I will outline two simple purposes of foam rolling in relation to physical performance:<\/p>\n
1) Improve range of motion<\/p>\n
When fascia becomes tight, it can restrict the freedom of movement within that muscle which can cause reduced range of motion as well as the build up of pressure on the actual joints themselves. Considering joints aren\u2019t designed to receive pressure the way muscles are, if muscles are tight and are unable to offer the support in which the joints need, this may eventually lead to injury.
\nFoam rolling can be a great tool to really loosen out that tight fascia and therefore provide increased range of motion and in effect reduce risk of injury as well as increase physical performance.<\/p>\n
Try foam rolling your lats now for a minute each (yes just bare the pain!) and I guarantee you\u2019ll be swinging your arms as if you\u2019ve drank a litre of Red-bull (aka. You\u2019ll be flying).
\nTransfer those newly loosened lats onto the performance scene, such as with the pull-up exercise, where an increased range of motion will lead to more area\u2019s of the muscle being able to be contracted and ultimately will lead to a broader well built back! Remember lads, a woman likes a man with a broad back\u2026it symbolised RELIABILITY (well in my opinion anyway).<\/p>\n
2) Inhibit overactive muscles<\/p>\n
Certain muscles in the body become overactive and in effect more tight than others. Foam rolling can have an \u2018inhibition effect\u2019 where such overly tight muscles can be reduced in its tendency to contract. This may sound like a bad idea, especially when training as you\u2019d want to ensure all your muscles are activated when performing certain movements but it can actually be a very useful way to help you target the correct muscles you want to target.<\/p>\n
A classic example will be the squat, where most people have overactive quads and underactive glutes and therefore when they perform the squat, the body won\u2019t actually use the glutes but will rather prioritise the quads (which as you know will NOT lead to good results!) Therefore if you were to foam roll just the quads prior to the squat, you can reduce its activity and in effect allow the body to better connect with the glutes (even better when combined with a glute activation exercise such as the glute bridge). I strongly recommend for you to give this little trick a go and enjoy some nice ASS DOMS the next day\u2026<\/p>\n
Those are two simple functional purposes for the use of foam rolling so if you haven\u2019t already got one, go on Rakuten (you can tell I live in Japan) and do yourself a favor and order one and get rolling!","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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