New toy – Foam Roller

Whilst at one of the physio sessions I remembered the Foam Roller. The triathlete coach in David Lloyd gym was a big fan of these, and they seemed to be a great help … we’d use these at the latter part of a run session. Given the problems i’ve recently encountered it seemed like a good idea to get my hands on one.

Essentially, foam rollers are the poor man’s massage therapist. They provide soft tissue work to the masses in any setting. Users should use the roller to search for tender areas or trigger points and to roll these areas to decrease density and over-activity of the muscle. I use them particularly on my calves, the quads, the hamstrings … and now that I’ve done some browsing i see people are using them for Balance as well as working on the muscles.

A bit pricier than i had expected – 28 euros – but if thats what they are then so be it. If i get to use it then it will be worth it. In the first week, i used it quite regularly and can feel the benefits already. I need to incorperate this into all my sessions, particularly any running – when i get back to running.

Other reading / material on the use of foam rollers … or simply Google ‘foam roll’

HERE & HERE

• YouTube will have some visual examples on how to use the rolls.