Now when your a professional athlete you get all the perks; money, cars, fame, friends* etc...but another thing you get is the massages...Ooo the massages. Massages, Stim, Ice Baths, Vibration plates. All of these things before and after games speed up recovery so you can live to fight another day and prolong careers. Now for Average Joe weekend warrior, things like massage perks can be a tad bit expensive. So as personal trainers we find ways around that. In to play comes the FOAM ROLLER...
Stretching is one of the most overlooked components of weight training programs. Everyone wants to lift lift lift and stretching gets pushed to the back burner leading to muscle imbalances, poor form and injuries.
Foam Rollers are used for Self-Myofascial Release which may sound a little adult but pretty much just means self massage. When you workout or train your muscles get tight creating lactic acid and "knots'. The foam roller rolls out the knots until they release increasing your circulation, range of motion and promoting overall general healing. Think of it as a rubber, and then tying it into a knot. With that knot, the band cant stretch nearly as far and will break with too much force applied to it. Now by taking the knot out bingo bango, your back to full efficiency.
Now you can find foam rollers on sites like performbetter.com ranging from regular to dense. The denser the roller the deeper the massage it gives and the higher the price ($30+0. You can also save some money and just buy a 5 dollar pvc pipe at your local hardware store and it works great but only keep in mind, pvc pipe has NO give and will be pretty painful to use for someone new to foam rolling. If your really crafty or have a mom with tons of free time, you can bedazzle your own padded foam roller with pvc pipe, foam packaging wrap, and some kind of spandex or Lycra to cover it all in like those old fashion book skins you had in middle school.
Your body has tons of trigger points that you would need to focus on with a foam roller. Your Quads (Front upper area of your legs), Hamstrings (Back upper area of your legs), Calves (Lower back area of your legs), IT Bands (Outer sides of your thighs and VERY important in your known for having knee pains), Glutes and Hip Pockets (General Butt area), and Lats/Traps (Upper back and armpit areas). Theres tons of videos on how to properly work the roller on each area and I'll be posting one myself very soon but these descriptions are the general idea. Work each muscle slowly u if until you find a knot (a pins and needles kind of tingling sensation) and hold pressure on it for 5-10 seconds then roll it out some more. Find, rinse, repeat. Now if your body is built like Frankenstein as mine currently is, your going to find ALOT OF KNOTS. And these knots will be VERY painful but only at first. So suck it up and massage them out. The more often you do it, the less painful there become and the better your body feels.
For those nagging hard to reach places such as shoulder blades and hips, things like tennis balls, softballs, medicine balls work wonders but again, they are very dense and will hurt at first. But for the 20 minutes you fight through all this will pay off in the long run when your days are alot pain free later on during everyday activities.
Stretching is one of the most overlooked components of weight training programs. Everyone wants to lift lift lift and stretching gets pushed to the back burner leading to muscle imbalances, poor form and injuries.
Foam Rollers are used for Self-Myofascial Release which may sound a little adult but pretty much just means self massage. When you workout or train your muscles get tight creating lactic acid and "knots'. The foam roller rolls out the knots until they release increasing your circulation, range of motion and promoting overall general healing. Think of it as a rubber, and then tying it into a knot. With that knot, the band cant stretch nearly as far and will break with too much force applied to it. Now by taking the knot out bingo bango, your back to full efficiency.
Now you can find foam rollers on sites like performbetter.com ranging from regular to dense. The denser the roller the deeper the massage it gives and the higher the price ($30+0. You can also save some money and just buy a 5 dollar pvc pipe at your local hardware store and it works great but only keep in mind, pvc pipe has NO give and will be pretty painful to use for someone new to foam rolling. If your really crafty or have a mom with tons of free time, you can bedazzle your own padded foam roller with pvc pipe, foam packaging wrap, and some kind of spandex or Lycra to cover it all in like those old fashion book skins you had in middle school.
Your body has tons of trigger points that you would need to focus on with a foam roller. Your Quads (Front upper area of your legs), Hamstrings (Back upper area of your legs), Calves (Lower back area of your legs), IT Bands (Outer sides of your thighs and VERY important in your known for having knee pains), Glutes and Hip Pockets (General Butt area), and Lats/Traps (Upper back and armpit areas). Theres tons of videos on how to properly work the roller on each area and I'll be posting one myself very soon but these descriptions are the general idea. Work each muscle slowly u if until you find a knot (a pins and needles kind of tingling sensation) and hold pressure on it for 5-10 seconds then roll it out some more. Find, rinse, repeat. Now if your body is built like Frankenstein as mine currently is, your going to find ALOT OF KNOTS. And these knots will be VERY painful but only at first. So suck it up and massage them out. The more often you do it, the less painful there become and the better your body feels.
For those nagging hard to reach places such as shoulder blades and hips, things like tennis balls, softballs, medicine balls work wonders but again, they are very dense and will hurt at first. But for the 20 minutes you fight through all this will pay off in the long run when your days are alot pain free later on during everyday activities.
1 comments:
People are always shocked by how much they can do with a foam rollerand how intense and relaxing the self-massage can be. Plus, when you're just relaxing around the house, they make for great body bolsters or leg support - quite the versatile addition to your repertoire.
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