get off the foam roller!

http://www.dieselcrew.com/articles-pdf/gofr.pdf

what are peoples opinions on this? I absolutely love foam rolling and cannot imagine giving it up. I dont really buy this argument. The only thing I can agree on is that there may be some problem with your movement patterns that are getting you sore in the first place, so addressing the cause is better than addressing the problem. Otherwise i will continue to roll to my hearts content.

Everything has its place. In general i don't believe anything that says everyone should stop any activity.

However the point that getting ones movement in order is something i'm a big believer in. If a person just blindly rolls them self raw, well sure they might not be getting the full benefit of the rolling. There should be some awareness in any of our physical work, be it rolling or doing a pull up. The rolling should inform the movement work and visa versa. This is really pretty natural to do once you become aware in general. IMHO thats maybe the bigger issue, folks just do things blindly. I suppose thats why the whole fitness industry is nothing more than a continuous cycle of fads. Do this years thing blindly, randomly and find, surprise, it didn't work, well no problem because next year there will be a new miracle cure. Sure foam rollers aren't the whole answer, but they sure can help when used appropriately.

Roll, move, think, relax, be firm, its all part of the same equation and usually a complete answer will involve all sides.

I have a fantastic therapist (i just got back from a treatment!) and he does whats needed to get the body to move correctly and holistically, it may involve stretching, massage, or movement. Its all good in the right measure.

Food for thought. Beneficially overactive tissues: http://boddickerperformance.com/?p=1080

I have a foam roller, and I do like it as one tool in the box to use. So far it has not done any wonders, but it does help sometimes with those trigger points between the shoulder blades. I really have not used it much for my legs; stretching feels better, and I don't care for the ackward movements.

Definitely, a massage is better.

Eventually you will find that a roller is not enough pressure for some muscles.

How did I know there would be a Z-Health plug in the article? Overall, I agree though. I jumped on the bandwagon in my first year of training (I practically worshipped anything they did at Athlete's Performance), but once I found the value of a good therapist (especially one trained well in structural integration) I never looked back. On the odd occasion, I'll use a small medicine ball over parts of my back, but even so it's more of an almost-dead habit than anything that improves performance.

I don't foam roll before training, but I stretch and do SMR with a tennisball after training, don't tell me that's not good. Might not be as good as an ART treatment but my chronic back pain that several doctors and chiros have hopelessly tried to fix actually goes away after an intense SMR session. Of course some of the tension comes back if I'm not consistent...

I am a fan of foam rolling (so much that I use a lacross ball for my foam rolling). And I don't see anything wrong with the article. The guy didn't say stop all foam rolling (at the very end of the article he still recommends it) he just said that if you are having a consistent problem with something that is tight maybe its better to fix the issue, can't say that I disagree with him there. I use foam rolling in the following way: when I have an chronic injury (the kind that builds up over time) I asses where it is coming from and what is causing it. Administer foam rolling to the area and surrounding tissue and to rehab work so it doesn't come back. Foam rolling halves the time spent rehabbing the chronic injury which is why I love it so much.

Yep it is definitely a tool, and I believe a valuable one as it is much less expensive to self-administer than to go see a good ART, masseuse or PT.

I too am a huge fan of the lacrosse ball, and I self administer ART to my upper body all the time, especially areas of the biceps and pectorals.

I also agree that for rehab purposes (after seeing a professional) it is very beneficial.

Haha those who have tried a lacrosse ball know that there is no other way to foam roll . It is brutal.

I dunno, I like my baseballs!

Lol for the massage of your life baseballs are the way to go. Never tried baseballs but I have these Chinese therapy balls that are made of stone and are tiny. They are perfect for targeting small areas.

Nice. I have been seriously considering buying some golf balls for that purpose.

I would definitely recommend it, especially for small muscles and areas.

Golf balls hurt a lot

Yes... they are for my triceps, forearms, and rear delts and whatever is on top of the scapula. I think I'll pick some up today.