Foam Rolling

Foam rolling is great, but are you doing it right?

On a daily basis, I hear that clients stop foam rolling either because of the pain or that they have never really been taught how to do it properly. 

Foam rolling can be incredibly beneficial when it comes to postural chains/imbalances and lengthening muscles.  Many athletes depend on foam rolling to maintain tension levels to help avoid pain and injury.  But even if you're not an athlete, foam rolling is incredibly useful as home care!  Many clients present with anterior pelvic tilts or shoulders that come forward(shoulder pronation).  Along with massage techniques that are used to lengthen muscles, foam rolling can help gain that needed length quicker, which will help get you into a better balance faster.

For example, if your pelvis tilts forward, your knees most likely turn in a bit and you have a high chance of having flattened feet. 

When your Quads are tight(or any muscle for that matter), they pull on their attachment points, and like any other pulley system, if you pull on one point, it'll effect the other attachment point - then down the chain it goes, effecting everything else that connects to that as well.  Since your quads attach to the front of your pelvic bone(Ilium), they pull your Ilium forward when they're tight, which effects the distal attachment(just below your knee at the Tibial Tuberosity), which causes a rotation of your Tibia and directly effects your feet, causing the arch of your foot to flatten out.  This can also cause a lot of low back pain as well as many other issues.

Check out this quick and informative video to teach you the basics on foam rolling. Hopefully this will give you different ideas on how to use your foam roller properly and with a bit less discomfort.

In Health,

Jen McNorton
RMT