Foam Rolling is also known as (SMR) Self Myofascial Release:  Self – You are the one doing the releasing; Myofascial – Myo – Muscle, Fascia – band/ connective tissue; Release – Relaxing the tissue. A foam roller (like this one) is one tool that you can use for SMR, lacrosse/tennis/medicine balls also work.

To understand foam rolling, first you need to know what the fascia layer is. It is a layer of connective tissue that connects our muscles, allowing them to slide or glide as we move. An orange is a perfect example to understand where and what fascia is. The the white layer between the peel and on the orange pulp/compartments of fruit is your fascia, the individual pieces fruit/orange are your muscle.

How to do it?

It might be simpler to youtube this to get a better visual (watch this for foam rolling for runners), but essentially these are the different steps for foam rolling a certain part of your body / muscle group:

• Find a “trigger” point. spot that is quite sore. and hold there while concentrating on breathing.
• During inhaling maintain pressure on the trigger point, while exhaling apply a little more pressure if you can – you never want so much pressure that you can’t bear the pain and can’t relax the muscle.

How does it work?

It’s due to a combination of things:

• Stretching from you rolling the muscle and elongating it
• Desensitization, whereby the “tone” of the nervous system innervating the tight muscle is decreased due to the pressure being applied.
• Deep breathing. As mentioned above about how to do it, you’re going to be concentrating on breathing. Deep breathing helps you relax and reduces nervous system innervation.

All of the above will help loosen you up, make you more mobile, and have less pain.

When should you do it?

Pre or post workout? The answer is both, or whichever you prefer.

• Pre workout: foam rolling before a workout is beneficial as it can help increase your range of motion by releasing trigger points in the tissue that restrict movement or cause the feeling of tightness. It should be noted though, if your goal is strength or power output, foam rolling prior to working out is shown to reduce power output slightly. If this is important to you for a certain workout, then doing a dynamic stretch routine, some muscle activation drills, and something to get the heart pumping instead.
• Post workout: this is a great way to relax the nervous system, transitioning from workout stress to a relaxed state. As well as a reduction of the effects of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).