Using a foam roller properly will assist with the stretching and manipulation of muscles and tendons in a similar way to that of massage. Using a cylindrical roller made of high-density foam, you use your own body weight to perform self-massage, helping to stretch your muscles and break down soft tissue adhesions. A popular size of roller is 36″ long and 6″ in diameter with a surface soft enough to be comfortable and hard enough not to crush under your weight. As you apply your weight to the roller, try rolling back and forth over a muscle – this will help to stretch the muscle; when you roll over an area of tension, stop rolling and and rest on the tight spot for 30 seconds – this will break down any adhesions. Take care and try to avoid any bony prominences.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 12:27 pm and is filed under General Advice & Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.