Episode 79 – 5 Essential Foam Rolling tips

 

Foam rollers have grown in popularity and for very good reasons.

 

Foam rollers are versatile, affordable, and quite effective as a means of self-massage and recovery — when used properly. Here are five (5) essential foam rolling tips to follow to fast track your peak performance.

 

Let’s go!

 

1. Don’t roll over joints

Foam rolling directly over joints is a no go! Any foam rolling over the joints may affect the proprioceptive nerves around the joint area. This may send mixed signals to your brain with regards to where your joint is in time and space (read: spatial awareness), and this can have a myriad of consequences such as an increased risk of injury – obviously, you don’t want that!

 

2. Avoid the lower back and neck

Got a tight lower back or neck? As tempting as it may be to target these common tight areas of the body, they are rarely the direct source of tightness. Tightness in these areas may actually be due to other muscles around them so you are better off focusing on them instead. For example, if your back is tight, you may need to focus on your legs (such as hamstrings) whereas if your neck is tight it might actually be your upper traps and pec minors (chest muscles).

 

On the same token, it may be a muscle activation issue. One of the reasons these muscles may be tight is the overuse of a particular muscle or, inactivation or under recruitment of a muscle with a similar function. For example, in the case of a tight back, it may be underactive gluts and overused hamstrings. So in this case, it would be smarter to work on activating gluts along with loosening hamstrings.

Definitely, something to consider!

 

 

What are two other essential foam rolling tips to follow to fast track your peak performance? Read on below.

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