Professional athletes often require the assistance of a team of professionals, including physical therapists, massage therapists, chiropractors, etc., to help eliminate muscle tightness and pain; However, most people may not be able to afford a professional team to help. In addition to stretching and exercising on their own, they can actually use some small props to massage and relieve stress on the muscle pain points of the body

A must-have massage tool for sports—foam roller

The foam roller is a good tool that can help you massage and relax your fascia. It uses our own weight to roll back and forth to squeeze my fascia to achieve the purpose of massage

Foam rollers are for everyone. It is a must for athletes! It can effectively help us stretch and lengthen tight or overused muscles, relax tight fascia, and reduce the possibility of muscle adhesion and scar tissue. It can also help you increase flexibility and improve joints. range of motion, reducing fatigue and speeding recovery.

The technique for using a foam roller is very simple. It is to use the weight of the body to "slowly" roll on the roller, stay at the most painful point (trigger point) for 10 seconds, and go back and forth several times until the pain is eliminated, and then Continue to other areas. In order to increase the pressure exerted on the muscle tissue, more body weight must be pressed against the roller. The easiest way is to put one foot on the roller instead of two, or rest one foot on top of the other. As the pain subsides, you can shift most of your body weight onto the roller to increase pressure.

Another way is to roll from the trunk of the body (closer to the center of the body) to the distal end of the muscle (away from the center of the body) and do it in "sections." For example, to relax your quadriceps, don't roll from beginning to end at once. Shorten the distance of each roll. Start rolling from the upper half until you feel the muscles relax, and then move to the lower half. Because when rolling to the distal muscle-tendon junction, the pressure will increase, and treating the upper half of the muscles first can reduce the subsequent pressure on the lower half. When you start using a roller, you can experiment and find a method that works for you.

Before daily use, you can do a simple warm-up and stretch. Remember to slow down your movements and do not press too hard. Focus on pressing on the soft tissues and do not press on the bones. If you encounter resistance points or sore points, you can stay for 15 minutes. Seconds, then slowly relax, and do it back and forth on the same part about 3 times. If you still have obvious pain after use, you need to consult a physical therapist or rehabilitation doctor.

Note: People with circulatory problems and chronic pain conditions should not use the roller to relax.

The areas most frequently used in daily life or sports are the first to focus on the muscles of the lower body. We can target the muscles of the lower body such as the calf (gastrocnemius), tibialis anterior, quadriceps, hamstrings, tensor fascia lata, iliac calf ( IT Band), gluteal muscles, lats, and upper and lower back to perform a roller massage.

The following is a tutorial video for you to use a foam roller for full body muscle mass massage