Foam Roller Review
Posted on January 15, 2015
The foam roller is becoming an increasingly used piece of fitness equipment. almost obsolete when I first started training people about 10 years ago. I see it everywhere now in gyms, people’s basements and even big box stores that carry limited fitness equipment as it is. There are rollers with balls, nubs and other funny shapes that I can’t always figure out exactly what they are for but people are definitely getting the message about foam rolling, that it works and it is much more inexpensive than going to see a Registered Massage Therapist everyday.
Today I reviewed the foam roller and based on the above paragraph it should be no surprise that I think everyone should have one. Now picking the right one is a different story. If you’re a beginner roller you should get the softest roller you can find, usually they are white, blue or multi coloured white and green. As you become a more advanced roller and your muscles adapt to the rolling out you can get firmer ones that are made of high density foam or have a plastic base with a soft covering but these can be painful and if your first experience is on one of these you will give up when I feel there is a lot of benefit that can be derived from the foam roller.
When you’re using the roller try to stay on the painful ‘trigger points’ with little rolls as that is where you derive the most benefit. If you are experiencing hip, knee, ankle or foot arch pain, rolling the muscles surrounding the joint will likely help but there is no guarantee. There could be many contributing factors such as incorrect movement patterns or bad shoes which the foam roller will definitely NOT address. Always stay on muscle when you’re rolling. Going directly on bone is more likely to make matters worse. If you are looking for foam rolling programs you can check us out at my.fitnessforfreedom.com
