overdo foam rolling?

newby.204

Can you overdo it with the foam roller? I normally do 5,10,15 reps on each muscle of the leg, 1 rep for me is up and down if you get me, so id start at the ankle on the calf and go up to just before the knee and back down!! and then a bit of light stretchin, 30s on each muscle, afterwards?

Hanley

Do you feel like you're over doing it?

Inspector Coptoor

I think you reach a point with foam rolling where its just maintenance.
You;re doing it often and its of benefit, definitely, but its not something you need to do for huge amounts of time once you;ve gotten over that initial 2-3 week introductory period/

Foam rolling became very fashionable there for a while, now people are talking more about other things and some are forgetting about foam rolling.
5 mins of foam rolling 4-5 times per week should be enough in my opinion
It can be easy to spend longer because once you get used to it, it actually starts to feel good

Over time, you wont get the same out of your foam roller, you may have to move on to a harder one, a wavin pipe, or in some cases, a concrete pipe but the same ideas should apply. I do 8-10 rolls per body part usually including
upper back/thoracic spine
triceps
glutes (individually)
hamstrings
calves
achilles
ITBs
quads (individually)

newby.204

@hanley
i dont feel like im overdoing it but my muscles feel sore afterwards, granted its only my first week, like when you have a physio work on a muscle if you get me?

@henners
cheers for the info i guess it roughly takes me 20min for
calves
quads
itb
hamstrings
glutes

with the stetching thrown in at the end

Burkatron

newby.204 wrote: »

Can you overdo it with the foam roller? I normally do 5,10,15 reps on each muscle of the leg, 1 rep for me is up and down if you get me, so id start at the ankle on the calf and go up to just before the knee and back down!! and then a bit of light stretchin, 30s on each muscle, afterwards?

Just curious on the bolded bit! Should you be going down the leg? The rule of thumb for soft tissue work in arms & legs is to work towards the heart so as not to damage the valves in your veins & also not to go against blood flow sending waste back to where its been transferred away from..

newby.204

Burkatron wrote: »

Just curious on the bolded bit! Should you be going down the leg? The rule of thumb for soft tissue work in arms & legs is to work towards the heart so as not to damage the valves in your veins & also not to go against blood flow sending waste back to where its been transferred from away from..

i honestly wouldnt know and id leave it to the more experienced lads to comment

Edwardius

Burkatron wrote: »

The rule of thumb for soft tissue work in arms & legs is to work towards the heart so as not to damage the valves in your veins & also not to go against blood flow sending waste back to where its been transferred away from..

Where did you hear this? It looks like it makes some sense but seems overly cautious. Just curious.

Scuba Ste

The only thing I'd say is to do it with smaller movements like 1-2 inches at a time. So start at your achilles and roll back and forth over a small portion 8-10 times and then move upwards and repeat, should take about 5 "portions" to reach your knee, instead of big passes up and back. The same with other muscles. That's the way I was shown and it feels better. It can still be sore afterwards especially the calf muscles I find.

Is that for real Burkatron.

Burkatron

Dead Ed wrote: »

Where did you hear this? It looks like it makes some sense but seems overly cautious. Just curious.

1st time I started soft tissue work 9 years ago doing a crappy ITEC diploma!
Then on a BSC Osteopathy course in the UK (never finished so take my advice like anyone elses)
Currently on the NMT course in National training college, so a few different places & levels & they all follow that guideline!

Along with inhibiton (holding pressure on a specific point) to a specific muscle should be no longer then 16 seconds as your cutting off the blood supply which defeats the purpose of what you're doing in the 1st place!
I've never really looked at foam rolling,is there a site with guidelines that people follow? People could do more damage then good in the long run if they don't know what they're doing!

Edwardius

Burkatron wrote: »

1st time I started soft tissue work 9 years ago doing a crappy ITEC diploma!
Then on a BSC Osteopathy course in the UK (never finished so take my advice like anyone elses)
Currently on the NMT course in National training college, so a few different places & levels & they all follow that guideline!

Along with inhibiton (holding pressure on a specific point) to a specific muscle should be no longer then 16 seconds as your cutting off the blood supply which defeats the purpose of what you're doing in the 1st place!
I've never really looked at foam rolling,is there a site with guidelines that people follow? People could do more damage then good in the long run if they don't know what they're doing!

Thanks for the info Burkatron!

Slightly OT, but how far are you into the NMT course and do you need a prior degree/qual in a health/sports related field to understand or digest the material? Is that the evening course? I'd a vague idea of doing something like that if I somehow acquired the wedge to pay for it!

Burkatron

Dead Ed wrote: »

Thanks for the info Burkatron!

Slightly OT, but how far are you into the NMT course and do you need a prior degree/qual in a health/sports related field to understand or digest the material? Is that the evening course? I'd a vague idea of doing something like that if I somehow acquired the wedge to pay for it!

I'm only in my *counts fingers* 3rd/4th month of the course
You dont need any pre-requisites for the NMT cert course,(basic A&P would be a big help though) it goes over the basics (although very quickly) & there's people from all backgrounds doing it. I did 3 out of 4 years of an Osteopathy degree but had to drop out due to a load of things (don't ask!!) & couldn't afford to get back to the UK to finish so this is a compromise for unfinished business. It can lead onto a HDIP course which I'm hoping to do after...possibly! Anyways, it's all old hat to me but I have to attend the classes regardless, they wouldnt let me sit in on the exams just to get my piece of paper! Damn standards :mad:
The course is a good standard so far, better then I was expecting!