How to Choose and Use Foam Rollers

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Foam rollers let you to do your own deep-tissue massage, also known as “self-administered myofascial release” (SMR). The process lets you use your own body weight, precisely controlled, to stimulate and relax your muscles.

How Foam Rollers Work

Rollers help you release muscle knots or trigger points: “Myofascial adhesions” is the physiological term. These inflexible areas can be caused by muscle imbalance, and overuse and injuries, among other things. The adhesions can reduce a muscle’s range of motion, increasing stress on the surrounding muscle tissue and nearby muscles, tendons and joints. The adhesions can also impede blood and oxygen flow, possibly impairing muscle performance and recovery.

Before workouts: Rollers can help loosen up muscles, allowing more efficient movement during the workout.

During workouts: Foam rollers can add components of balance and dynamic movement to bolster strengthening and stretching exercises.

After workouts: Rollers can help increase blood and nutrient flow, reducing muscle soreness and shortening recovery time.

How to Choose a Foam Roller

Foam density: Choose a softer roller for starting out; use denser (harder) rollers as your technique improves and your muscles adapt. Denser rollers are also better for long-term use because they’re more durable.

The color of the roller can give a hint to its density, with white being softest and black hardest. Blue and red rollers typically are medium density. This can vary by brand, though. A simple way to test is to squeeze rollers to assess their relative firmness.

Surface texture: Some rollers have ridges and knobs that allow you to apply different intensities of pressure and to do a more targeted massage.

Foam Roller Shape

Length: Long rollers (around 36 inches) work well for your back because they can run the entire length of your spine; shorter lengths (around 24 inches) work well to target smaller areas like arms and legs; the shortest lengths (around 12 inches) work well for portability (travel) and in workout areas with limited floor space.

Diameter: Most rollers are 5 or 6 inches in diameter, which is a comfortable height for easing your body onto it and then rolling under control. Some people choose 3- or 4-inch diameter rollers for deeper, more targeted massage.

Half round: These are used for leg and foot stretches, and to massage the arches of the feet to relieve the symptoms of plantar fasciitis.

Foam-covered roller massagers (sticks): These rollers are used primarily on legs, often by runners, for more precise pressure regulation and muscle targeting.

Foam balls: These allow precise targeting and pressure control, and work well in curved areas of the body, like the lumbar area.

How to Use a Foam Roller

It’s better to be too gentle, rather than too intense, when you’re starting out learning how to use a foam roller. You can adjust your intensity as you learn how your body responds. Pushing past the point of pain won’t speed up results, but it will risk injury.

1.      Pinpoint the sore or tight area of your muscle.

2.      Control your body as you slowly lower the targeted area so it’s centered above the roller.

3.      Lower your body onto the foam roller until you reach a point of discomfort (but not pain) and hold it there.

4.      For pre-workout rolling, hold for 20-30 seconds (monitor the intensity so you don’t relax your muscles too much and compromise your endurance for the workout). For a post-workout session, hold for 1 minute.

5.      The pressure alone provides benefits, but you can also roll slowly back and forth to further stimulate the area.

When to Replace a Foam Roller

Replace your roller when you see that it’s become permanently deformed (out of round) or if it has ridges and knobs that are beginning to look distorted.

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