Are you foam rolling too hard?

These no longer need be modern torture devices for the physically active!

I just had an idea come to me as I was working to correct a few dysfunctions of my own. I don’t always have another person or practitioner to perform soft-tissue mobilization on myself and I’m sure you don’t either. When this is the case I turn to items like foam rollers, lacrosse balls, and variations of “The Stick”. In the past, I used to think that if I wasn’t wincing and sweating from the self-inflicted pain then I wasn’t going hard enough. I also used to spread this masochistic premise to my patients and athletes. I used to believe that I was deforming the fascia/collagen/soft tissues or causing ischemic compression to “trigger points” and often left myself and others with bruises!

More recently, I have been finding that less is best sometimes when it comes to soft tissue work. I now use a model based on stimulating the central nervous system. This stimulus to common patterns results in transient reductions in tone and improved mobility. There are several advantages to using the “less is best” approach.

1) Not causing local damage with excessive force = allows recurrent applications on a daily basis.

2) Causing local discoloration or bruising with patients that are minors could alarm or scare off parents. This also would make some patients of age apprehensive as well.

3) Some people have a very low pain tolerance. Previously, this may have kept some athletes/patients from using a foam roller on their own. Now the only excuse is pure laziness.

4) It empowers you or the patient to work on their own issues without needing direct care from a clinician.

5) It saves time! Just spend a couple minutes on an area going lightly instead of a 15-minute death match with your calves or hamstrings!

Maybe it is time to reevaluate your foam rolling practice or the instructions you give to others. If you don’t believe that you can get similar results just do some experimentation on your own! This post may be contrary to what you have seen or read on more popular mobility focused websites/blogs. I should have listened to my middle school science teacher when she said, “Less is best in the world of science!” It’s too bad that ideology doesn’t work for making money. Just lighten up a little bit people! Literally!

Categories: benefits of foam rolling, foam roll exercises, foam rolling for physical therapy, foam rolling for runners, foam rolls, myofascial release, what is a foam roller