Foam rolling is usually in comparison with a poor man’s therapeutic massage. Whereas foam rolling is decidedly extra DIY than therapeutic massage, each modalities have an analogous purpose: To make use of stress on muscle tissue to make them really feel higher. Each use lengthy, gliding motions over the muscle and make contact with in opposition to your pores and skin to realize their purpose. Each can enhance your flexibility and assist with restoration. Nevertheless, they’re not comparable by way of how they need to be used and what they’ll do in your physique.
Foam rollers are cylindrical items of compressed foam that are available numerous lengths, shapes and densities. In the event you’re new to foam rolling it is best to begin with a softer curler. It may be pretty uncomfortable to roll your muscle tissue, significantly should you’re sore or tight in a single space. A foam curler doesn’t work with you, you must work across the foam curler. It lies on the bottom and you must contort your physique round it, attempting to determine the best way to apply the correct quantity of stress in order that it doesn’t really feel downright painful.
Therapeutic massage additionally is available in completely different kinds. Some strategies are extra targeted on rest, whereas others use heavy stress and stress factors. Therapeutic massage is rather more efficient at moving into the muscle. A therapeutic massage therapist can use their palms, knuckles, elbows and even toes to get into your muscle in methods a foam curler can not.
IDEAL TIME FOR FOAM ROLLING
James Sinodinos, DPT, an authorized power and conditioning specialist, recommends foam rolling earlier than exercises for his sufferers. “The froth curler prepares your muscle tissue for the exercise” says Sinodinos.
From a sensible standpoint, foam rollers are extra user-friendly earlier than a exercise for 2 causes. The primary is you possibly can take your foam curler to the fitness center and use it instantly earlier than you exercise. A 2018 examine printed within the Worldwide Journal of Sports activities Bodily Remedy reveals foam rolling earlier than a exercise can improve your flexibility with out hurting your efficiency. In truth, foam rolling can improve your flexibility as a lot as stretching.
The act of froth rolling forces you to maneuver and heat your physique up. It’s even been in comparison with the plank by way of bodily exertion. Because you’re working to maneuver across the foam curler, your physique temperature will increase, which can clarify the good points in flexibility.
One other benefit the froth curler has over therapeutic massage earlier than a exercise is it’s stimulating. This turns out to be useful earlier than a exercise since you need to be energized and targeted, not relaxed and torpid.
After your exercise, nonetheless, it’s higher to chill out and let the restoration course of start. Your sympathetic nervous system is lively throughout train because it stimulates your coronary heart to beat sooner, wakes up your metabolism to energy your muscle tissue and makes you extra targeted. After a exercise, it’s time to activate the parasympathetic nervous system so you possibly can chill out, get better and digest meals. Therapeutic massage is significantly better than foam rolling at selling rest.
HUMAN TOUCH: THE BENEFIT OF MASSAGE
When treating sufferers, Sinodinos makes use of each therapeutic massage and foam rolling. One of many advantages of therapeutic massage is he can pinpoint muscle tissue he needs to work on, quite than passing over a big space of muscle with the froth curler.
In the event you’re injured or in ache, therapeutic massage remedy might be higher than foam rolling. Therapeutic massage decreases ache, in line with a 2016 examine printed in Ache Medication. Foam rollers can’t precisely goal particular areas of the physique, they usually can’t work round your accidents. In the event you can’t get into place to foam roll then it gained’t work.
For rehabilitation and remedy, therapeutic massage has a lacking factor the froth curler doesn’t: human contact. “There’s completely one thing to be mentioned about human contact and getting my palms on the tissue” notes Sinodinos.
A 2017 examine printed in Scientific Reviews investigated the social results of human contact. Whereas mild touching acts as a temper booster, the researchers discovered the advantages are a lot deeper. Light touching, equivalent to therapeutic massage, can create emotions of social bonding which helped topics really feel much less lonely. Therapeutic massage has a mixture of psychological and bodily advantages.
IDEAL TIME FOR MASSAGE
Once you get a therapeutic massage you’re rather more relaxed and your temper improves. You’ll additionally get a greater night time’s relaxation. These advantages go far in enhancing restoration. Leisure is vital as a result of it shifts your physique into restoration mode, making it superb after a exercise.
Once you chill out, your parasympathetic nervous system takes over in your sympathetic nervous system. Your parasympathetic nervous system slows your coronary heart charge and respiration. It returns blood to your organs so you possibly can correctly digest meals. Therapeutic massage helps you come back to this parasympathetic state.
Your psychological well being advantages from therapeutic massage, as does your bodily well being. Whereas therapeutic massage and foam rolling present some related advantages like lowering muscle soreness, the advantages from foam rolling aren’t a lot to put in writing house about. In truth, a 2019 examine printed in Frontiers in Physiology calls the results of froth rolling on restoration “quite minor and partly negligible.”
Therapeutic massage will help you get better between exercises by lowering muscle soreness and enhancing blood circulate. Not solely is it simpler than foam rolling, it’s simpler than many different restoration strategies. A 2018 examine printed in Frontiers in Physiology discovered therapeutic massage was higher at decreasing soreness and emotions of fatigue than cryotherapy, lively restoration, compression clothes and distinction water remedy.
