More Meat volume 4 - On a Roll

Tiffany has been without "the meat" for too long, so here we go with the fourth installment. This time we serve up the meat on a roll - a foam roll. The following is healthy serving of Foam Rolling 101:

We should start where all good stories start - with "myofascial release". Fascia is the soft tissue component of the connective tissue that provides support and protection for most structures within the body, including muscle. Myofascial release is a form of soft tissue therapy used to treat pain and restriction of motion. The goal is to relax the contracted muscles, increasing circulation and stimulating the stretch reflex of muscles and overlying fascia.

Too scientific for you? I agree, just know that foam rolling is self-myofascial release technique. (Which could be a fun new euphemism for "slapping the dolphin".) Here are some informative articles:

This Running Times article calls it The (almost) Magical Foam Roller. It has some handy diagrams showing the key rolling areas for runners - IT band, Hamstrings/Quads, and a very painful looking middle back roll. Some fun quotes -

"But in the case of muscle knots, stretching alone is not enough. When stretching a muscle with knots, you are only stretching the healthy muscle tissue. The knot remains a knot, laughing in the face of the stretch."

"The best way to attack a troublesome muscle knot is direct pressure. A well-trained massage therapist can effectively apply pressure to break up and relieve muscle knots. These knots are pesky. It typically takes several treatment sessions to fix a well-placed knot."

Runner's World provides a similar article. (No good photos here though.) Quotes -

"Using a foam roller can provide similar benefits as deep-tissue massage. By increasing flexibility and decreasing muscle tension, it can help prevent injury and improve performance."

About.com provides a more spread out article that goes into a little more detail and shows all the stretches in pictures. Intro - "Foam rollers offer many of the same benefits as a sports massage, without the big price tag. The foam roller not only stretches muscles and tendons but it also breaks down soft tissue adhesions and scar tissue. By using your own body weight and a cylindrical foam roller you can perform a self-massage or myofascial release, break up trigger points, and soothe tight fascia while increasing blood flow and circulation to the soft tissues."

This is written from a health providers perspective and includes some handy diagrams. It gets a bit more technical on how the how myofascial release things works. Some of it's non-technical quotes - "on a simple piece of foam, [you] can improve flexibility, function, performance, and reduce injuries. In a nutshell, [you use your] own body weight to roll on the round foam roll, massaging away restrictions to normal soft-tissue extensibility."

That's probably enough references. For a more personal take there are some TRY members that use foam rolling (or "the stick") and can give your their opinion. Mine is that foam rolling hurts like a sonofabitch! Which probably means that it works. I used foam rolling a lot this summer to get my newly injured leg back to usable. I have fallen out of the habit but intend to get back into. Even more so now that I've finally read the fine print and how and why it works.

Conclusions:

Foam rolls are cheap - and are a great way to perform some self maintenance for runners. (The old style ones can be less than $20 and the fancy new-fangled ones are $40-$50.)