I skip a training session or miss a yoga session, but I always find ten minutes to catch up with my foam roller.

As each exercise has its own instructions, but there are main guidelines and usual mistakes common to all of them, I think it´s easier to read separately. Once you know the “basic rules”, it gets boring read them over and over again, right? Anyway, if you need a reminder or thinking on new followers, I´ll add a link to this post for everyone´s safety.

  1. WARNING! Most important: Do NOT use the foam roller on your lower back. Never. You may get injured. And that´s the opposite you want. Rolling your lower back will cause your spinal muscles to contract to protect your spine. To release your lower back, we roll the muscles that connect to it, glutes, hip flexors, and so on.
  2. Time: Ideally, you should spend 20 seconds or so on each tender spot while managing how much pressure you apply. When using a foam roller you should apply enough pressure so that you feel some tension released, either with constant pressure or by making small movements back and forth. A mild amount of discomfort is expected but you shouldn’t be in pain.
  3. Pressure: Apply enough pressure so that you feel some tension released, either with constant pressure or by making small movements back and forth. A mild amount of discomfort is expected but you shouldn’t be in pain. On painful or inflamed areas, it’s often best to roll just a few inches away first and then use large, sweeping motions to cover the entire area.
  4. Speed: Do not roll too quickly; slow and concentrated movements. If you roll too fast, your muscles won’t have time to adapt and you’re not going to get relief.
  5. Bad posture: If you use an improper form or bad posture while doing this, it could exacerbate existing postural deviations and cause injury. This is why we give specific instructions for each exercise!
Are you ready to foam rolling? Neck Relief Upper Back Relief Lats Relief Quads Relief Hamstrings Relief Adductor Relief Calves Relief Shin Relief
Categories: Fitness
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related Articles

Responses

Your opinion matters! Let me know what you think.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Head4Fitness 1 May, 2017

    Foam rolling. Don’t you mean free pain? Definite love/hate relationship between me and my foam roller. Bloody good kit though, especially when used properly. Great post 🙂

    1. chape 1 May, 2017

      Hahaha! Yes, well, prepositions confuse me, free of pain…pain for free 😁
      And speaking of free pain, triathlon sounds like a wonderful option 😂
      Thanks and big hugs!

  2. joliesattic 1 May, 2017

    Oh my goodness! I’ve used it on my lower back. Maybe twice but I didn’t know it was not good. I use it occasionally. I love it, but for some reason got out of the habit, so back to the roller. Thanks for the tips!!

    1. chape 1 May, 2017

      Rolling the lower back is very risky, twice is enough 😉 We’ll see how to relief the lower back safely, taking detours 😊
      Big hugs!

  3. fitnessgrad 2 May, 2017

    Chape,
    I have only foam rolled once EVER! that was just be testing the waters, never done it since then. Although I find many college athletes do it often and will when they are recovering from injury as well. I know it is beneficial but haven’t yet found a reason to do it or utilize one as often as I did (or should have) when I was playing high school and college sports. Although as I type this out, I may need a massage! haha
    Shay-lon

    1. chape 2 May, 2017

      Only once…🤔 are you sure you did it right? 😂😂😂 (jk)
      Looks like here is another item for your shopping list 😉
      Big hugs!

      1. fitnessgrad 2 May, 2017

        Yes, you keep adding items to my shopping list, luckily you are Santa , so I guess I will just wait until Christmas to give you my wish list, lol
        Shay-lon

  4. Dawn Marie 2 May, 2017

    Our eldest son is so in love/addicted (giggles) to his foam roller that even when he is deployed (he is active military) he packs IT first and all other items are squeezed in around this. He swears by using the foam-roller at the completion of every work-out! I just recently tried using one and must say, “I understand now why he promotes using one!” How wonderful your post-series is beginning as I BEGIN to take an interest!! HUGS!!

    1. chape 2 May, 2017

      Your son and I are the same tribe 😄 And you’ve just encouraged me to pack my roller next time I travel 😉👌
      Hope this series may enjoy and help you add foam rolling to your daily routine.
      HUGS!

Report

Block Member?

Please confirm you want to block this member.

You will no longer be able to:

  • See blocked member's posts
  • Mention this member in posts
  • Invite this member to groups
  • Message this member
  • Add this member as a connection

Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

Report

You have already reported this .

Rest 30 seconds

Rest 40 seconds

Rest 60 seconds

Rest 90 seconds

Rest 120 seconds

%d bloggers like this: