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Foam Rolling and Trigger Point 101

Categories: Exercise, Massage
You might have seen over the weekend on my instagram stories I raided Aldi's middle isle and got my hands on some new kit for the studio.
One of these bits was a vibrating foam roller. I'd heard lots of positive things about them and they can be less painful to use than a normal foam roller. Since getting it myslef and some clients have already had a practise on it to test it out. 
The whole point of foam rolling is for myofascial release. In simple terms this means you use bodyweight and a foam roller to make small movements and pressure over the area of muscle which has pain in it. This technique leads to the softening and lengthening of the fascia and breaking down the adhesions (scar tissue) between the skin, muscles and bones. In the long term this will help to reduce your injury worries and help speed up your recovery. 
Here are some of my top tips for foam rolling and using a trigger point ball to get into some of those harder to reach areas.
  • Focus on relaxing your muscles, even if it is painful
  • Perform the movements slowly, you will then find where the adhesions and scar tissue is
  • As you roll and find the points that are painful, hold on that area for a few seconds to allow the foam roller to break down the tissue (please note some muscles maybe very painful when you start foam rolling, this indicates that there is a lot of scar tissue that needs to be broken down)
  • The muscle will begin to loosen and the pain will start to disappear
  • You do not need to count repetitions or spend a particular length of time on each muscle, your aim is to increase the suppleness of each muscle group
  • You do not have to foam roll every muscle group, instead focus on the areas you get most relief from and do them regularly
  • You can foam roll before or after you exercise or as injury relief
In our last workshop of How To Improve Your Recovery and Avoid Running Injuries we covered alot of work on foam rolling and trigger point work. I'll be hosting a new date soon so keep you eyes pealed for when the date is realeased.