Foam rolling has seen a real increase in its popularity over recent years. The range of foam rollers to choose from is huge and you can even go to a class to teach you how to use it.

As someone who is physically active myself (running and dancing) and a clinical osteopath, I’m no stranger to using a foam roller or recommending them to my patients in Jesmond, Newcastle, and the North East. After using a roller recently I stopped to ask myself

‘what is this process actually doing for my body?’

I feel looser after using one and less sore if it’s after exercise but this personal experience isn’t really enough for me to wholeheartedly recommend foam rolling effectively to my patients.

So here we are. I’ve scoured the scientific research and pulled together the facts which should help us both understand what foam rolling does to the body. Please be aware that this isn’t an academic literature review, I’m not going to compare and contrast the minutae of each study.

There are 5 key points. If you don’t want the science, skip to the summary at the end. Otherwise, stick with me. Here we go………...

1.Foam rolling might improve physical performance in the short term

Study 1 The Effect of Foam Rolling on Recovery Between two Eight Hundred Metre Runs Journal of Human Kinetics 2017 June 57: 97-105 Antony D’Amico & Vincent Paolone

Study 2 Effects of Foam Rolling on Vertical Jump Performance International Journal of Kinesiology and Sports Science 2015 Vol 3 No 3 Andrew Jones, Lee E. Brown, Jared W. Coburn, & Guillermo J. Noffal

Study 3 The Effect of Foam Rolling for Three Consecutive Days on Muscular Efficiency and Range of Motion Sports Medicine - Open 2018 Lewis J. Macgregor, Malcolm M. Fairweather, Ryan M. Bennett, & Angus M. Hunter

Studies 1&2 don’t show any change in performance in the short term from using a foam roller. These studies assessed running and jumping respectively. Participants either ran or jumped and then used a foam roller and then repeated the activity. The use of the foam roller between the repeated activity didn’t change the performance any more than passive resting or mimicking foam rolling on a skateboard!

On the other hand, study 3 shows that foam rolling may “enhance strength and performance and delay the onset of fatigue”. Study 3 measured quadriceps contraction before and after foam rolling for 2 minutes or resting for 2 minutes. In the group that used the foam roller it was found that they needed less muscle excitation (neural input) to contract the quadriceps after using the roller (so you could argue efficiency improved). Their maximal voluntary contraction was also stronger after the foam rolling. This group also showed less muscle fatigue 3 days post testing

Key point: foam rolling during a training session/class or competition might improve your performance during the rest of that session/class or competition and might reduce muscle fatigue after exercise.

2. Foam rolling decreases Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

Study: Foam rolling is an effective recovery tool in trained distance runners Sports Sciences for Health 2019 page 1-11 Emma J. Lee, Erik H. Van Iterson, Sarah E. Baker, Alexander J. Kasak, Natalie E. Taylor, ChoungHun Kang, Christopher J. Lundstrom, & Eric M. Snyder

In this study distance runners did some down hill running to cause DOMS in the legs and then either used a foam roller for 16 minutes or sat for 16 minutes whilst wearing compression tights. The group that did the foam rolling experienced less active DOMS pain 2 days post downhill run. This group also had lower perceived exertion when they ran again 2 days after the down hill run.

Key point: foam rolling can help to reduce DOMS symptoms. This is significant because athletes who experience DOMS from Exercise Induced Muscle Damage (EIMD) can have an increased risk of injury due to decreases in muscle strength, muscular compensation and changes in biomechanics. The authors of the above article accurately point out that “Athletes who are not fully recovered from a prior bout of exercise can neither compete to their highest ability nor train at desired levels”. This research doesn’t explain why foam rolling helps to reduce DOMS but there is a clear argument here if foam rolling helps one to reduce pain, move more easily and recover from training then it has to be a good thing to do post work-out.

3. Foam rolling enables the individual to do myofascial release (MFR) on themselves

Study 1 Acute effects of foam rolling on passive stiffness, stretch sensation and fascial sliding: A randomized controlled trial Human movement science 67 2019 Frieder Krause, Jan Wilke, Daniel Niederer, Lutz Vogt, & Winfried Banzer

Study 2 Do exercises with the Foam Roller have a short-term impact on the thoracolumbar fascia? A randomized controlled trial Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies 2017 (21) 186-193 Annika Griefahn, Jan Oehlmann, Christoff Zalpour, & Harry von Piekartz

Why would I want to do that to myself? you might ask. And rightly so.

The myofascia is the soft part of our connective tissue. It is the muscles and the tissue which connects all the muscles of the body together. It is an important part of what allows us to move and it traverses almost every part of the body.

Myofascia has pain fibres in it and therefore can transmit and cause us pain. Myofascia is affected when we get injured or when we have pain.

People with lower back pain have been found to have low mobility in the fascia of their back.

Having mobile and freely gliding fascia is a good thing. MFR is the most common way of treating the fascia and is often done by manual therapists including osteopaths and sports massage therapists to reduce adhesions between the layers of fascia.

Foam rolling has been shown in the above studies to have the same effect on the myofascia as MFR.

Key point: Foam rolling makes the myofascia more malleable and moveable. It is a way to perform myofascial release on the body. Fascia which glides well is healthy fascia and is less likely to cause you pain and dysfunction. This applies to all fascia all over the body.

4. Foam rolling increases joint range of motion in the short term

Study: Acute Effects of Foam Rolling on Range of Motion in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review with Multilevel Meta‑analysis Sports Medicine 18th October 2019 Jan Wilke, Anna-Lena Müller, Florian Giesche, Gerard Power, Hamid Ahmedi, & David G. Behm

This systematic review analysed 26 studies which investigated the effects of foam rolling on joint range of motion and found that the evidence collectively shows that foam rolling is an effective way of increasing joint range of motion in the short term.

Other key findings of the review were (quoted directly):

• The effects observed in men are smaller than in female or mixed samples.

• Vibration may enhance the effect of foam rolling but hitherto, evidence is insufficient to verify this assumption.

• The magnitude of the effect is comparable to stretching interventions.

Key point: If your aim is to increase the range of motion in a joint in the short term then foam rolling is an effective way to do this.

5. Foam rolling improves flexibility like stretching does but without decreasing strength

Study: Acute Effects of Foam Rolling, Static Stretching, and Dynamic Stretching During Warm-ups on Muscular Flexibility and Strength in Young Adults. Journal of Sports Rehabilitation Su H, Chang NJ, Wu WL, Guo LY, Chu IH. 2017 Nov;26(6):469-477

This study found that foam rolling improved flexibility without decreasing strength. This is important in a warm up situation where you want to increase tissue flexibility but without hindering the strength you’ll need to actually complete the activity you’re warming up for. This is why static stretching is no longer advised before exercise because it temporarily reduces muscular strength and potentially hinders your physical performance.

One of foam rolling’s big selling points is that it can improve flexibility to a similar extent as stretching, but with an important added bonus – it doesn’t impair strength. Foam rolling can also improve performance if combined with stretching.

Key point: If you want to work on your flexibility without reducing your strength capabilities then foam rolling is just the ticket

In summary. Foam rolling does the following:

1. may improve physical performance in the short term

2. decreases Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

3. enables Self Myofascial Release (SMFR)

4. increases joint range of motion in the short term

5. improves flexibility like stretching does but without decreasing strength

This blog is the copywrite of Helping Hands Health 15a Clayton Road, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4RP