Are You Wasting Time Foam Rolling?

3 min read

Health providers often waste time by making foam rolling a controversial topic. Understanding the benefits and use cases of foam rolling has become convoluted and overly complicated. We understand that all you want to know is if you should be spending your time foam rolling, so let's dive in. 

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

For good reason, our clients display a lot of confusion regarding the use of foam rolling and whether they should be rolling before, during, or after their activities. It is hard to blame them as a simple google search will tell you foam rolling can: breakdown scar tissue, breakdown soft tissue adhesions, improve performance, kickstart recovery, fix muscle imbalances, etc. At the end of the day it is a tool to modulate tension. If you enjoy foam rolling, foam roll, however, it is unlikely to move the needle in the long term. If you opt to allocate time for short term relief, simply find a spot of tension and spend no longer than 5-10 minutes on it. If you feel like you get nothing out of it, your time will be better spent doing something else. 

There are a million types of foam rollers. Don’t get caught up in which is better, it is entirely up to personal preference and what feels the best to you.

Common misconceptions surrounding foam rolling 

1. Does it break down scar tissue? No supporting evidence 

   • The idea that foam rolling can break down scar tissue is false. You need far more force than a foam roller and body weight to make long term changes to the physical properties of scar tissue.

2. Does it improve flexibility? Inconclusive overall, possibly in the short term

   • You likely feel more flexible after foam rolling. Think of your muscles as putty, if you increase the temperature and mechanical deformation via foam rolling, it will inevitably lengthen further than it did a few minutes ago. This transient increase in heat and mechanical deformation via foam rolling also culminates into improved pain perception in the short term, allowing you to further stretch or strain your muscle before experiencing an onset of said pain. With that said, the changes in flexibility won’t last. 

3. Does it improve performance? No supporting evidence 

   • Research has found that foam rolling prior to activity has no performance effect on long term range of motion, strength, or power. 

4. Does it improve recovery? No supporting evidence

   • The most common use case for foam rolling after an activity is to avoid soreness. There is no evidence proving that foam rolling has this impact.

5. Ultimately, foam rolling often helps, but always only does so temporarily. It is important to understand that with all things in foam rolling, these effects are transient and likely to last for only a short period of time.  
   

Conclusion

The takeaway is that foam rolling affords you a change in pain perception. Reductions in pain can have immense effects on your performance and output therefore we tell our clients to go ahead and foam roll if they believe it is helping them manage pain and get more out of their workout. However, the short term effects of foam rolling does not warrant spending any longer than a few minutes doing it. 

References

• Schleip, Robert. (2003). Fascial plasticity - A new neurobiological explanation: Part 1. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 7. 11-19. 10.1016/S1360-8592(02)00067-0. 

• Wiewelhove, T., Döweling, A., Schneider, C., Hottenrott, L., Meyer, T., Kellmann, M., Pfeiffer, M., & Ferrauti, A. (2019). A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Foam Rolling on Performance and Recovery. Frontiers in physiology, 10, 376. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.00376