Foam rollers for recovery/self massage

**davtown** · 03-23-2007, 06:47 PM

Does anyone here use foam rollers for recovery/self massage/etc? I've seen bigDman mention it in his log...
They've got some foam rollers at my gym that I use when I go there, but I've been thinking of buying to keep at the house so I can use it anytime. They can be so painful at times, but it always feels so good afterwards...

**romanaz** · 03-23-2007, 07:07 PM

I gotta buy one

**bubba g** · 03-23-2007, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davtown

Does anyone here use foam rollers for recovery/self massage/etc? I've seen bigDman mention it in his log...
They've got some foam rollers at my gym that I use when I go there, but I've been thinking of buying to keep at the house so I can use it anytime. They can be so painful at times, but it always feels so good afterwards...

Self message for me usualy reqires little more than my hands, some Jergins lotion, and some Kleenax...

On a serious note.. I have never heard of these foam rollers.. do you have a picture of them???

**Ikaika** · 03-23-2007, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubba g

Self message for me usualy reqires little more than my hands, some Jergins lotion, and some Kleenex...

TOO MUCH INFORMATION.

ban?

**davtown** · 03-23-2007, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubba g

Self message for me usualy reqires little more than my hands, some Jergins lotion, and some Kleenax...

On a serious note.. I have never heard of these foam rollers.. do you have a picture of them???

just what it sounds like... A high density foam roll which you literally 'roll' on. They're pretty inexpensive and easy to use.

video example

You can do it to pretty much any part of the body and by varying how much of your bodyweight you put into the movement, you can adjust the pressure of the treatment.

I find it helps a lot with recovery... it's great for myofascial release. Depending on the quality of your tissue, it can be pretty painful.... but it the end benefit is well worth it.

**Ikaika** · 03-23-2007, 07:44 PM

Interesting. This may be a good addition to my stretching that I recently started doing.

**bubba g** · 03-23-2007, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davtown

just what it sounds like... A high density foam roll which you literally 'roll' on. They're pretty inexpensive and easy to use.

video example

You can do it to pretty much any part of the body and by varying how much of your bodyweight you put into the movement, you can adjust the pressure of the treatment.

I find it helps a lot with recovery... it's great for myofascial release. Depending on the quality of your tissue, it can be pretty painful.... but it the end benefit is well worth it.

Cool... I can see how that would work...

I had an injury before (car accident) and myofascial release message was the only thing that brought relief.. It was painful at the time, and I always got a massive headache afterwards, but then I felt a lot better for days...

**bigDman** · 03-23-2007, 09:22 PM

I do it daily... It has done wonders. I can not recommend it enough

it hurts so good

**DJSTARER** · 03-23-2007, 09:23 PM

i use it for golf on and off. I use it to stretch my relavtively tight IT band (runs from your hip region to knee cap). A lot of GOOD pain.

**Peaked_18** · 03-23-2007, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davtown

Does anyone here use foam rollers for recovery/self massage/etc? I've seen bigDman mention it in his log...
They've got some foam rollers at my gym that I use when I go there, but I've been thinking of buying to keep at the house so I can use it anytime. They can be so painful at times, but it always feels so good afterwards...

If you ordered Core Performance you would have read everything you needed on this subject.

I use it a lot, read up at T-Nation from guys like Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove, etc etc.

**davtown** · 03-23-2007, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peaked_18

If you ordered Core Performance you would have read everything you needed on this subject.

I use it a lot, read up at T-Nation from guys like Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove, etc etc.

I ordered the book and read all about it.... thanks for the suggestion on the book btw, I love it. I just figured I'd spark some conversation here

See... we got 2 people already that hadn't heard of foam rollers before and are now a little more informed! If I make a thread that helps just one person out, I am satisfied.

**Ikaika** · 03-23-2007, 10:44 PM

Have you guys improvised any other movements with it aside from the 5 in that video?

**davtown** · 03-23-2007, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ikaika

Have you guys improvised any other movements with it aside from the 5 in that video?

I do one for my lats where I lay down on my side with my arm straight out over my head (like you're raising your hand in class) and I roll along my obliques to my lats to my tris and back down.

Also, the first move he shows.... I like to do that with a bigger ROM, and instead of having one leg on the ground, I keep both legs straight out and off the ground. When the roller comes higher up on your body (upper hip/lower oblique), it's more challenging to keep your legs off the ground and stable.

**davtown** · 03-23-2007, 11:12 PM

btw, you can find foam roller movments online or in books, but the best way is to just experiment yourself. You will find out plenty of cool things to do and you can make up your own depending on what you want to work on and how much pressure you wish to apply.

**bubba g** · 03-23-2007, 11:30 PM

bet it feels good to roll over with your back...

**bigDman** · 03-24-2007, 03:15 AM

dont do it on your lower back though... Also eric cressey and Tony G have both wrote really good articles on T-nation about SMR

03-23-2007, 06:47 PM	#1
davtown OM NOM NOM NOM Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,346 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 128	Foam rollers for recovery/self massage Does anyone here use foam rollers for recovery/self massage/etc? I've seen bigDman mention it in his log... They've got some foam rollers at my gym that I use when I go there, but I've been thinking of buying to keep at the house so I can use it anytime. They can be so painful at times, but it always feels so good afterwards... __________________ --Training Journal-- current/goal D: 350/380 S: 280/300 B: 235/260

03-23-2007, 07:44 PM	#6
Ikaika resident degen Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 3,793 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 214	Interesting. This may be a good addition to my stretching that I recently started doing. __________________ No supplement can make up for the lack of a strong work ethic.

03-23-2007, 09:22 PM	#8
bigDman is missing heavy pulls Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 4,611 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 186	I do it daily... It has done wonders. I can not recommend it enough it hurts so good __________________ COME CHECK OUT MY JOURNAL

03-23-2007, 09:23 PM	#9
DJSTARER eating more folate... Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: State College, PA Posts: 3,979 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 113	i use it for golf on and off. I use it to stretch my relavtively tight IT band (runs from your hip region to knee cap). A lot of GOOD pain. __________________ My philosophies on training: "Extreme training yields extreme results" "Just because you can, does not mean you should" "The best program is the one you are not doing" Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass PGA Professional of America Current Stats: 474 Squat 601 Deadlift 320 Bench Goals for next training cycle: 500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition

03-23-2007, 10:44 PM	#12
Ikaika resident degen Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 3,793 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 214	Have you guys improvised any other movements with it aside from the 5 in that video? __________________ No supplement can make up for the lack of a strong work ethic.

03-23-2007, 11:12 PM	#14
davtown OM NOM NOM NOM Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,346 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 128	btw, you can find foam roller movments online or in books, but the best way is to just experiment yourself. You will find out plenty of cool things to do and you can make up your own depending on what you want to work on and how much pressure you wish to apply. __________________ --Training Journal-- current/goal D: 350/380 S: 280/300 B: 235/260

03-23-2007, 11:30 PM	#15
bubba g Moderator Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 3,179 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 178	bet it feels good to roll over with your back...

03-24-2007, 03:15 AM	#16
bigDman is missing heavy pulls Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 4,611 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 186	dont do it on your lower back though... Also eric cressey and Tony G have both wrote really good articles on T-nation about SMR __________________ COME CHECK OUT MY JOURNAL

03-24-2007, 06:24 AM	#17
Ikaika resident degen Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 3,793 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 214