Foam rolling is becoming a pretty trendy concept within the fitness world. This is due to all of the many benefits it provides the body when you work out using a foam roller. But there are not a lot of outsiders that know much about foam rolling and that is why I decided to write this article. Why should the fitness freaks be the only ones reaping the benefits of foam rolling?
If you are one of those outsiders who does not know much about foam rolling, it is time to read very carefully and absorb all of the information presented in this article. I promise that you will want to start foam rolling right away after reading everything. And you will completely understand why foam rolling is such a hot craze in the fitness world right now. Let's get started!
Overview of Foam Rolling
I do not think there is any better place to start with this guide than to give a brief overview on what foam rolling is and why it would be in your best interests to go out and buy a foam roller and start rolling.
Basically, once you have a foam roller, you put it on various pressure points on your body and then you start rolling it. Pretty simple, right? Why is it such a huge craze then? A lot of professional athletes deal with muscle tightness and it severely effects their performance. When they start foam rolling, that tightness is released and their muscles feel nice and are ready to go.
On top of that, athletes and regular people alike can suffer serious injuries when they take part in physical activities without stretching their muscles. And due to those injuries, there is even less stretching being done and the muscles tighten up even more. This can make it seriously hard for the injured person to move normally again if they do not receive proper physical therapy.
For athletes this might not be as big of a problem since they have million dollar physical fitness staff working to get them back in playing shape. But for you and me, it could be a huge problem and one that I would definitely want to avoid.
Foam rolling used to be a practice that professional athletes and patients of some physical therapists only did, but now the secrets of it are being unlocked and revealed to the public so that we can all reap the benefits of doing it.
Let's take a look at some more of those benefits of foam rolling, shall we?
Why Should I Start Foam Rolling?
1. To Decrease the Amount of Cellulite in Your Body
Look, I do not mean to fat shame anybody, but having a lot of cellulite is not an attractive look. And believe me, even the most body positive folks would rather not have all of the cellulite that they have on their body. Foam rolling solves that problem! How?
Basically, there are these tissues in our body that connect our muscles called fascia. When these fascia become jumbled up with each other, it can cause the muscle tightness I was talking about earlier. But it can also lead to the onset of cellulite as well since those fascia jumbles have added weight to them and start pulling the skin down.
Foam rolling solves this problem by releasing those jumbled up fascia tissues and not allowing them to keep dragging the skin down.
2. To Make You More Flexible
I am not a flexible person and I do not think I ever will be. However, I was much less flexible than I am now before I started foam rolling. This is because when you foam roll, the pressure released from your muscles allows them to flex themselves out more and become more flexible in the process.
I may never be able twist and contort my body like some other folks out there, but I am able to bend over and touch my toes! And you will be able to as well if you start foam rolling.
3. To Protect You From Potential Back Problems
Bad posture habits can lead to back problems such as scoliosis. And down the road these back problems can limit your body's ability to move properly and could even paralyze you in the worst case scenarios. Do not even let those scenarios be a remote possibility. Foam rolling will help you do just that as foam rolling keeps your spine all nice and aligned as well as keeping your back muscles well-balanced and in working order.
A good technique that you can do to maximize a foam roller's benefits on your spine is to get into a seated stance. After that, put the roller right beneath your lower spine. Once you have the foam roller in place, you can lean back and put a lot of your body weight and pressure on your lower spinal area. Put your arms in a crossed position and start rolling.
This will make your back feel so good and it will also relieve any tenseness that you are feeling in your lower spine. I suggest that you only do this for about half a minute, but it may feel so good that you want to keep doing it for a full minute. And that is alright.
4. To Improve the Blood Flow to Your Body
When you use a foam roller and put the pressure on those pressure points on the body, you are giving your arteries a nice workout. When they start getting fired up, they trigger nerve receptors in the body to open up blood vessels all over the body. And as you can probably imagine, when the blood vessels get wider, more blood is able to start flowing much easier. And the benefits you can reap from this are plenty.
One of the big benefits is that increased blood flow to the brain can help improve your concentration and overall brain function. With all of that blood flowing you will also feel more energized to work out harder and longer.
5. To Reduce Cramping and Fatigue After a Workout
Did you know that massaging your muscles after an intense workout is actually good for the muscles? It is not just a technique that people do to touch themselves and feel good about their big muscles. There are tangible benefits to it and the main benefit is to expel lactic acids from those muscles and get them back into the bloodstream where they belong.
You see, lactic acids start to concentrate in your muscles as you exercise and if you let this concentration of acid just sit in your muscles, it can cause you to experience painful cramps as well as feelings of debilitating fatigue.
How does foam rolling factor into all of this? It is more effective than simply massaging your muscles at releasing the lactic acids from your muscles during and after a workout. It also helps to speed up the process in which the acids are transported from your muscles to your bloodstream.
6. To Prevent You From Wasting Money on Expensive Therapies and Massages
Foam rollers are not going to break the bank. The same can't be said about physical therapists and muscle masseuses, however. A typical foam roller will cost you about 15 bucks. Just 15 bucks and it provides you the same benefits of physical therapy and a nice massage. And that 15 dollar payment is a one-time payment, whereas the therapy and massage are per-session payments.
Can you imagine all of the money that you will be saving just by going out and buying a foam roller? And of course if you are foam rolling, you are greatly reducing your chances of getting muscle-related injuries which saves you even more money down the road. No expensive surgeries or rehabbing.
And I am positive that after you foam roll for a while, you will find plenty of other useful benefits that will make it impossible for you to stop. And that is a good thing!
Foam Rolling Conclusion
If you still are not convinced that foam rolling is the right practice for you, I am not sure what else I can possibly say to convince you. I imagine that you are in the minority of those reading this article, though. And really guys, foam rollers are only 15 dollars.
Even if you are not fully sold on the benefits, I think you can afford to go out and buy one and give it a try. I guarantee that if you use it properly, you will experience the many benefits that I explained in this article and you will not regret your decision.
For those who are sold on the benefits of foam rolling, I hope that you go out and buy one and start reaping the same benefits that thousands of power lifters, professional athletes, and normal people who just care about their physical fitness are all reaping right now. Do not let this trend pass you by!
