You have probably seen the foam rollers at the gym or doctors office and wondered what they did. Or maybe seen someone rolling and thought it was a new exercise? Well.....wouldn't it be nice to end every active week with an intense deep-tissue massage to help ease your muscles without springing for a trip to the spa? Now you can with the use of the foam roller. I'm not sure just how long foam rollers have been around, but over the last few months I have discovered how powerful a therapeutic tool they can be. The idea is simple enough: Using your own body weight and agility, you roll specific muscle groups against a firm foam roller to mimic a deep, gliding massage. I suffer from scoliosis, my chiropractor first lead me on to the foam roller. It was painful at first, but by continuing to roll it has really been beneficial. When I forget or just plain don't roll, I can really feel the muscles tightening up in my leg.
You may already have a stretching program, the foam rolling is another tool to help assist with injury prevention. No matter how much you stretch, the build up of fascia that creates muscle knots can lead to many different problems. Here are some benefits to foam rolling.
Helps prevent common injuries
One of the most important reasons for a regular foam-rolling routine is to prevent those often too common exercise-related injuries. Many runners, for example, become painfully well acquainted with their IT band if they don't take care to massage the band of tissue. IT band syndrome and other similar flare-ups can be caused by too-tight muscles. Foam rolling every day ensures you are massaging away fascia buildup in your muscles, in order to help prevent those areas from becoming injury trigger points.
Helps you de-stress
Had a hard day? Foam roll your worries away. Digging for those knots releases tension that is built up in the connective tissue to keep you less stressed. It's recommended to do a simple all-over body routine in order to combat the "desk posture blues" that happen from sitting too long in the office.
Keeps you flexible
Building up your flexibility is key for any fitness routine. Which means you constantly should be stretching and doing exercises that'll help you gain flexibility. Stretches that lengthen your hip flexors, for example, can help combat tightness from sitting as well as lower back pain.
The more regularly you use a foam roll on your tight muscles, the less painful it'll be. Just like your exercise routine, consistency is the key. Here is a link explaining what to look for when buying a foam roller.
http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-a-Foam-Roller
You may already have a stretching program, the foam rolling is another tool to help assist with injury prevention. No matter how much you stretch, the build up of fascia that creates muscle knots can lead to many different problems. Here are some benefits to foam rolling.
Helps prevent common injuries
One of the most important reasons for a regular foam-rolling routine is to prevent those often too common exercise-related injuries. Many runners, for example, become painfully well acquainted with their IT band if they don't take care to massage the band of tissue. IT band syndrome and other similar flare-ups can be caused by too-tight muscles. Foam rolling every day ensures you are massaging away fascia buildup in your muscles, in order to help prevent those areas from becoming injury trigger points.
Helps you de-stress
Had a hard day? Foam roll your worries away. Digging for those knots releases tension that is built up in the connective tissue to keep you less stressed. It's recommended to do a simple all-over body routine in order to combat the "desk posture blues" that happen from sitting too long in the office.
Keeps you flexible
Building up your flexibility is key for any fitness routine. Which means you constantly should be stretching and doing exercises that'll help you gain flexibility. Stretches that lengthen your hip flexors, for example, can help combat tightness from sitting as well as lower back pain.
The more regularly you use a foam roll on your tight muscles, the less painful it'll be. Just like your exercise routine, consistency is the key. Here is a link explaining what to look for when buying a foam roller.
http://www.wikihow.com/Choose-a-Foam-Roller
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