Know Your Roll

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Foam rolling sure feels good.  A brief but painful bout on a roller makes one feel light and springy, less painful, and move with a greater range of motion. But what does the science say about foam rolling?

A review of the literature performed by a group of researchers out of the UK and Finland investigated several outcomes of foam rolling(1). The researchers looked at Short term effects of foam rolling on flexibility, long term effects of foam rolling on flexibility , short term effects on athletic performance, and short term effects on delayed onset muscle soreness or the affectionately termed DOMS.

What was concluded about foam rolling is the following:

  • Foam Rolling improves range of motion in the short term with effects lasting up to about 10 minutes.

  • It is most effective when applied for 1-2 with firm pressure, the lighter you go the less effective it is

  • It does not limit athletic performance in the same way that static stretching does

  • It improves markers of recovery from delayed onset muscle soreness

  • It is not known what the long term effects on flexibility might be

  • The exact mechanisms of foam rolling are still not known.

To put it simply, foam rolling has great use for a recovery tool and as a tool for training greater rom and it can be used as part of a warm up without limiting performance. However, no one knows all of the reasons that makes it effective. I’ll go into some detal of what researchers may believe it is doing in upcoming days.

1- Beardsley C. Skarabot J. 2015. Effects of self-myofascial release: A systematic review.Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies 19, 747-758



Ian Pirie