Has this ever happened to you? Do you wake up one morning to find that something is very tight, stiff and sore? Maybe it’s your back or your hamstrings or maybe a shoulder.
It just makes sense to you that stretching it out would help; that it would feel better somehow. But, when you stretch, it feels more like steel cables have been inserted into what used to be muscle.
And hurts.
So if you’re like most people, you turn to your local doctor to sort things out.
Google.
And low and lo and behold, one of the common solutions to this irritating problem is the foam roller.
What is a foam roller?
A foam roller is a cylinder of high-density foam, typically 2 to 4 feet long and 4 to 6 inches in diameter. It reminds me of one of those “noodles” kids use in a pool (or my wife who is still a little girl at heart).
Many people use it as a “poor man’s massage” by rolling on it in various directions.
And it appears to reduce pain, increase movement and flexibility with just a few minutes of use.
Why does a foam roller work?
The most common explanations are that the roller “irons the fascia”, “hydrates the tissue” and “breaks up muscle knots”.
None of that is from.
Here’s what we really know about soft tissue pressure.
Many things seem to work. Rolfing, Myofascial Release, Active Release Technique, Deep Tissue Massage, Graston Technique, and others.
What do they have in common?
Pressure.
And how do they differ from each other?
Duration, intensity and frequency.
The science
Embedded in the fascia that wraps around the muscle are very small sensors known as mechanoreceptors. Mechanoreceptors respond to mechanical stimulation: tapping, pressure, stroking, stretching, etc. And there’s a lot going on within this fabric, so bear with me.
There are different types: Golgi tendon organ, Ruffini and Pacinian corpuscles. The Ruffini modulate the activity of the Sympathetic Nervous System. Pacinian corpuscles modulate proprioception (helps you know where your limb is and what it’s doing). Interstitial receptors are linked to the Autonomic Nervous System. These receptors are multimodal. They can function as mechanoreceptors and as pain receptors.
When you apply pressure and a very slight stretch, which always happens when you deform tissue with pressure, the mechanoreceptors go to work. Some will begin, depending on the intensity of the pressure and their individual tolerance, to relax the muscle through a reflex in the spinal cord. The result is that you feel looser, more mobile and less painful.
Some techniques add deep breathing. Deep breathing has been shown to slow down the sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight response), and as a result, it also reduces muscle tension.
So as you roll on the foam roller, you’re applying pressure and stretch; activating receptors that then reduce pain and increase mobility.
But, the results rarely hold up.
And that’s because it takes a lot of stimulation, a lot of repetition, to permanently change the resting “tone” of your tissue. So once you stop, the muscles, tendons, and even fascia slowly return to where they were before you rolled.
For those of you who like the creative use of video, you may enjoy this film I used, years ago, in a course I taught (and maybe some of you actually attended this course) to help pose the question: “Why do so many things work?”
Bottom line
Foam rolling seems to work for some people. I like it. Aid. But, one of the keys is figuring out what your body likes or responds to when it comes to the intensity, frequency, and duration of pressure and stretching. If you experiment a little and listen to what your body has to say, you will find it.