Foam Rolling For Dummies

A full-color, step-by-step guide to get fit, prevent injury and end pain using your foam roller

Foam rolling is not just a fad; if you’re active in sport or work out regularly, you know how crucial it is to keep your muscles limber and pain-free to stay active and mobile.  As a form of Myofascial Release Therapy, foam rolling is an effective technique for unlocking your tight muscles and restrictive myofascial connective tissue. Foam rolling helps increase your overall body mobility and joint range of  motion, decreases pain and shortens recovery times—and it generally supercharges your body to reap the benefits of your active lifestyle!  

• Enhance athletic performance
• Improve injury prevention
• Learn rapid roller techniques
• Manage fibromyalgia
• Reduce soft tissue injuries
• Understand your myofascial system
• Reduce painful muscles

Mike Ryan, PT, ATC, CES, PES, dedicated 26 full seasons to work with the NFL as a athletic trainer, sports medicine analyst, and physical therapist. He's a nationally recognized speaker and consultant whose unique, hands-on approach to injury management and wellness is easy to understand, simple to apply, and produces fast, observable results.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with Rolling 5

Chapter 1: Rolling for Life 7

The Mind of an All-Pro Roller 8

Rollers 101 8

Getting Under Your Skin 9

Key Questions for You 10

How do I unlock my thigh and hamstrings muscles? 10

Why do my lower legs always seem to be my troublemaking “Achilles heels”? 11

If I could make my lower back and hips pain-free, would it make my life easier and more fun? 12

How can I improve my posture to relax my chest, upper back, and neck? 13

How can I eliminate my shoulder and arm pain with a small roller ball? 13

Working Out with Rollers 14

Using Rollers to Manage Your Injuries 15

Preventing Injuries with Roller Treatments 17

Chapter 2: Choosing the Right Roller(s) for You 19

Not All Rollers Are Created Equal 20

Circular rollers: Keeping it simple 21

Multi-pattern design rollers 22

Vibrating rollers 23

Roller balls 26

Half rollers 27

Travel rollers 28

Other Equipment You May Want 28

Handheld rollers 29

Handheld massager 30

Yoga mat 31

Chair and balance dowel 32

Pad and pillows 33

Stretch bands 34

Resistance bands 34

Finding a Roller to Meet Your Needs 35

Chapter 3: Finding the “Perfect” Roller Launch Pad 37

Improvising in Unique Roller Settings 38

Finding a Relaxing “Roller Rink” 39

Having Enough Room to Roll 40

Other Tips to Rolling Right 42

Padding and Pressure Relief 43

Chapter 4: Caring for Your Roller 45

Cleaning Your Roller: Illness Prevention 101 45

Understanding What’s Good and Bad About the

Covering on Your Roller 48

Storing Your Roller 49

Chapter 5: Roller Safety 101 53

Assessing the Safety of Your Roller Rink 53

Rolling surface 54

Roller rink real estate 55

Objects in the roller rink 55

Objects positioned over the roller rink 55

Objects landing in the roller rink 55

Who Should Not Be a Roller 58

What Not to Roll 59

Avoiding Injury on a Roller 61

Part 2: Rolling the Right Way 65

Chapter 6: Timing is Everything: When and When Not to Roll 67

Knowing When to Roll 68

Best times to roll 69

Pre-sleep rolling tips 72

Knowing When Not to Roll 75

Listening to a painful injury 75

Rolling warning signs you should never ignore 78

Chapter 7: Warming Up Your Body for the Roller 79

Preparing Your Entire Body for the Roller 79

Warming Up Your Mind Before Rolling 81

Getting the Rolling Site Ready for Contact 83

Chapter 8: Work With Your Muscles, Not Against Them 85

My Five Ryan Rolling Rules 87

Align the spine 89

Breathe 90

Slow your roll 91

Seek and destroy trigger points 92

Move the muscle 93

Working with Your Muscles by Keeping Them Hydrated 97

Good Roller Pain versus Bad Roller Pain 99

Chapter 9: Supercharging Your Post-Workout Recovery with a Roller 103

The Value of the Recovery 104

Give Me Six: The Six-Minute Recovery Roll-Down 104

Stretching a Freshly Rolled Muscle 108

Common Recovery Mistakes to Avoid 109

Part 3: Meeting the Muscles You’re Rolling Over, and More 111

Chapter 10: Discovering What’s Under the Skin: Knowing Your Anatomy 113

Muscles and Tendons 114

Bones and Joints 115

Fascia 116

What’s a Myofascial Trigger Point? 117

The Treasure Hunt 119

Chapter 11: Upgrading Your Posture 123

Why Good Posture is So Important 123

Understanding Posture 125

Key Landmarks for Evaluating Posture 127

Head 127

Shoulders 128

Lower back 129

Pelvis 130

Feet 131

What Does Perfect Posture Look Like? 132

Perfect standing posture 133

Perfect sitting posture 133

What Does Poor Posture Feel Like? 134

Neck and upper back symptoms 134

Shoulder symptoms 135

Lower back symptoms 135

Improving Your Posture 135

Chapter 12: How Muscles and Joints (Supposedly) Work in Harmony 139

Your Body — The Ultimate Machine 140

Understanding How Healthy Muscles and Joints Work Together 142

Knowing When Your Body Needs a Wheel Alignment 146

Compensating to keep moving 146

Looking at long-term consequences of altered movement 147

Identifying pain and limitations in order to fix them 150

Chapter 13: Fascia: Taming the Beast 151

How Tight Fascia Makes Even Simple Movements Hard 151

Tight Fascia’s Impact on Other Types of Tissue 155

Tips for Healthy Fascia 156

Chapter 14: Managing Scar Tissue 157

What is Scar Tissue? 157

Four Phases of Scar Healing 158

Factors Making Scar Tissue Good or Bad 160

Symptoms of Scar Tissue Pain 161

Types of Scars 162

Tips to Manage Scar Tissue 163

Part 4: Unlocking Tight Muscle and Fascia with Rollers 165

Chapter 15: Scouting Your Body for Pain, Stiffness, and Restrictions 167

Constructing and Interpreting Your True Past Medical History 168

Why all three elements are key 168

Interpreting the information 169

Body Assessment 170

Standing 171

Walking 174

Squatting 177

Finding the Source of Your Pain 179

What a muscle injury feels like 179

What a joint injury feels like 180

What a bone injury feels like 180

What a nerve injury feels like 181

What overly tight fascia feel like 181

Putting Your Scouting Report Together 182

Evaluating your TPMH 183

Identifying blinking red lights (warning signs) 183

Matching blinking red lights with tissue symptoms 184

Chapter 16: Unlocking Your Upper Legs 187

Ryan Rolling Rules for the Upper Legs 188

Unlocking the Quads (aka the Workhorses) 189

Getting ready 190

The exercise 190

Do’s and don’ts 193

Unlocking your Iliotibial Band (ITB) 194

Getting ready 195

The exercise 195

Do’s and don’ts 198

Unlocking the Groin Muscles 198

Getting ready 199

The exercise 199

Do’s and don’ts 202

Unlocking the Hamstrings 204

Getting ready 204

The exercise 205

Do’s and don’ts 208

Chapter 17: Unlocking Your Lower Legs and Feet 209

An Inside Look at the Lower Legs and Feet 210

Ryan Rolling Rules for Lower Legs and Feet 212

Unlocking the Calf — Back of Shin 214

Getting ready 214

The exercise 215

Do’s and don’ts 217

Unlocking the Peroneals — Outside Corner of Lower Shin 218

Getting ready 219

The exercise 219

Do’s and don’ts 221

Unlocking the Ankle Dorsiflexors — Front of Shin 223

Getting ready 224

The exercise 224

Do’s and don’ts 226

Unlocking the Arch 226

Getting ready 227

The exercise 228

Do’s and don’ts 229

Chapter 18: Unlocking Your Lower Back and Hips 231

Ryan Rolling Rules for Your Hips and Lower Back 232

An Inside Look at the Lower Back and Hips 233

Unlocking the Lower Back — Back Extensors 235

Getting ready 237

The exercise 237

Do’s and don’ts 238

Unlocking the Front of the Hip — Hip Flexors/Upper Quad 240

Getting ready 240

The exercise 241

Do’s and don’ts 242

Unlocking the Side of the Hip — Hip External Rotators, aka “The Ladder” 243

Getting ready 246

The exercise 247

Do’s and don’ts 248

Unlocking the Back of the Hip — The Glutes, aka “The Roof” 249

Getting ready 252

The exercise 252

Do’s and don’ts 254

Chapter 19: Unlocking Your Chest, Upper Back, and Neck 257

An Inside Look at the Chest, Upper Back, and Neck 258

Ryan Rolling Rules for Chest, Upper Back, and Neck 260

Unlocking the Front of Your Chest — The Pecs 261

Getting ready 262

The exercise 263

Do’s and don’ts 264

Unlocking Your Upper Back — Shoulder Blade Stabilizers 265

Getting ready 267

The exercise 268

Do’s and don’ts 269

Unlocking Your Side — Latissimus Dorsi 270

Getting ready 271

The exercise 272

Do’s and don’ts 273

Unlocking Your Neck — Upper Trapezius 274

Getting ready 276

The exercise 276

Do’s and don’ts 278

Chapter 20: Unlocking Your Shoulders and Arms 279

An Inside Look at the Shoulders and Arms 280

Starting with the shoulder girdle 280

Moving down the arm 281

Ryan Rolling Rules for Shoulders and Arms 281

Unlocking the Front and Side of the Shoulder — Delts 283

Anterior delt 283

Middle delt 284

Level 1 and Level 2 for anterior and middle delts 286

Do’s and don’ts 286

Unlocking the Back of the Shoulder — External Rotators 287

Getting ready 289

The exercise 290

Do’s and don’ts 291

Unlocking the Palm-Side of the Forearm — Wrist Flexors 293

Getting ready 294

The exercise 295

Do’s and don’ts 297

Unlocking the Back of the Forearm — Wrist Extensors 297

Getting ready 298

The exercise 299

Do’s and don’ts 300

Unlocking the Palm of the Hand — Finger Flexors 301

Getting ready 302

The exercise 303

Do’s and don’ts 304

Chapter 21: Foam Rolling Workouts and Key Stretches 305

Strengthening with a Roller 306

Forming your strengthening game plan 306

Key strengthening tips 307

Stretching with a Roller 307

Forming your stretching game plan 308

Key stretching tips 308

Upper-Body Roller Workouts and Stretches 308

Upper body–strengthening exercises 309

Upper-body stretches 319

Core and Spine Roller Workouts and Stretches 321

Core- and spine-strengthening exercises 321

Core and spine stretches 329

Lower Body Roller Workouts and Stretches 331

Lower body–strengthening exercises 332

Lower-body stretches 339

Part 5: Workouts, Stretches, Injury Management, and Injury Prevention with Rollers 343

Chapter 22: Injury Management with Rollers 345

ROLLER Treatment Planner 346

R: Research your muscles and joints (the What) 347

O: Origin of your restrictions (the Where) 347

L: Listen to your body (the Why) 347

L: Lay out your treatment plan (the How) 347

E: Execute your treatment plan (the Work) 348

R: Reset the way you move (the Reward) 348

Shoulder Injuries 350

Impingement syndrome 350

Rotator cuff strain 351

Elbow Injuries 353

Tennis elbow 353

Golfer’s elbow 354

Lower Back Injuries 355

Lower back pain 356

Glute pain and tightness 357

Hip Injuries 358

Hip flexor strain 359

Hip rotator strain and tightness 360

Thigh Injuries 361

Quadriceps strain 362

Hamstring strain 363

Knee Injuries 365

Patella tendonitis 365

Chondromalacia 366

Ankle Injuries 368

Ankle arthritis and tightness 368

Achilles tendonitis 369

Chapter 23: Injury Prevention with Rollers for Your Sports 371

What is Injury Prevention? 372

Three Steps to Prevent Injuries 373

1 Unlock the motor muscles 374

2 Strengthen opposing muscles 374

3 Launch prevention exercises for your sport 374

Applying the Three Steps to Preventing Injuries in Your Sport 375

Running 375

Cycling or spinning 376

Gym weight training 376

Swimming 377

Basketball 378

Golf 378

Soccer 379

Tennis 379

Gym cardio 380

Part 6: The Part of Tens 381

Chapter 24: Ten Roller Do’s and Don’ts 383

Do Breathe 383

Do Trust Your Roller and Your Body’s Response 384

Do Be Creative 384

Do Toughen Up 384

Do Follow Up Your Roll with Reset Moves 384

Don’t Hold Your Breath 385

Don’t Roll on Swollen and Inflamed Injuries 385

Don’t Add Joint Motion Too Early 385

Don’t Work Against Your Body 385

Don’t Roll on Nerves, Bones, or Open Wounds 386

Chapter 25: Ten Changes Your Body Will Feel from Rolling 387

Looser Muscles 387

Increased Joint Range of Motion 388

Less Effort to Move 388

Smellier Urine 388

Faster Warm-Up 389

Less Pain and Fewer Injuries 389

Increased Muscle Strength 389

Improved Posture 390

Faster Recovery 390

Better Sleep 391

Chapter 26: Ten Groups Who Love Rollers 393

Stiff or Inflexible People 394

The Injury-Prone 394

Runners 394

Mature Athletes 395

Cross Trainers 396

Bikers 396

Stop-and-Go Athletes 397

Walkers and Hikers 397

Human Cardio Machines 397

Yoga Haters 398

Index 399

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