Once upon a time our bodies were young, flexible and we felt invincible… However, if you’re like most of us, you have aged and your once-spry muscles or more prone to injuries, aches and pains.
In order to help your muscles and avoid the not-so-pleasurable pains and aches that come in adulthood, we recommend you try foam rolling and learn how to do it correctly.
What is foam rolling?
Foam rolling is a self-myofascial release (MSR) technique that is used by athletes and physical therapists to inhibit overactive muscles. Not an athlete or physical therapist? Fine by us! Read these tips to learn how to foam roll correctly and relieve your muscles from aches, pains and injuries in the future.
1. Avoid rolling directly on the source of pain.
Avoid rolling directly on the source of the pain. While that may be your first instinct, or not (Ouch), it is better to focus on the surrounding area. By rolling out the area around the source of pain, you relax and repair your muscles instead of causing more inflammation to an already inflamed area!
2. Take your time.
Make sure you give yourself time to relax before foam rolling to get the best results. Find the area that has tension of about an eight, on a scale of one-to-ten. Stay on this area and breath deeply until the tension decreases to about a four. Continue to work on the same muscle area and repeat this process.
3. Foam roll your muscles regularly.
Foam rolling naturally relieve stress, improves posture and supports anyone who is pregnant or trying to prevent injury. Foam rolling twice a week for ten minutes is very beneficial to the body.
Who does foam rolling help?
Well, like we just said, it helps just about anyone looking to relieve stress, prevent injury or relieve their muscles of aches and pains. Common reasons to foam roll include: relieve stress or to help with an injury. However, it is also common dancers, athletes and pregnant women to foam roll as well!
Read more about foam rolling in the MindBodyGreen article.