[This is a guest post from Aaron Porter]

woman-foam-rollingFoam Rolling. We’ve all heard it before and while it has been shown to boos post-workout recovery time and increase metabolic reaction within the muscle, that is only one half of the equation. What if I told you that adding foam rolling to your basic dynamic warmup is also a way of acutely increasing your overall joint Range of Motion (ROM) as well as general flexibility. For years, many medical professionals such as physical therapists and massage therapists have used this technique, referred to as Myofascial Release, to relieve patients who were suffering from tight muscles and decreased ROM (2). Now that the health promotion field is growing increasingly aware of fine tuning the human body, everyone has the luxury of self-myofascial release in the gym, at the field, or even in their own home. Before we go deeper into the benefits, lets look at the basic science behind how foam rolling works.

To spare you an extensive review of neuromuscular anatomy I’ll hit a few key points that are essential to understanding foam rolling and self-myofascial release. There are two types of neural receptors in the skeletal muscle tissue. The first of which is the muscle spindle that is responsible for monitoring muscle fiber length and the rate at which the length is changing. Once that muscle fiber reaches its threshold, it triggers what is called the myotatic stretch reflex which shortens the muscle fiber to prevent damage. The Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO) is in charge of monitoring muscle fiber tension and the rate of tension change causing the muscle to relax at its tension threshold. When targeting a trigger point (knot or kink) in the muscle with a foam roller, there is an exponential increase in muscle tension on the trigger point. This increase in tension actually inhibits the muscle spindle activity, allowing the muscle to relax, stretch out, and realign.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the science we can focus on what it means in a practical sense. Though research on self-myofascial real ease and its relationship to increased ROM and flexibility is certainly not vast, there are a few studies that have sought to shed light on this little known truth. One study (1) had 11 men each test their strength on a leg extension machine and then foam roll for two minutes on their quadriceps, then they proceeded to test their strength again on the same machine. The results showed that not only did the subjects retain strength, but they also had an average increase in knee flexion by 7-10 degrees (1). That is huge. Essentially, the inhibition of the muscle spindle and the relaxation and realignment of the muscle fibers allows for more free movement of the skeletal muscle at a greater range of motion. There is still plenty of research left to conduct pertaining to self-myofascial release and more specifically to foam rolling. Don’t let the lack of extensive research make you shy away from adding this important tool to your training arsenal. Myofascial Release will allow your body to get into a position from which it can apply the most power as efficiently as possible. All in all, foam rolling can be the gateway for anyone to maximize their workout and get the most out of their time at the gym.

References:

  1. MacDonald, Graham Z., Michael D. Penney, Michelle E. Mullaley, Amanda L. Cuconato, Corey D. Drake, David G. Behm, and Duane C. Button. “An Acute Bout of Self-Myofascial Release Increases Range of Motion Without Subsequent Decrease in Muscle Activation or Force.” Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research: (2013): 812-21Roylance, Derek S., James D. George,
  2. Adam M. Hammer, Nicole Rencher, Gilbert W. Gellingham, Ronald L Hager, William J. Myrer. “Evaluating Acute Changes in Joint Range-of-Motion using Self- Myofascial Release, Postural Alignment Exercises, and Static Stretches.” International Journal of Exercise Science: (2013): 310-19