Some of my friends from the yoga studio would tell me about something called a foam roller. They touted its benefits and my response was always the same, "I'll look into that." But as we know, I suffer from a case of sloth, so I never did...until to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) two-day workshop in April at the Tropicana. We covered the delicious goodness that comes from a foam roller.
Self-myofascial release is a stretching technique that focuses on the neural system and fascial system in the body (or, the fibrous tissue that surrounds and separates muscle tissue). By applying gentle force to an adhesion or "knot," the elastic muscle fibers are altered from a bundled position (that causes the adhesion) into a straighter alignment with the direction of the muscle or fascia.
When I "foam rolled" the "knots" I found on/in my calves, IT band, adductors, piriformis and lats, I laughed...literally. I tend to laugh when I'm in pain. It was painful, but the good kind of pain. My fascia was breaking apart which is the good news. So out of pain, comes good. That usually seems to be the case anyway. I realized a few things (a) sometimes my friends know what they are talking about and (b) that I am a convert. So, the key takeaway here is that I encourage you to get your own foam roller...even though I still need to order mine!
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