Foam Rollers become extremely popular in the last period. Everyone is now focused on exercising, so they are willing to try different workout equipment that will help them achieve desired effects. Foam Rollers are highly effective in providing someone required effects. However, it is quite important to use Foam Rollers properly because with the right usage you can highly improve the workout performance and more importantly, you are going to feel much better while working out. In this article, we listed some of the most common mistakes that you should look out for in case you are not sure whether you are properly using this equipment.
Pay attention to whether you are rolling in the wrong direction
Yes, that is correct, you can be making the mistake of rolling the foam roller in the wrong direction. You are easily going to find out whether this is true. In case it feels hard to balance on the foal roller, you are definitely not using it correctly. You are probably misaligning the tool by putting it parallel to the muscle. This is not the right way to do it. Instead, you should be rotating the foam roller and in that way, it will perpendicular to the muscle. After rotating it, you can roll it up and down the entire length of the muscle. This will help you with the balancing and the roll will be steady.
Are you rolling your upper body?
One more common mistake that people are making when they are using this tool is that they are not rolling their upper body. It can look like foam rolling is intended for the lower-body parts, especially because many people that are using this are runners. However, foal rolling should be used for the upper body as well. This includes your chest area, lats which is the area of the muscle on the sides of the mid-backs, triceps, and even the muscles around the shoulder area. It can be hard to reach some of these body parts and the muscles there with a big roller, so we can suggest you roll these areas with a lacrosse ball.
It is important to use the right pressure
Many people are making the mistake of rolling too gently. This will generally not make a significant impact when you are using the tool. On the other hand, some people think that they should use the roller too hard. This is not right as well, since they can end up hurting themselves and cause serious pain. Additionally, their muscles will be tensed a lot which is not the goal you are looking out. You have a chance to control the pressure of your roller. Pressing all of your weight on one spot will feel very intense.
Also, you should know that different types of the roller are going to make the process of applying the pressure easier. For instance, the hollow rollers are applying a higher amount of pressure than the full cylinder. When it comes to the full cylinder rollers they are usually softer and the hollow ones are having hard plastic in the middle which puts higher pressure on the body. If you want to achieve the best results you should apply pressure up to a self-rated five out of ten in tenderness. More than that will only be counterproductive. Lastly, any type of foal roller that you choose will have a beneficial side, however, you should pay attention to choosing some that will suit your own personal preferences.
You are making the mistake if you are trying to roll out bony areas
It is true that the foam roller’s purpose is to release the tension in soft tissue, therefore, rolling over bony areas is not recommendable since you are going to cause a lot of pain. If you are wondering what bony areas include, you should know that they are the shoulder blades, ankles, as well as hips, knees, and shins. People are making a huge mistake by rolling over their shoulder blades while trying to roll out the thoracic region which is the upper part of the spine. When you are rolling on the bones of this tool, you can not expect any positive results. Your goal is to roll the muscles and tissue that are beneath.
In order to achieve that goal, you must pull your elbows together in front of your body. The other way requires crossing your arms over the chest and pulling the shoulder blades forward. After that, you can place the roller in a horizontal way underneath your upper back and start rolling in a way that will move up and down your spine. The same process you can conduct when it comes to the bony areas in your hips and pelvis.
Are you spending too much time on trigger points?
If the answer is yes, I do, you should clearly know that you are making one of the common mistakes and you should stop with that. You can not use the foal roller directly and only on the knots for a long period of time. Unfortunately, people do not know that spending too much time rolling can cause negative effects. They often spend several minutes rolling on areas of pain, which can lead to causing more pain and irritation in those particular areas. Overdoing the exercise in one spot will not make any difference in the terms of relief.
Even worst, it can lead to serious consequences. People should remember that goal of using the foam roller is to relax the muscle areas and this will sometimes require a person to start with the less intense body areas that are connected to the trigger spot. It is highly recommendable to roll the foam roller for about 60 to 90 seconds before targeting that knotted tissue for 30 seconds. This will help you to decrease the tension in the spot you are feeling that you need to roll the most.
