New Foam Roller Demos for Mountain Bikers
February 1st, 2010
Foam rolling is important for mountain bikers- if you don’t know that yet you must be new to this site. Not a day goes by I don’t roll around on my foam roller and the improved mobility and decreased muscle soreness I get from using it are something every rider should experience.
Last Friday I had a client in from Moab and I went over the newest recommendations I have for using the foam roller. I videoed it and here it is for you to see as well. Even if you have seen my foam roller demos before there are a few new tips and tricks here I just picked up in the last few months.
-James Wilson-
From what I’ve come across online, a foam roller works ‘best’ when you find a really tender spot and just hold it there for 20-30 seconds. What are your opinions on that technique?
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Hi James,
Dr. Cobb of ZHealth.net theorizes that there are neurological consequences to exercises/activities such as foam rolling that cause pain that will result in reduced performance overall. Thus, he promotes his R-phase program for neurological healing and, to my knowledge, discourages foam rolling. That said, a middle ground approach would be to foam roll only to the extent that one can do it without causing any pain (e.g. putting less body weight on an area). I know PTs, kinesiologists, and trainers who seem to think that one should take the attitude that infliction pain is okay if it’s “good pain” such as would be produced using a foam roller. Personally, there are areas of my hips and quads that it is impossible to foam roll without pain so I’d have to roll the ball or foam roller on top of the muscle rather than weight bear at all on the foam roller.
I’d like to know what you think of Z-Health practitioner Mike T. Nelson’s article:
http://www.dieselcrew.com/articles-pdf/gofr.pdf
Cheers,
Janet
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bikejames Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:59 am
@ Janet – I guess it depends on your definition of “pain”. I don’t think you should cause pain but severe discomfort is fine. When I first started foam rolling I had some super sore areas and they are much better now and my mobility has improved a lot so there is something positive going on. Too many people have had success with foam rolling and too many people who are smarter than me recommend foam rolling for me to think that it has no place or value.
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Thanks for the updated video james. I’m surprised you didnt include the ITB! Any reason for this?
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bikejames Reply:
February 3rd, 2010 at 5:01 am
@ Cookie – Here is a link to a post that I did recently that talks about my new thoughts on the IT band.
http://www.bikejames.com/injury-rehab/rider-qa-how-do-i-get-rid-of-pain-in-my-it-band/
Of course, you can roll out on it and I may change my mind in the future but that is where I am at right now…
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Great video, amazing website. Thanks for putting this all on here.
Why don’t you use the foam roller on your lower back? It feels great to me when I roll out my lower back.
John.
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bikejames Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
@ John – as Mike Boyle says, scratching a scab feels good but it isn’t helping the situation. Since most people have hyper mobility in their lower back they can’t stabilize the spine well enough to do it without putting a lot of compressive stress on the vertebrae. It is just a general rule that works well at not unknowingly inflicting harm.
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