I know people recommend you dont stretch to hard before exercise so as to night create micro tears and then exacerbate them while working out.
What about foam rolling. I am gonna swim later, hamstring is tight as hell, so should i go swim, use pull bouy and not kick and do foam rolling after. Or foam roll the legs off myself and then swim with no danger of making any damage/breakdown caused by the foam rolling of the knots getting worse.
Does it matter?
I know people recommend you dont stretch to hard before exercise so as to night create micro tears and then exacerbate them while working out.
What about foam rolling. I am gonna swim later, hamstring is tight as hell, so should i go swim, use pull bouy and not kick and do foam rolling after. Or foam roll the legs off myself and then swim with no danger of making any damage/breakdown caused by the foam rolling of the knots getting worse.
Does it matter?
I asked a similar question to a personal trainer at the local YMCA last week. I told her my left hamstring was getting seriously tight and asked if I shouild roll it before or after I run.
She said “Hmmmm, you could try both ways and see which one works best for you”.
Gee, thanks for the advice. Glad I wasn’t paying for it.
Warm up, foam roll, do your workout.
I generally foam roll after unless something is tight, in which case I do the above.
If I had to say one or the other, it would be after, when your muscles are good and warmed-up. The problem with swimming is it usually takes place in the morning before you’re headed to work and as such post swim rolling is impossible. By the way, I don’t think foam rolling causes any damage. Soreness maybe, but I’ve hammered body parts prior to exercise without ill effects. Also, if you’ve got serious knots you need to get deeper than a foam roller will get - consider a pinky ball. If you’ve got bad knots the key is to hit 'em often for a while - like every day for a week. It will be hard to take for the first little while but it’s got to be done. Taper off to once a week or so for maintenance. Good luck to you.
Foam rolled this troublesome hamstring last summer, first time using the foam roller and the next day it felt like i’d ripped it. I’ll go gently at it before i swim this evening and see what happens.
Will try and spend 10min on it almost everyday if i can find the time.
Thanks guys
Foam rolling before will help reduce chance of injury during the workout.
I also like to foam roll before bed along with my recovery routine so my legs feel fresh in the morning. Foam rolling is a great way to get recovered but before workout will help you workout the knots better than your normal warmup routine.
If you have the time, try a hot shower (focusing the water on the areas you want to warm) or hot tub to passively warm your legs, then a foam roller, then stretching. That’s what I do before my sprint sessions. The main challenge is that after that procedure you may want to nap.
Cheers,
Jim
I use a roller daily, usually after my workouts. If my IT Band or something else is feeling tight I will roll it then (if I can, no matter if its pre or post workout)
I love the foam roller, and credit it as a large part of being injury free over the last year while training 14-20 hours a week. Here the protocol that I use, with a bit of rationale behind each point:
Pre-Workout: Foam roll the glutes for about 1 minute on each side as to “wake them up” and hit big insertion points (e.g., ITB, Hamstring). If anything else is tight, I will roll it, but very lightly, and no more than 8-12 rolls over the spot. Don’t want to go to heavy as to create damage before a workout.
Post-Workout: Only if something is noticeably tight, and then I will hit it for about a minute, but that’s it.
Foam Rolling Sessions: About twice a week, I foam roll for a good 20-30 minutes. These are the sessions where I really go at things hard and try to work out any adhesions and/or other issues I am having. I try to do these sessions heading into an off day or active-recovery day.
General Rationale: Foam rolling heavily can take a toll on the body, and should almost be treated like deep-tissue massage work if you do it right. For me, anything more than 2x a week is counter-productive. That said, hitting the glutes before every workout will help you avoid common problems with the hamstring and ITB, and keeping the time low won’t add any breakdown to the body, and, it’s a lot more realistic to foam roll for 2-5 minutes everyday vs. 20 minutes everyday.
That’s what works for me. Every body is different, but as guiding principles, I would separate the “purpose” of a session for really getting in there (don’t expect to train hard right after this and don’t do this too often) versus just waking and warming things up.
That seems rational to me. I will give that a shot.
I do both if I can, but more important after in my circumstances (tight quads post-bike which pull my kneecap out of alignment).
The existing research literature collectively indicates
tbat static stretching witbin an bour before practice
or competition does not improve sports performance,
nor does it appear to reduce the risk of injury.
Not sure if there is any research specifically on rolling before working out but most of what I’ve read talks about both before and after or daily or twice daily. I think as long as your not doing it to hard it would help stimulate blood flow and help to alleviate tightness… I often roll my calves before running when they are sore and it does seem to help immediately with a feeling of less tenderness and also it seems to decrees the amount of time for the muscles to warm up when I start running.
i foam roll before and after. a great foam roller is the rumble roller which has a website with info and videos.
Before and after. Before for a little bit to stretch your IT out so you don’t injure it during your workout and then a good long roll after your workout to really stretch and lengthen it out. Works great for me
For what it is worth - I saw athletic trainers foam rolling Kemba Walker last night before his game against the knicks. They probably know what they are doing. And he had a really good game, minus a few early turnovers.
Free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it.
If you hamstring is “tight as hell” then obviously you shouldn’t do much with it. Personally I use the foam roller after exercise, but I don’t exercise when muscles are tight as hell. I gently stretch them first, until I feel like I can do some work without breaking something.
I love the foam roller, and credit it as a large part of being injury free over the last year while training 14-20 hours a week.
On the other hand, I hate the foam roller (and stretching and ice baths), and credit my lack of use as a large part of being injury free over the last year while training 18-25 hours/week.