What is the Foam Rolling Technique & How to Use it

Self-myofascial release, also known as “foam rolling,” has changed from a once mysterious technique used solely by professional athletes, athletes, and therapists to a familiar everyday method for people at all levels of fitness.

Products, technology, and data have introduced an increasing array of training and recovery methods to the individual.
Self-myofascial release is a fancy word for self-massage, utilized to release muscle stiffness or trigger points. This technique can be performed using a foam roller, lacrosse ball, Theracane, or your own hands. By applying pressure to these painful areas, you are able to assist in the recovery of muscles and helping to restore them. Proper function means your muscles are healthy, elastic, and ready to perform at a moment’s notice.

Determining Tight Muscles & Trigger Points

Trigger points are referred to as “knots” which form in muscles. They’re unique and may be identified once they begin to refer pain. Pain referral, for our purposes, may be described as the pain felt when pressure is applied to a single area of their body, but the pain is felt or radiated in a different area.

A common case of a trigger point is felt while foam rolling your iliotibial (IT) band as it causes pain to radiate up to the hip or all the way down the leg to the ankle. When rolling on tight/sore muscles you may experience pain or discomfort. It should be uncomfortable, but not unbearable, and it must relieve the symptoms, when you are done.

For many, deep tissue massage is simple to understand. Somebody is able to exercise the knots in your muscles, and it is commonly known that this process may be uncomfortable and occasionally painful. Because only you can feel what is happening, self-myofascial discharge provides the consumer the capability to control the recovery and healing procedure by applying pressure in precise places.

It is always suggested to consult with your physician or physical therapist to get therapeutic/sharp pain and receive approval prior to beginning self-myofascial release. You will be cleared immediately and your doctor will encourage the practice. Releasing trigger points helps reestablish appropriate movement patterns and pain free movement, and finally, to boost functionality. Utilizing stretching alone isn’t always enough to discharge muscles. Imagine a bungee cord with a knot tied into it and then envision stretching the cord. This creates tension, stretching the part of the muscle and the attachment points. The knot, however, has remained unaltered.

Foam rolling can assist in dividing these muscle knots, resuming normal blood flow and function. The aim to any recovery or corrective technique is to get you back to normal functioning’s point, as if nothing was ever wrong.

Causes of Trigger Points & Tight Muscles

Both have exactly the same contributing factors such as training, flexibility, movement patterns, posture, nutrition, hydration, rest, anxiety, and other lifestyle factors. Our bodies learn to compensate for what we throw at them daily, but we can transcend our ability to recover via intense workouts, bad posture, and other lifestyle factors.

Deep compression can help to break up or relax tight muscles and adhesions formed between muscular layers and their environment. Imagine you are currently tenderizing your muscles. They should be soft and supple as a baby’s muscles. If our muscles are not taken care of properly we can experience loss of motion that is debilitating.

The deep compression of self-myofascial release enables normal blood flow to return and the recovery of healthy tissue. The body wants to be healthy and strong, but an extra boost is required to attain optimum tissue and muscle health.

How Do I Know What to Foam Roll and How to Do It?

Areas to concentrate on can be identified in two different ways. The first is through screenings. When you have followed the two posts – screening and stylish hinge screening – and also have had struggles with either movement, foam rolling should be included by you into retrieval program and your workout. You may target you are currently focusing on.

If after using the foam roller your motion enhances, you’ve got a more specific plan to follow. Second, muscles and trigger points are discovered utilizing techniques’ listing below and researching every one.

To foam roll correctly, apply moderate pressure to a particular muscle or muscle group using the roller and your own leg. You should roll slowly, no longer than one inch. Pause for several moments when you find areas that are painful or tight and relax as far as you can. You should begin to feel that the muscle releasing, and pain or the distress should reduce.
If a place is too painful to use direct pressure, then change the roller and then apply pressure on the surrounding area and gradually work to loosen the entire area. The purpose is to restore muscles – it isn’t a pain tolerance evaluation. You could also use different objects to operate on muscles such as lacrosse ball, a tennis ball, Theracane, or Trigger Point Therapy Kit.

Never roll a joint or bone. Avoid your back. To target these muscles I advise using lacrosse or tennis balls. If you’re experiencing difficulties with your neck, refer these problems to an appropriate medical practitioner and need attention that is advanced.

What Happens After Foam Rolling?

You might be sore the next day. It should feel like your muscles are worked/released, but you shouldn’t push yourself to the purpose of excessive soreness. Drink lots of water, get enough sleep , and eat clean. Fuel your muscles and this can help flush your system. Before focusing on precisely the same place give it 24-48 hours.

The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 . 

Additional Topics: Sports Care

Many athletes engage in frequent warm-up stretches and exercises before participating in their specific sport of physical activity, in order to avoid experiencing sports injuries. Although these can help prevent a variety of sports injuries, athletes may still suffer an injury as a result of an accident. From chiropractic care to surgery, in severe cases, sports care is important for athletes to continue participating in their specific sport of physical activity.

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