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Other/Mixed Foam Rolling Makes No Difference -- Except for Agility

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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watchnerd

watchnerd

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Study that:

1. Induced muscle damage via 50 meter sprints
2. One group foam-rolled, the control group didn't
3. Foam rolling made no difference between the two groups in ROM, vertical jump, or perceived muscle pain / soreness
4. Foam rolling did exhibit a statistically significant difference in agility tests



But....

...the findings may be suspect due to the sponsor of the study.
 
Pin and pull self massage with a lacrosse ball has done wonders for me, but foam rolling almost never.

I treat my upper back, pecs and glutes daily. It definitely makes a difference. (For example, I could get rid of shoulder pain within a couple of days, that I had had for years. And it helps against headaches.)
 
Isn't part of the problem that you are not actually supposed to "roll" much when using them? You should focus and linger on points of tension. This is why lacrosse balls are often a better substitute for smaller muscle areas as Bauer is using them. I find them great for thoratic stretching rather than "rolling."
 
guardian7 said:
Isn't part of the problem that you are not actually supposed to "roll" much when using them? You should focus and linger on points of tension. This is why lacrosse balls are often a better substitute for smaller muscle areas as Bauer is using them. I find them great for thoratic stretching rather than "rolling."
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The participants presumably just used them however people normally use them, right or wrong, and could therefore be seen as indicative of gen pop results.
 
Bauer said:
Pin and pull self massage with a lacrosse ball has done wonders for me, but foam rolling almost never.

I treat my upper back, pecs and glutes daily. It definitely makes a difference. (For example, I could get rid of shoulder pain within a couple of days, that I had had for years. And it helps against headaches.)
Click to expand...

I have a lacrosse ball and spikey "rumble roller".

I almost never use them anymore as I've figured out how to do dynamic routines for my trouble spots that get knotty or tight.

Plus just general thoracic, shoulder, and hip mobility work every day.

Oh, also....

I get a full body massage at least every 2 weeks, sometimes weekly.
 
I’ve been prescribed foam roller exercises by therapists and trainers and I’ve never noticed that it helps anything. Except the one for thoracic extension, that seemed pretty good.

My thought is it depends on what’s going on with the particular person and if it’s something that can be helped by a foam roller.
 
I have a foam roller I use from time to time to do very specific t-spine/shoulder/lat/upper back "stretches" (kind of like cross-bench pullovers and doorway stretches). It's handy because I can throw it on the floor and spend time with it with almost zero effort.

I think foam rollers have a place, and I get why they are attractive, but I never thought there was much they could give that couldn't be gotten with regular stretching/mobility work and massage therapy.
 
I took my school’s Personal Fitness class this summer, and the teacher prescribed thoroughly foam rolling basically every muscle group before every single training session.

I never ended up spending time on it. The benefit/time ratio seems very low, especially in comparison to things like sauna, cold baths, more accessories, more stretching, ect.

I do enjoy stretching my back on bigger ones— that feels great.
 


My wife bought one. She never uses it. I tried it and then realized it doesn't so much for muscle tightness. I do however use it periodically to stretch out some thoracic tightness...but I've debated if it's any better then pullup bar hangs. Either way, it's a nice one that will probably last decades, and get used some. So I guess it was worth the $50 in that regard.

I also use a racquet ball that I use to loosen some tightness in my traps for some degenerative cervical issues at C7.
 
Muscle damage (DOMS) is distinct from fascia. So not a surprise that FR didn’t help with DOMS or that agility (despite the pain) was somewhat better in the FR group. (FR, “tempering” and lacrosse ball etc are better thought of as fascia modalities.) Not much available for DOMS relief except to wait it out. Generally speaking, if tissue is already pissed off (injured) working on it directly just pisses it off more…upstream, downstream or antagonist of the sore muscle is usually more helpful.
 
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Foam rolling absolutely helps if you do it correctly. It should take you 5mins at least to roll your entire quad with contract and relax, bending your knee to take the quad through ROM, and oscillating on sticking points. Lacrosse balls are better sure, but if you have tight quads, a FR is more than enough to "make the pain face", then dive into LAX balls
 
I haven't used a foam roller since January 2006.

Some interesting research from the last 5 years:

2017 Review - Effect of self-myofascial release on myofascial pain, muscle flexibility, and strength: A narrative review - PubMed

SMFR has been widely used by health-care professionals in treating myofascial pain. However, we found no clinical trials which evaluated the influence of SMFR on myofascial pain.)
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2019 Meta Analysis - DURATION OF MYOFASCIAL ROLLING FOR OPTIMAL RECOVERY, RANGE OF MOTION, AND PERFORMANCE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE - PubMed

Results do not support increases in chronic ROM or performance, and data are insufficient to provide a conclusive recommendation for impacting acute ROM.
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2022 Meta Analysis - Chronic Effects of Foam Rolling on Flexibility and Performance: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials - PubMed

Results revealed that chronic FR demonstrated conflicting results for improvement of flexibility. On the other hand, a majority of the articles in this review showed no beneficial effects of FR on performance. Lastly, the effect of FR on recovery is unclear.
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I roll my back after most workouts with a foam roller. And I use a Lacross ball to massage knots out of my glutes against a wall. My back can tighten up easily so these things work for me. Some people have more natural flexibility. Some even have loose joints. I recently could no longer open or close my elbow due to what my PT called "adaptive stiffness". So I have to roll and poke everything.
 
jayjo said:
I recently could no longer open or close my elbow due to what my PT called "adaptive stiffness". So I have to roll and poke everything.
Click to expand...

Wow.

Was that a sudden thing or did it come on gradually?

I thought curls were part of your routine? Maybe I'm misremembering.
 
 
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