MINTO – Most of us understand stretching will help our range of motion and can reduce our risk of injury … but there are many other benefits, with the most important being, it feels good!
Stretching will also improve our ability to be active and to move better overall.
It can increase blood flow to the muscle and help our muscles work more effectively.
It will help to reduce any aches we may feel after a workout or after activity that you haven’t done in a while.
Stretching can also help with our posture and keep our bodies in better alignment.
Sometimes, however, stretching isn’t enough to manage the pain and discomfort we have in our bodies.
This can be due to myofascial pain.
You may be wondering, what is myofascial pain?
“Myo” means muscle, and “fascial” is referring to the supportive tissue that covers the muscles of the body.
Your fascia is designed to be flexible and stretchy, yet strong and it provides support to your body and protection to your muscles.
Your fascia can become tight, just like a muscle can tighten. Tight fascia becomes rigid and will cause pain and decreased range of motion.
The tightness in your fascia starts in the stiff areas of the fascia, creating knots or small bumps and nodules. Once the knot is released, so is the pain and loss of flexibility.
However, our daily activities can cause the tension and knots to return, making foam rolling a great tool to keep the tension under control.
Learn to notice tension in your body and use stretching or foam rolling regularly to manage it before it stops you from enjoying any of your daily activities.
Foam rolling is a technique of self-massage using a lightweight, cylindrical tube or roller.
Place the roller on the floor, lay your body over the roller so that you are able roll back and forth over the tool with the target muscle using your body weight for pressure.
This technique can be a very effective tool to add to your warm-up, cool-down or any time, to help ease muscle tightness, soreness and inflammation.
By including it in your warm-up, it can help the body loosen up before a workout.
The importance of using this technique in a cool-down is similar to stretching, it will reduce the soreness experienced in your muscles after working out.
If you are not getting the relief needed from stretching alone, you may want to pair it with foam rolling.
Just like stretching, foam rolling should be done once the muscle is warmed up a bit with some movement, and not on a “cold” muscle.
It is generally safe as long as you avoid rolling over your joints or bones and keep to rolling the tool over the muscle itself.
There is no one perfect way to use foam rollers, just aim to breathe, relax and avoid prolonged rolling.
More is not better, all that is needed is to slowly roll over the area of concern three to five times, maximum.
It is important to go very slowly and gently over your muscle and to avoid placing all of your weight on the foam roller in the beginning.
It is okay to stop on a spot that is particularly tender or sore and hold this position for up to 30 seconds. Spend no more than a total of one to two minutes per muscle.
During this time, remember to breathe!
Foam rolling can be done daily, when needed.
Be sure to avoid applying too much pressure to your muscle, it should always be a manageable amount of tension while rolling.
A good rule of thumb: a little foam rolling goes a long way.
There are a variety of foam rollers in different shapes, sizes, stiffness and smoothness.
Some are hollow making them more flexible with some give, and others are solid to the core making them firmer.
Some are smooth and some rollers are made with bumps that can help target deeper knots.
Some are curved to fit around areas of the body a little easier, like the shoulders, yet most are straight.
Rollers also vary in length. Short ones to assist you to get to certain areas with more ease, or target single muscles. Longer ones target bigger areas or more muscles at once.
If you are new to using a foam roller, you may like to start with a smooth, softer roller and work your way up to firmer rollers.
Preference depends on the type of pressure you like applied to the body. For example, if you don’t like a deep massage, then softer rollers may be easier to use.
Be sure to always stay present when stretching or foam rolling, meeting the tension and keeping relaxed so the tension in the muscle releases.
We can’t bully the tension or stiffness from a muscle, we need to let it ease gently from the muscle.
Remember, it should feel good, kind of like a gentle hug. Give your muscles a hug today!
Finally, it is important to note that foam rolling should not be used on torn muscles or over the area of a broken bone.
If you are unsure about how to incorporate foam rolling into your routine, consider seeking help from a health professional, such as a kinesiologist.
Sandy Turner is a registered kinesiologist at the Minto-Mapleton Family Health (MMFHT) Team.
For more information about any of the free services offered by the MMFHT, visitmmfht.ca or call the Drayton/Palmerston office at 519-638-2110, the Harriston office at 866-260-9672 or the Clifford office at 519-327-4777.
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