Muscle rolling can have significant advantages, as with any healthy habit, but when life gets busy, it’s one of the first things to slip by the wayside. The fact that utilizing muscle rollers might occasionally hurt doesn’t assist their cause! However, we have some information that might reorder the importance of muscle rolling on your list.
According to Keith Hodges, the founder of Mind In Muscle Coaching in Los Angeles, “Muscle rollers are tools that contribute to myofascial release and they come in the form of foam rollers, vibrating foam rollers, trigger point balls, vibrating trigger point balls, lacrosse balls, and percussion massage guns.” Myofascial release has been demonstrated to boost blood flow, lessen trigger point sensitivity, and treat DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness),
and enhance joint range of motion and muscle function when paired with active mobility activities. These are essential for enhancing and maintaining peak exercise performance because they facilitate faster recovery.
Recovery is crucial for avoiding plateaus and, ultimately, for reaching your goals, even if it may seem paradoxical. In reality, according to Hodges, a large portion of the populace misses their goals because they overtrain and/or underrecover.
Ways muscle rollers function?
By exerting pressure on the muscle, muscle rollers help the muscle loosen adhesions in and around the muscle fibers and draw circulation to the area. “A muscle will become stiff and the blood flow might be hindered when it becomes excessively exhausted, overworked, or damaged,” explains Jeff Brannigan, co-founder and program director of the stretching and rehabilitation facility Stretch*d in New York and Westchester. “The inflammation will be lessened and the area will be able to function more effectively with the support of blood flow. A muscle won’t be able to contract and produce movement the way it should if it is too tight. You may continue to be active and pain-free by regularly using a muscle roller.”
Do go easy and start with lighter pressure if it hurts.
The problem for many people is that they equate muscle rolling with pain, or at the very least, discomfort. Brannigan quickly points out that many people often push themselves too hard and too quickly in an effort to relieve muscle tension in response to this.
“If you put too much pressure, it won’t just be less effective—it’ll hurt. It’s usually ideal to apply light, reasonable pressure at first, then gradually build it up as your body begins to relax.”
Muscle rolling can be uncomfortable, but according to Hodges, “pain should never become intolerable.”
