Many people have questions as to why athletes foam roll pre event, there are reasons behind this technique. Foam rolling is a simple therapy technique often used to improve flexibility, recovery, and performance. A foam roller is essentially a more affordable way to give yourself a deep tissue massage. By slowly rolling over specific areas of your body, It will help break up adhesions and scar tissue. With everything, there are advantages and disadvantages of foam rolling, an advantage of foam rolling can is that it can increase blood flow and break down scar tissue. Also it can aid the maintenance of normal muscle length, reduce pain and soreness, increase range of motion, and aid in recovery. “Similar to massage, foam rolling before a workout has been said to help restore muscle length–tension relationships and allow for better warm-up (Healy, et el, 2014). Another aim of foam rolling is to relieve trigger points before exercise. “Releasing trigger points helps to re-establish proper movement patterns and pain free movement, and ultimately, to enhance performance” (The Athlete’s Guide to Foam Rolling, 2017) A reason that foam rollers have been so popular on the market is because just stretching isn’t always enough to loosen muscles, however foam rollers are.
However with everything there are down sides to foam rolling. “In terms of the foam rollers potential negative effects on muscles, it is very similar. Certain muscles will tighten up to protect other parts of your body. This is common in the back, where certain muscles will tighten up to prevent the spine from suffering injury. So foam rolling to loosen up any and every muscle can potentially lead to more serious injury” (The Pros and Cons of Foam Rolling). In my opinion Foam rolling is defiantly beneficial to do pre exercise and in my personal experience made me feel looser before playing football matches and it was something I made sure I did before every game. I believe that foam rolling is effective and that it improved my performance. However I am not sure weather I was because it genuinely loosened me up and worked my muscles or it was just a placebo, but whatever it was it made me feel more game ready and feel more prepared to partake in exercise. In conclusion I believe that foam rolling is a technique that everyone should try and I do believe in it’s benefits.