Foam rolling seems pretty straight forward. But as with everything else in the gym, the more you do it the more skilled you become.
Just like you practice complex lifts like squats, deadlifts, or clean and jerk, foam rolling requires practice as well. The two reasons I say that are A) because you need to accumulate more time foam rolling in order to maximize the benefits, and B) because you really do become better at the activity of foam rolling, which improves your results.
A) To really get a muscle to loosen up can take upwards of 2 minutes of constant pressure from a roller. That means that if you have several tight spots in one area, which most of us do, you’ll need several minutes to address them. Add up all of the potential tight areas in the body and it can become quite a lot of time. For those of us who also want to do a workout, 30 minutes on the roller ahead of time is not an appealing nor efficient prospect. If you make foam rolling a daily activity you can focus on just one or two areas and cut back on the time per session. The areas that you skip you can cover the next day and over the course of the weeks, you will be getting what you need for the amount of time you need. (One of my favorite times to do a little rolling is while watching TV)
B) It may seem like an easy thing – just lay on a roller and go – but in fact you get better at it with practice. In the beginning you may not know the best positions for certain muscles. You will spend more time searching for tender areas and may find yourself in awkward positions, which will inhibit your ability to relax. Also, the ‘feel’ for finding tender spots and for knowing when you have helped them to relax becomes more acute the more you work with a roller. Think of it as any other skill that you develop.
CONCLUSION
As with any skill, it takes time to master foam rolling. Rather than trying to spend a lot of time all in one shot, it makes sense to spend less time more often. If you do this, you will find yourself literally getting better at foam rolling and the results will improve accordingly.
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