Does Foam Rolling really work?
Foam rolling has been a recommended practice by physical therapist and trainers for quite some time now. This beloved practice by athletes and sports therapists alike, has only recently entered the mainstream fitness mindset. For a long time, you would be hard pressed to find a foam roller inside a gym. And if you did, you would pretty much only see foam rollers in the larger higher end gyms, where you would have to share it with thousands of other sweaty people.
Those days are long gone. Now most gyms have foam rollers available to their members. Many people now also have their own personal foam rollers that they use at home. Foam rolling is now completely mainstream.
The introduction of foam rollers into the mainstream caused a sigh of relief among many dedicated foam roller and fitness enthusiasts. It also caused a lot of other people who don’t have any experience with foam rolling to doubt whether this is some fad or a legitimately helpful solution that is here to stay. Therefore, it is a common question and completely reasonable for people to ask, “does foam rolling really work?”
Collective Wisdom vs Scientific Evidence
There is a lot anecdotal evidence that seems to support this explosive new trend. If you talk to anyone thats consistently used a foam roller, they will typically swear by it. Based on other people’s recommendations, foam rolling does indeed seem to work. At least, it has worked for all the people who share their success stories online.
Although collective wisdom and anecdotal evidence often give glimpses to the truth, is typically not considered as valid as something that has been taken through the rigors of scientific testing. We are, after all in a time and age that values scientific evidence. Up until recently, there has been a lack of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of foam rolling, due to the fact that it is a relatively new fitness practice.
Foam Rolling Studies
A recent study found that foam rolling does work to increase range of motion. It was a fairly simple experiment: one group of people used a foam roller and one group didn’t, and they were tested before and after foam rolling to determine whether the foam roller improved their range of motion or not. Their muscle strength was also tested in the study.
As the study concluded, foam rolling doesn’t make you stronger. What it does is relax your muscles and increase your range of motion. Unlike stretching, this increased range of motion doesn’t reduce your joint stability, so you aren’t at any increased risk for injury. Foam rolling also releases myofascial tissue from the underlying muscles, reducing or eliminating myofascial trigger points and letting your muscles relax.
For the first time, science has confirmed what athletes and physical therapists have known for years: foam rolling gives you a better workout and helps you move easier. It also helps with recovery afterwards, because it increases blood flow to your exhausted muscles which helps them get the nutrients they need to heal.