Are You Foam Rolling Correctly? 4 Tips to Boost Recovery and Avoid Injury

Foam rollers are a simple piece of fitness equipment, yet plenty of benefit that can come from a well-executed foam rolling session, provided that you’re using the tool correctly.

Knowing how to use your fitness accessory is just as important as owning it, regardless of the modality or discipline you’re trying to target. Foam rolling is no different, especially if you’re trying improve your training recovery.

Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

1. Focus on large muscle groups first

Look, it goes without question that experiencing foam rolling for the first time may lead to some discomfort and unappealing sensations across your frame. Despite the perceived pain, though, you need to realize that this experience will get better as you do more rolling.

Your fascia can become used to the added pressure that comes with rolling, but you need to start somewhere to achieve this understanding. It’s important to note, though, that you shouldn’t let discomfort tip over into physical pain. If you’re aggravating a present injury or pushing past that hurts so good threshold, be sure to stop.

A good way to help your body grow accustomed to the sensations attributed to foam rolling is by first focusing on larger muscle groups. These areas can better dissipate the pressure felt across your device, leading to potentially less stress and strain that’s more approachable upon your first go-around.

Additionally, aim to focus on meatier areas like your thighs, quads and calves to get a feeling for foam rolling first, as bony areas or joints may lead to more pain and aches than desired.

2. Roll slow and steady

When you’re foam rolling, you’re putting pressure on your fascia to help activate those nerve endings while also squashing out any apparent stiffness. That pressure comes from your own bodyweight, and to create a free-flowing, consistent scale, it helps to go slow and steady.

Give each muscle group its fair share of attention by rolling at a slower pace. A good ballpark speed is to cover an inch of muscle area per second of foam rolling. Additionally, remember to move with the grain of your muscle structure, not against it.

Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

So, for example, if you’re rolling out your quads, you want to roll from the back of your knee up to your hip, then back down. This can alleviate any potential aches and unwanted pain while still providing exceptional release opportunities to the targeted area.

3. Take your time on especially tight areas

Injured or compromised areas within your structure can need a little more kneading than others, so when you do roll across one of these problem spots pre- or post-workout, be sure to give it the time of day. A good practice across these knots is to slow your rolling motion or pause entirely atop the ache.

While this might be painful at first, you need to remember that this act is giving your full bodyweight to the targeted spot, creating a better sense of pressure for the sake of myofascial release.

4. A little goes a long way

Recovery or warmup practices don’t need to be a long, extended endeavor, and you’re more than capable of promoting better blood flow to your muscle groups with a slow yet short foam rolling session.

Plus, odds are that you’re not going to find the pressure and aches as appealing as other recovery routines, which can lend itself to shortened durations. Still, when practiced for 90–120 seconds across your targeted muscles, this can be an effective way to either activate your fascia or help promote post-workout relief.

The benefits of foam rolling

“Foam rolling is an application of force to the muscle. We naturally get knots, or ‘adhesions’ to the muscle, solely through movement,” says Charlee Atkins, CSCS, Master SoulCycle instructor and movement and mobility specialist.

Essentially, this means the more you move, whether through cardio-based activities like running or strength-centric workouts, the more your muscles can tire and stiffen.

Rolling out these developed knots and aches can allow for better blood flow to target areas, creating a better sense of relief and recovery as your training regimen continues.

Plus, increasing blood flow to certain areas means the fascia is better lubricated and supported to heal itself post-workout, potentially leading to shorter recovery times — yet there is some benefit to taking a rest day or two from time to time.

On the opposite end of the workout, foam rolling can also have some perceived benefits in getting your body ready for training as opposed to recovery disciplines post-workout. Your fascia has nerves that make it almost as sensitive as your skin, and foam rolling can be an excellent way to get those nerve ends firing across your central nervous system for a more flexible, worthwhile training experience.

How foam rolling works

The practice of foam rolling is a method of self-myofascial release, or SMO. This discipline has been studied over and over for its intended benefits when it comes to relieving muscle soreness and eradicating any inflammation you may be experiencing across your muscle groups.

Your fascia is kind of like webbing across your muscles, and when active, it should be flexible to help promote seamless movement and performance. This webbing can become stiff, however, due to overuse, inactivity or injury.

A good comparison to fascia is to think about your favorite leather goods. Continued, routine use keeps the textile flexible without a lot of stiffness but leave a leather belt or pair of gloves in the closet for a while and watch how the material stiffens up. Foam rolling helps eliminate similar stiffness in your body through applied pressure and nerve activation.

Along those same lines, foam rolling has long been a popular pre-workout practice because of its influence on removing any muscle tightness before a hefty workout session. Painting away this tightness and rigidity can help improve range of motion, allowing you to move through your runs, circuits and lifting sessions with less internal resistance.

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