A few weeks ago, I discovered I was using my foam roller all wrong. I was rolling out my muscles like a baking pin roller, up and down, back and forth on my legs and back. While it is called a “roller”, rolling isn’t the ideal way to use it.
After watching a number of videos and trying out a few different techniques, I would say that the renowned physiotherapist Kelly Starrett had the best advice, you are aiming to apply pressure to tight areas to help them release, it is not about the rolling action. In order to do that you need to first find (seek) out that area, then use the right tool (roller, ball, theragun) to add deep pressure on it, while you focus on relaxing the muscle.
With my prior foam rolling techniques, I was so tense trying to keep the roller moving that I was never relaxing the muscle properly to get the true benefits.
How to Foam Roll Like a Pro.
Think of it like a heat-seeking-missile. Your mission is to find (seek) out areas where you are the tightest and sore. Then you want to apply pressure using the right device, like a foam roller. Stay on that spot for 30 seconds and take deep breaths to RELAX into the pressure/pain of the roller.
Say you were foam rolling on a really tight quad muscle. Visualize the pressure of the roller pushing all the way through to your femur bone.
Join me and commit to 3 minutes per day of foam rolling for the next 2 weeks.
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Article by: Matt – The Feed