Foam roller workouts
- Thread starter aqua girl
- Start date
I don't know the answer, so hopefully Cathe will see your question and respond. I just wanted to let you know that my chiropractor swears by foam rolling for the back, but when I first tried it, it was very painful for me. He suggested that I modify it by using the roller for my back against the wall rather than on the floor so that I could control the weight/pressure. It worked. I can now do my rolling on the floor. Since then, I've watched a couple of foam rolling videos on YouTube, and it looks like one could reduce or increase the pressure on most body parts by supporting more or less of their weight with whatever body parts are still on the floor or by by leaning into the roller with more or less. I think the back might be the only area that's hard to roll while controlling the pressure. I haven't actually tried any of what I viewed on YouTube, because I haven't been confident that I'd do it correctly, so I might be making an incorrect assumption about being able to control the pressure. I'm glad Cathe is doing workouts with a roller, because she gives such good instructions that I'm always willing to try something new if she's showing me how. I've been wanting to do more foam rolling than just my back, and now I'll get to! I don't know if she'll show modifications or not, but maybe keep the rolling against a wall in mind just in case your back is as sensitive as mine was. I found it helpful.
Thank you for your info ! I am trying to decide if I want to spend the $ for a roller, I kind of put together
a "home-made" one to kind of get the idea of it and some things I like, some I don't....I know it would be
better to actually have the right one. I know too that I will need a much softer one and have been reading
up on using them, etc. Someone said you can use yoga blocks to help lift yourself up higher to better
control pressure, etc. That sounds doable....I just wonder if these will show ideas like that..... I might
talk to my chiropractor too, he knows what a "wimp" I am !!!
a "home-made" one to kind of get the idea of it and some things I like, some I don't....I know it would be
better to actually have the right one. I know too that I will need a much softer one and have been reading
up on using them, etc. Someone said you can use yoga blocks to help lift yourself up higher to better
control pressure, etc. That sounds doable....I just wonder if these will show ideas like that..... I might
talk to my chiropractor too, he knows what a "wimp" I am !!!
There are ways to modify. As Braille said, you can start by using it up against the wall which also allows you to adjust pressure by how much you lean into it. If you don't have the wall space, you can use it on the ground with a towel over it to soften it if you are finding the density of the roller too much. This is how I started with my hard roller as I didn't have sufficient wall space in my workout area. For rolling legs instead of rolling both legs at the same time (e.g., for quads, hamstrings, glutes) you can modify by doing one at a time which allows you to support more of your body weight on the free leg and arms. It takes a bit longer to go through a foam rolling session as you have to switch legs, so you need to factor that in. Also, where you position your free leg can help reduce or increase intensity.
There are plenty of YouTube videos on foam rolling. I've done a few of Sydney Cummings foam roller stretches. There is also AskDoctorJo and Bob & Brad for a more tutorial approach. One thing to note is that you must never foam roll your lower back. The area between your ribs and pelvis essentially has your spinal column and soft tissue and no additional supporting bone structure and rolling this area can cause significant injury.
There are plenty of YouTube videos on foam rolling. I've done a few of Sydney Cummings foam roller stretches. There is also AskDoctorJo and Bob & Brad for a more tutorial approach. One thing to note is that you must never foam roll your lower back. The area between your ribs and pelvis essentially has your spinal column and soft tissue and no additional supporting bone structure and rolling this area can cause significant injury.
We aren't wimps. We're pain sensitive challenged. lolThank you for your info ! I am trying to decide if I want to spend the $ for a roller, I kind of put together
a "home-made" one to kind of get the idea of it and some things I like, some I don't....I know it would be
better to actually have the right one. I know too that I will need a much softer one and have been reading
up on using them, etc. Someone said you can use yoga blocks to help lift yourself up higher to better
control pressure, etc. That sounds doable....I just wonder if these will show ideas like that..... I might
talk to my chiropractor too, he knows what a "wimp" I am !!!