Foam rolling might be something you do daily – or you might never have tried it! No matter where you land on that continuum, some of you might be curious about the potential benefits of foam rolling, including whether some of the touted benefits you have heard about are actually true. Today we are addressing all of this and more, so read on!

Some recent popular press in the past year has covered foam rolling (see this NY Times article from July 2022) and you might have other sources where you have read or heard about its benefit. Navigating fitness trends can sometimes feel like whiplash, and sometimes it’s helpful to know what’s true and worth pursuing. So, what is the evidence behind foam rolling?

In this age of misinformation, we appreciate the nuance the NY Times gave this topic. In a nutshell, the article conveys that while there is genuine research support for the benefits of foam rolling (specifically in increasing mobility, flexibility, and in reducing soreness), some of that research has been in small samples, and the methods have differed across studies. In other words, the research base we have makes it difficult to say exactly why foam rolling works. With that said, in some instances, there are some real benefits to rolling, and we’ll describe some of that just below.

How do foam rollers work?

If you have met anyone on our team here at Beacon PT, you have probably heard us talk about your fascia. That’s right, the connective tissue that supports our entire neuromusculoskeletal system. With too much or too little activity, this fascia within the muscle can become dense and fibrotic, forming adhesions in the body, which can lead to the loss of mobility and function, leading to pain and stiffness. If done correctly, foam rolling can be a good tool to address these issues.

There are many benefits to foam rolling, but the way we see many people using them, for the most part those benefits are due to nitric oxide release. Nitric oxide is a compound that dilates the blood vessels, which then brings more blood flow into the area, which will actually make you feel better. Foam rolling has also been found to reduce arterial stiffness and improve endothelial function. With that said, the benefits of foam rolling are really on the cardiovascular system, but is this really what you’re looking for when using a foam roller? If you simply foam roll up and down your legs or up and down your back before a workout or after a workout, you’re only increasing blood flow, and mobilizing some of the vasculature to warm up. If that was your plan all along, which is a good plan, then that’s great, but if your aim was to decrease stiffness and decrease the restrictions in your body, just going across the tissues with a foam roller isn’t going to make any changes to the fibrotic tissues deep inside the muscle and you’ll continue to feel stiff, and the restrictions will remain.

How do I roll correctly?

When your body feels stiff, your body is in pain, your body has knots in it, etc., that’s a directionality problem, which means you’re going to need to go down and into the tissue, not across them. To break up stiffness and fibrosis in the muscle you need to hold pressure on that specific point and induce a stretch of the tissue to separate the fascicles, or muscle cells, by driving through the tissue instead of just going across it. What this means is, if you’re foam rolling the quadriceps muscle on the front of your thigh, find a spot that feels tender or tight and lie on top of the foam roller with it perpendicular to your thigh. Bend and straighten your leg as you use the foam roller to put deep pressure on that specific spot. Then change the direction of either your leg as it sits on the foam roller or change the direction of the foam roller and repeat on that same spot. You want to change the direction of how you’re on the foam roller and then drive through the tissues in multiple angles. The build-up of the fibrosis within the muscle is three dimensional, so you have to apply deep pressure in multiple directions to get the most benefit.

Speaking of benefit, foam rolling in this way will provide you with the kind of shear sensations in the tissues that will reconnect your Ruffini nerve endings to your brain. Ruffini nerve endings are neuroplastic mechanoreceptors in the deep tissues of the skin that sense deformation and shearing of the muscles, skin, and fascia, which occurs every time we move. Our bodies need to know when and where shearing is happening when we move so the body can react appropriately whether we’re exercising, playing a sport, or just walking down the street, but if your body is riddled with adhesions, fibrosis, and stiffness and loses the ability to shear due to a lack of movement or too much movement, your body will incrementally become less sensitive to your body’s movements in general. This can lead to faulty movement patterns and ultimately injury. Foam rolling is a great tool that, when used properly can give you a refined sense of movement, which can affect aging and proprioception from a movement perspective.

Using the foam roller in this fashion can be quite uncomfortable and sometimes people say that they even see stars or experience nausea when they’ve found “the right spot.” We all have different thresholds of tolerance for this feeling and you can navigate this with all of the different styles of rollers that are available. They come in different levels (black is the hardest), and some come with little nubs or spikes. In general, you want to choose a version that allows you to use the technique we describe just above, with a level of discomfort that pushes your pain threshold a bit, but doesn’t make you stop breathing!

 Would I be better off with a Theragun?

The short answer (if you haven’t already purchased a Theragun), is you are likely fine without one. For a much more complete answer to this question, see our blog from March 18, 2022. As we wrote then, foam rollers are quite a bit less pricey, and with appropriate use, rolling can provide a lot of relatively inexpensive benefit.

Other uses for a foam roller!

Not only are foam rollers a great tool for addressing fascia, they can also be a handy piece of equipment for strength training as well. This versatile piece of equipment can be used for core, shoulder, and even hamstring strength training!

If you want to consult with one of our therapists about whether and how you might integrate foam rolling into your fitness and self-care regimen, come in for a visit today. Here at Beacon PT, we love getting you back to doing the things you love.