What is a Foam Roller?
What is a foam roller….
Foam rollers are round cylinder self-massage tools made out of polyethylene so they are easy to clean and water resistant. Foam rollers are used as a self-massage tool (YES your body could get a massage every day!).
A foam roller allows your muscles to receive similar outcomes to a deep tissue massage, as you roll over the muscles it helps break up adhesions and speeds up muscle recovery.
What Foam Roller should I get?
There are many different types of foam rollers you can choose from so here are the different ones to help you choose the right one.
Low-Density Foam Roller – this is great for beginners on a foam roller or if you have had an intense workout and your muscles are sore.
Medium Density foam Roller- this is the most popular one as it’s not too soft or to firm. So if you find the low density one to soft and you don’t feel the effects but the firm one is too much for you than this one is for you!
Firm Foam Roller – This is the hardest of them all. Its gives you a deeper and more intense release so if you’re brave give it a go
Bumpy/spikey foam Roller – This one is also definitely not for the faint hearted. These spikes will dig into your trigger points/knots. If you don’t like a firm massage this isn’t for you.
Short Foam Rollers – These short ones are great for travelling and if you wanted to only work one side of your body at a time.
Why us a Foam Roller?
It doesn’t matter if you working out every day or you don’t (you may just have a sedentary job) your muscles need looking after. It would be nice if you could get a massage daily but let’s face it who can afford that? (Unless I won lotto and I would have a massage daily hahaha) so this is a great tool to use in between your massage treatments.
I can tell when someone has used one or not in between treatments. I personally feel so much better when I use one on a regular basis.
How long should I use the foam roller for and how often?
Personally as I workout most days I try and use it after every session for 10mins as a cool down. Rolling on each muscles for 1 -2 mins is great. Though using a foam roller at least 3-4 times a week will help those muscles significantly.
Below I have put in a few links on common areas of the body on how to use the foam roller