What is Foam Rolling?

Foam rolling is a form of self-myofascial release. Let’s first explain what myofascia is. In simple terms, myofascia is a thin layer of tissue that wraps around your muscles, encapsulating them. When foam rolling, you are targeting this myofascia as well as the muscle belly itself. Therefore, foam rolling is targeted towards muscular areas of your body such as your quadriceps, and not bony areas. Note as well, that these muscular areas have a lot of nerves that play a key part in what we will discuss below. Common foam rolling techniques include using a roller, or ball to roll up and down these muscular areas of your body.

Common reasons to foam roll

Foam rolling is very common in the fitness industry today, but the truth is most people don’t know why they are doing it. There are many perceived benefits of foam rolling, some of which include that; it breaks up knots, it produces neurological changes, and it loosens tight muscles. So, what is true and what is really going on in your body?

The truth!

There is no actual evidence that foam rolling “breaks up knots,” so by rolling we are not actually breaking up the muscle tissue. What is really happening is that, when rolling, our bodies are getting neurological messages to relax the muscle tissue. This then leads to the feeling of loose muscles. Often the nervous system plays a major role in how our muscles feel. Without our nervous system controlling our muscles, our muscles would just be dead weight. Think of a steak for example. Without the nervous system, it can’t get “tight” or “loose.”