温馨秋月
夜浴深秋对明月, 遥系温馨问他乡
- 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," says Tim. He recommends 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, Tim says, 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.
Deep-tissue massage with your foam roller or RumbleRoller makes your muscles longer and smoother by causing "trigger points," or knotty areas in your muscles, to be released through a process called myofascial release. Deep-tissue massage is actually the only way to release these knots in your muscles, which is why foam rolling has grown so much in popularity - foam roller massage is relatively cheap and very effective.
Stretching, without any deep-tissue massage, will only make the knots in your muscles tighter. Think about it this way: if you tie a knot in a rubber band, and you then pull both ends of the rubber band, the knot will become tighter - the same thing is true with knots in your muscles. That said, stretching immediately after deep-tissue massage with your foam roller is beneficial, and it will encourage myofascial release.
Self-applied deep-tissue massage can be performed as part of warming-up before training, or at any other time as recovery work.
Deep-tissue massage helps create longer, smoother, healthier muscle tissue which:
- recovers faster
- doesn't become as sore
- allows for great mobility
- is stronger
- is more injury-resistant
- trains more readily
- improves posture
The act of foam rolling itself also improves:
- balance
- and body-awareness
Foam Roller Massage is best performed after warming-up, and prior to static stretching and dynamic mobility exercises.
- 1. Warm-up
- 2. Foam Roller Massage
- 3. Static Stretching
- 4. Dynamic Mobility
Foam Roller massage can be performed on your:
- upper back
- pecs
- lats
- glutes
- hamstrings
- adductors
- it-band
- quads
- hip-flexors
- shins
- calves
- neck
- feet
Perform foam roller deep-tissue over your entire muscle, usually in halves of thirds. Do this by resting your body-weight on the foam roller, and rolling back and fourth, about 8 times, over each, 4-to 6-inch segment of your muscle. This will get blood flowing in your muscle, and allow you to search for Trigger Points.
All you need is about 10 feet x 10 feet of open space. Carpeting is OK, but be aware it can take away some of the massage's intensity. It's a good idea to go barefoot or without shoes when you are foam rolling - there are many small muscles in your feet that don't get involved when you have shoes on.
When you encounter a trigger point - which is a tender knot in your muscle - rest on that spot, breathe deeply, and slowly massage back-and forth and side-to-side with a subtle rocking motion for about 45 seconds, or until the tenderness you feel decreases by about 50%. Working individual knots in your muscles this way is called Trigger Point Therapy.
Regular iterations of Trigger Point Therapy will cause the knots in your muscles to slowly release over time, through a process called Myofascial Release.
When you aren't able to find any new trigger points, upgrade to a denser foam roller, and you'll be sure to find more.
Foam roller massage is not just for athletes - non-athletes stand to gain from deep-tissue massage because becoming mobile enough to properly perform basic human movements will help to avoid overuse injuries and chronic pain later in life.
To be safe, don't roll on you lower back, don't roll on joints or any other boney prominences, and be sure to take a Functional Movement Screen with your local trainer or physical therapist. The Functional Movement Screen will help to safely guide you toward good functional movement patterns.
And remember to be patient - becoming mobile and strong throughout basic functional movement patterns requires a long-term commitment to foam roller deep-tissue massage and other recovery work.
Foam rollers come in a range of different densities and sizes.
For beginners, I recommend:
For advanced rollers who need a denser foam roller in order to find new trigger points (knots in your muscles), I recommend:
For beginners with very sensitive muscle tissue, I recommend:
If you're only going to own one roller, I recommend:
The RumbleRoller can feel intense or very uncomfortable. If you're muscles are very sensitive, you can simply rest less weight on the roller, or use the roller up against a wall. Remember: when you are finished with foam roller deep-tissue massage, you should feel better - not worse.
