To Roll or Not To Roll?

Most of you know that a good dynamic warm up, foam rolling and some light stretching are beneficial before and after exercising.You all have your own variations on these routines or techniques you apply to your pre/post workout regimen, which is great.However, I’ve noticed lately there are many of you who don’t have a pre or post workout regimen.I have two goals for this blog post. First, I want people that aren't doing any kind of rolling for myofascial release pre/post workout to start adding it in. Second, I would like to get people that have a routine to think outside the box and add some new techniques or focus on some new muscles groups rather than the usual suspects.

 

If you haven’t considered the benefits of rolling, here's the short version. Rolling is very much like a massage, it manipulates the tissues in and around muscles or joints to increase blood flow, increase oxygenation, increase flexibility, break-up muscle tissue (knots), and increase movement. During exercise all these tissues can get tight which is why you need to spend time before and after a workout "working out the kinks". Skipping this step subjects yourself to an increased risk of injury or limiting your ability to get better from an issue that has been a constant problem.

Many of us get stuck repeatedly rolling the same areas, which don't get me wrong isn't a bad thing. If you have a tight IT band then go ahead and roll the crap out of it, but a lot of us don't think to do anything other than the big things (IT band, quads, hamstrings, glutes). Everything is connected, a common statement that you might have heard around CPC before, and it's true. A lot of times that nagging tightness or soreness in your glute isn't coming directly from that area. You can roll the hell out of it, and it will feel better for a while, but may never go away. You need to look to other areas. Look to the lower leg for example. Our feet hit the floor first in the morning and are the last off of it at night (I didn't come up with that I stole it from somewhere). Many of us are constantly on our feet, if they aren't happy then that is going to work it's way right up the line. I want people to start thinking outside of the norm for your routines, in order to treat your ailments. You can roll virtually any muscle, and if you don't know how then ask.  

If you're looking for a more in depth look at rolling, I seriously encourage you to sign up for the Trigger Point workshop we have coming up here at CPC on Sunday, May 18th. It's open to the public, you don't have to be "in the field", and you shouldn't feel intimidated. The workshops are fun, informative and enjoyable. You'll get a lot out of it and most of all you'll probably learn how to fix some of those aches and pains.

- MS