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Start foam rolling! How DIY soft tissue release can help keep you exercising

Writer's picture: Mary BrookingMary Brooking

Updated: 5 days ago

Repeated muscle contractions cause damage to our soft tissue; particularly our muscles and connective tissue (the “fascial envelope” surrounding our muscles, tendons and ligaments). During exercise muscles which receive repeated eccentric loading, such as the legs during running, suffer damage through tiny micro-tears and the connective tissue becomes bunched, stuck and knotted around the muscle areas that have been most stressed often leading to feelings of soreness, stiffness or tightness.


This isn’t only uncomfortable. It also reduces muscle efficiency and therefore affects muscle balance around joints (the ankle, knee and hip joints for runners), potentially increasing joint stress and reducing joint mobility with the consequence of perhaps impacting our movement patterns..


Reducing these adhesions in our connective tissue and muscles therefore can be a key way of reducing injury risk and making our exercise and activity something we can do sustainably.


Massage, massage balls and foam rolling use pressure and movement to soften and lengthen muscles, and fascia/connective tissue. They help:

  • reduce soft tissue tension and release restrictions so helping muscles function better

  • improve muscle balance by not only reducing tension in shortened, tight muscles but also activating other muscles which might be inhibited

  • reduce joint stress which can be driven by uneven loads on joints from unbalanced muscles

  • Improve range of motion at a specific joint, and so create the mobility for sustainable movement patterns preventing adverse impacts in one area rippling through our body

  • Improve posture by balancing our postural muscles which include our glutes, hamstrings and hip flexors

  • Increase awareness of areas of soreness, tension and weakness meaning they can become a future focus for strength and mobility work

  • Promote relaxation by working with the nervous system at both a muscular and a whole body level, through activating the parasympathetic nervous system to reduce stress responses


A massage 2 or 3 times a week is something probably only elite athletes get to benefit from, for most of us a monthly maintenance massage is a more practical cycle, but there are ways we can make a huge difference ourselves in our daily or weekly routines using a foam roller and massage balls. These provide a compression force to tight areas of a muscle which helps to break down areas of tightness and improve blood flow to surrounding tissue.


Foam rolling is most usefully done after exercise or as a separate activity. Areas to focus on are ones which feel tight, stiff or where you feel restrictions in your movement range. It should only targeted on muscles - do not roll bony areas, joints or tendons directly - they will benefit from the work done on muscles and fascia. Just target one leg at a time, it's much more effective.. Cross the other leg on top or hold to the side.


To find the areas of your muscle that require releasing:

  • Apply moderate pressure to a muscle through the foam roller using the weight of your body

  • Support your weight through your arms: this will allow you to control the pressure being applied

  • Roll slowly. Aim for about 1 inch per second until you reach an area that seems more sensitive

  • Pause for several seconds and relax through the discomfort until it begins to ease and you can sink deeper against the roller

  • Try also rocking slowly side to side on this spot

  • Continue down the muscle pausing and repeating the steps above at every tight spot

  • Your legs are cyclinders so before you move on from a muscle after one “pass” change the angle of your leg and take another pass on a different line to target a different area of the muscle - you maybe surprised how different they feel

  • You can get additional benefits by the muscle extending and contracting while the foam roller is on a sensitive area. Flex and extend your ankle to achive this with your calves and your knee to do this with your quads (for your hamstrings this works best when using a massage ball in a seated position)


My tips on an ideal foam roller:

  • Large diameter eg 15cm. The small travel ones concentrate the pressure into a smaller area so can be much more intense

  • Smooth surface. The knobbly/corrugated ones are similarly very intense. If your foam roller is just so “aggressive” that you don’t use it then you are missing out on the benefits that can come from using a “kinder” one!

There are lots of options on Amazon - between about £10 - £20


Calves

Start off by sitting on the floor with your foot pointed up, the foam roller underneath one calf muscle, the other leg crossed on top and your weight supported by your arms.. Slowly move your calf up and down the foam roller until you find a tender spot. Stop once you find the spot and then extend and flex your foot to work through the soreness. It will take a minute or two to work through the tight spots. Then slightly turn in your foot to position the inside of the calf muscle on the foam roller and repeat. Finally turn out your foot to target the outside of the calf muscle and repeat again. Stay away from ankle and knee joints.


Hamstrings

Move the foam roller up your leg to the back of your thigh and repeat as for your calves, keeping away from knee and hip joints.



Quads

Turn over so you are in a foreram plank position with the front of one thigh on the foam roller and the other leg crossed over at the ankles. Repeat the process described above. Bending and straightening your knee can help work through sore aeas and rotate your hips to target inner and outer thigh muscles. There is little point turning on your side and foam rolling your ilio-tibial band (ITB), it will hurt a lot and not have much impact, time is better spent on the quads.


Open up your chest

This is the nicest one! Lie with the foam roller down the length of your spine and arms out in a T shape and just relax. You aren't moving or putting pressure on your spine, and make sure your head and neck are well supported.


For massage ball tips have a look at this:



For personalised advice or more information, please get in touch by calling Mary on 07909 551191, emailing on mary@marybrooking.co.uk or clicking on the link below.



Reference: Strength & Conditioning for Endurance Running by Richard Blagrove (A fantastic book, I use it a lot!)

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