How to Use a Foam Roll to Stretch

Stretching alone will not always alleviate muscle tensions (knots), particularly in the case of advanced athletes. Often where knots are concerned, the only way to work them out is to apply pressure, which a foam roll does beautifully. If you can’t afford to pay to keep a massage technician on hand, a foam roll is a handy alternative for stretching and working out the kinks.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Foam roll
• List of different stretches
• Flat, open space

1. Buy a foam roll. You can get one online or at a fitness store, gym, sports retail store and even some health food stores.
2. Get a copy of the different stretches you can do for each individual muscle group. Often an instructional manual will come with the foam roll. If one doesn’t, research online to find this information.
3. Spend fifteen minutes after a workout targeting your problem areas with a foam roll, using the specific rolls from the instructional manual.
4. Roll back and forth over the painful or stiff area for about 60 seconds, using your own body weight to apply pressure. Focus specifically on the problems areas and spend more time in those spots.
5. Follow with regular stretching.
6. Repeat rolling two to three times a day to help loosen the knots.
7. Drink plenty of water. Like massages, foam rolls break apart muscle fibers to loosen them up. This releases toxins into the body and to flush them out you need to keep hydrated.

Tips & Warnings

• Be careful not to roll over bony areas.
• If after using the foam roll and stretching, you still find you cannot alleviate the knots, contact a physical therapist to make sure there isn’t a bigger underlying problem.