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I’ve seen foam rollers at almost every sporting goods store and at my gym. I just thought these people looked silly as hell rolling on some piece of foam. My assumption on foam rolling being silly is just proof that I’m an idiot. Since I don’t have the money to see a massage therapist or I can’t find a hot trollymog to give me massages, I was forced to give this foam roller stuff a try. I went to my local Sports Authority (I couldn’t find anyone to help me at Dick’s Sporting Goods – MMA Stuff has officially stopped supporting Dick’s Sporting Goods) and bought a 18″ foam roller for 25 bucks.
I went home, cleared my floor and started getting my roll on. The foam roller I bought had a little poster thing of all the “exercises” or rolling you can do. I rolled out my quads, glutes, and lower back. It felt great after a hard week of training. When I finished a short rolling session, I began hating myself for not getting one years ago. I’ll spare you words like “Myofascial release” because I don’t care for technical terms for things.
Why Foam Roller Exercises Rule
- It’s a one time fee unlike massage therapists who charge per hour (I think)
- Can be done anytime anywhere
- It will help with quicker recovery
- Improve your range of motion
- Feels good as hell
- Helps flexibility
When?
I couldn’t find any information that is backed up by hard data that proved there was a “best” time to foam roll. So I just do it when I wake up and before I go to bed. I’ll probably do some foam rolling before my workout sessions and directly after. I’m no expert but I’ve never heard of anyone hurting themselves from too much massaging. Foam rolling essentially does what stretching does, loosens your muscles which will decrease chances of injury and improve performance.
How?
There was some video on youtube of some MMA d00d foam rolling after his exercise and his trainer was telling him what to foam roll but the camera was kinda shakey. So instead I present you a video from Diet.com and is focused towards womans but who cares. The host (@DietSarah – I have crush on her) and the trainer is more pleasant to look at then the MMA foam rolling video.
This article from T-Muscle is great picture breakdown of some foam rolling exercises.
So whether you’re training 3 days a week or 6 days a week definitely invest in a foam roller. Your body and training will thank you. You can check out this amazon link to get a foam roller that fits you. I bought a 18″ one.
July 27th, 2009 at 8:50 am
I use a cricket ball for getting deep into the glutes and into a few smaller muscles that get tight. Not sure how easy it is to get a cricket ball over there but a softball to a baseball is probably the progression to comfortable small hard ball rolling.
July 27th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
A simple foam can have so much use. Great post.
Thnaks for the post
Lamy
Martial Art Training
July 27th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Steve- I hear a tennis ball works great. I suppose I can use a lacrosse ball. I’ll give it a shot. Thanks!
Lamy- Thanks for the comment.
July 27th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Great article! I’m so glad you got yourself a roller. I agree that there’s really no wrong time to get your roll on, and that you can do it as often as you like. If I’ve got a client whose lats or hip flexors (or whatever) are chronically tight, I might have her roll out those two areas immediately before we work out to make sure she’s got full pain free range of motion in the affected joints. It’s also a good thing to do before yoga or other flexibility training since a muscle won’t lengthen properly if it’s got knots or adhesions in it.
July 27th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Awesome post Jimmy! I must admit that I am a foam roller virgin, but after your post I might have to go get myself one. Kettlebells are tough on the hamstrings so this will surely help!