High Density Foam Roller: How, When & Why?
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Everyone who works out or plays sport suffers from some form of aches and pains.There is a cheap and long lasting option that you can use everyday for your own massage therapy treatment at home, you need to look no further than your own foam roller.
What Is A Foam Roller?
A foam roller is simply a long piece of foam that you can roll on. By rolling on it your are giving yourself a massage and helping to start relieve your aches and pains. Foam rolling is a cost effective way to aid recovery and adaptation. But be warned, this is painful! You need to have a fairly high pain tolerance if you want to do foam rolling for recovery.
High Density Foam Roller
What is a high density foam roller? Well, there are a few types of foam rollers that you can purchase. A high density foam roller is the best choice for several reasons. You get more bang for your buck, it is hard and will give you a stronger and deeper massage. The other upside is that a high density foam roller will last much longer. Normal foam rollers can often sag in the middle where your body weight isover time, thus resulting in the need to buy a new one. However with a high density foam roller you can be sure that it will last a very long time and you won’t need to purchase another one.
Benefits Of Foam Rolling
Benefits of using a foam roller for massage:
- Massage at your convenience
- Target all your sore points; release your trigger points
- Increase range of motion
- Decrease soreness and pains
- Increase training efficiency
- Fix postural problems
- Recover faster
How Foam Rolling Works
Using a high density foam roller is so effective because it gives you a deep tissue massage. However the most important part and what most people seem to miss is the self myofascial release. Foam rolling is not as good as gettin a massage, however it is something you can do everyday on your own without having to reach into your wallet all the time.
Myofascial Release
Most of you right now are asking what in the world in myofascial release and why do I need it? You have something in your muscles called th Golgi Tendon Organ, in the muscle tendon area. When you increase the pressure and/or tension to the point where the muscle is at risk of injury, the golgi tendon organ responds by relaxing the muscle. So by stimulating the golgi tendon organ we can cause the muscle to relax. Amazing huh? So by foam rolling over your muscles with a high density foam roller, you are effectively stimulating the golgi tendon organ and therefore relaxing your muscles.
How and When Do I Use My High Density Foam Roller?
As much as you want, when you want, on anywhere that is sore. Yep, it is that simple. If you could get a massage everyday I bet you would? Using your foam roller after a workout is better as it aids recovering and relaxes sore muscles. However if you are tight in certain areas you should do them ll the time, as much as you want. Whenever you want.
Here are some tips for foam rolling:
- Concentrate on sore and tight areas, or where you need better range of motion
- Roll the full length of the muscle
- Roll on each muscle a few times; you will feel it loosening immediately.
- Go slowly, it will hurt more, but you will get more benefit
- Stop on the sore points (trigger points) and hold until the pain fades, but be sure to run the full length of the muscle
- Pre Workout focus on getting through the full length of the muscle, spend less time on each
- Post workout, focus on the trigger point aspect and spend a lot of time on each muscle
- Try not to roll over joints, especially the hip. You have structures in there that won’t appreciate it so much
- Do it often. More often if you are sore. Keep on rolling. Don’t stop.
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7 Responses to “High Density Foam Roller: How, When & Why?”
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I love the foam roller, it really makes a difference to my pain levels.
I know right, they are amazing. especially for my ITB. My ITB is alwasy so tight and the foam roller is the only thing that really helps.
I have to admit I had my doubts when I first heard about using these foam rollers. But when I used one on the arch of my foot for some trouble I was having it was a miracle worker.
Hey claire yeah my ITBS are always so tight as well and getting on the foam roller every day after I am in the gym really helps. Foam rollers are great instead of stretching and there are so many little exercises you can do on them too.
These are great products but I usually have back issues which these don’t really address.
I like this site because in it is talked about the health.It could be help for many of us. Thanks for the mentioned benefits of using a foam roller for massage.It is very important to know.Keep it up!
I have been suffering from terrible back pain for the past so many months. Will foam rollers help?