Release your fascia regularly by foam rolling exercises
Fascia is your body’s inner webbing, it’s the connective tissue that holds you up and supports your muscles and bones form.
When it’s healthy, it’s flexible, supple and slides easily. But after sitting at a desk all day, in an arched over position, your fascia can become stiff, thick, dense and compressed.
Foam rolling is a kind of self-myofascial release – ‘myo’ pointing to muscle and ‘fascia’ being the connective tissue. Myofascial release is the discharge of tension, which if left untreated can result in your performance degradation and also a possible injury.
Foam rolling can feel odd at first, but just a few times, you’ll develop a liking towards it and understand the working of it completely.
The foam roller has a dual purpose. First, it can be used as a self-massage tool to help increase fascia flexibility, agility and suppleness.
It can also be used as a compact tool to effectively change your core and posture. Rolling out the tissue helps stretch it, but then strengthening the muscle after you rolled it out is an essential way to keep that balanced muscular shape and form.
If you are working on releasing the tension in one area then it is best to give the same treatment elsewhere to maintain the balance. So, if you wish to release the tension around your calf muscles then perform the exercise on both the legs.
Also, if you’re experiencing a specific pain, it’s also crucial to understand that the part of the body that hurts may not necessarily be the cause. Rolling over a painful spot isn’t the answer, instead, you usually need to loosen the area around it.
The safest approach is to have a regular routine. It’ll take about 10 minutes, and you should try to finish the full set once a day, ideally stretching later once your muscles are tender and relaxed.
All rolling needs to be done gently. Sometimes, people overdo it and roll over the affected muscle vigorously.
This exercise needs to be a long and continuous push through the fibres to add length into the muscle.
If your legs, lower back, or back feel tense, spending 10 minutes on your foam roller dissolves away the tension, stretches out your muscles and fascia, and improves circulation of blood for pure healing and regeneration.
Try to roll a couple times over each sore muscle and pause over the tightest areas, breathing through the tension.
Rolling through pain is helpful on previously affected areas. For instance, rolling over your regular back pain can release the muscles and wear out the pain.
It is also important to use a proper foam roller if you wish to carry out these rolling exercises on a daily basis.
Foam rollers differ in density.
You can choose a low-density roller if you’re new to the idea and think your muscles are so tight that a higher density variant will be too painful. However, most people will use a medium one. Most foam rollers are around 15cm in width but the length changes. If you plan to use the foam roller mostly at home then, you can buy one that has a wider diameter as it will allow you to use it on a broader area and, might be easier for you to work with.