Do a gentle mobilising roll beforehand and be more agressive on rest days / after training. Really though if you've gotta foam roll every session something is serriously wrong, more than a FR is going to fix.
I never feel any benefit doing it immediately after training. If I'm already warm, I struggle to find the trigger points. It's not something you should have to do everyday, but you get the most benefit from it if you do it regularly.
If you hit it prior to your training you can really get some releases for the hip flexors going. Great tool to open up with. Both working along the muscle grain and against it.
Thanks all. Biggest reason I'm doing it is to help with tight calves, which restrict my depth in the ATG squat. Usually do 10 rolls before and after training (once up and once down = 1 rep for me), is that the right number of reps? (If I feel a tight spot I do smaller, concentrated rolls to work it out. And cry. A lot.)
If you can find tight/sore/painful spots on your calfs or hamstrings while rolling on the foam roller attack them several different ways. First of I'd go for pinpointing a spot and then holding that spot as painful as it might be... for no less than 6-10 seconds... making sure to breathe as you hold that spot. This will cause your GTO (golgi tendon organ - a mechanoreceptor) to kick in and lengthen contracted muscle fibers... so it's actually a stretch... lengthening of muscle fiber as opposed to contraction of muscle fiber. You may notice you'll be able to find more spots rolling one direction than rolling the other direction... at least I always do... Once you hit those main painful spots with a 6-10 second hold several time each... go back and roll out the muscles both cross grain and with the grain. This is more of a general roll and massage. Bear in mind that not everyone thinks foam rolling is legit and it sure has sold a lot of overpriced foam rollers... read as much as you can. When you start to question many on the actual science behind the foam roller - you'll be shocked to find that many - even supposed top names - don't really have all the answers. I've taken several course by very big names in this field and always walked away with many questions that weren't answered or drew blank looks or were out and out shrugged off. That raised some red flags. Just food for thought.
Is it supposed to hurt THIS much?! Just got back from the gym. Used the foam roller. Decided to externally rotate my thigh(s) and hit my lateral calves. Goddamn. I found my tender spots! But on my left calf especially it hurt like a motherf... hell. It hurt like hell. Almost like I had severe DOMS. It wore off after ten minutes of walking. But is this the sort of reaction I can expect from my sore bits?
Your calves are probably just a real mess of knots and the like, can you think of any reason they'd be that done in? It will improve, when it gets a lot better use a more dense roller, I use a rolling pin for parts of my calf now, it's bloody sore but gets in there! Mike heldesky introduced me to barbell rolling, I use it for real tight areas like forearms, and some parts of my hammies, it is probably the single most unpleasant thing to do in the gym! Like I said earlier though, if you can't get in a squat session without 10 mins of rolling then you have a way more serrious issue than a roller will address, get it checked out and get a pro's thumbs in there. I tend to just do one fairly long session a week on the roller, and pick out some tough bits after say a leg session (only after a few hours though) then every couple of months go see my deep tissue guy who gets in there with stones and his thumbs.
The main issue I was having was getting my ass down low in squats. After doing a bit of research I figured tight calves were the culprit (I can squat low just fine with plates under my heels). The foam roller has certainly confirmed that! Honestly, I think the problem was just neglect. I'd do a lot of running and kind of just leave my calves to recover from any DOMS over time. No post run stretching or anything. Now I'm paying for it!
My rolling arsenal includes a foam roller, tennis ball, thin PVC pipe and a hockey ball! I second Steve's suggestion of going to see a professional for really tough areas.
My nearest sports massags place is shut till New Year. 2 new questions: 1) What are the rules for foam rolling when DOMS is present? 2) Do I introduce tougher objects when the foam roller no longer works?
Inspired by Frodo... My myofacial release armory: Black foam roller - For upper leg, lower and upper back, t-spine and lat Mini football (as hard as possible) - Piriformis and pec Homemade peanut (two tennis balls taped together) - Either side of the spine Tennis ball - Calves, sole of feet and anything that deserves it! Rattan stick - Calves, though from Bando I can do most muscles with the stick I do a quick roll with the roller before a workout and try to hit most parts of the body once/twice a week in depth with the full arsenal. Normally whilst watching some rubbish TV.
