The majority of people who come into our fitness facility have some sort of movement restriction, myself included. And, regardless of their immediate goal, be it losing 25 pounds or improving their half-marathon time, we have to address their mobility issues first if we're going to make any sort of long-term progress.
You see, because of our country's increasingly sedentary lifestyles, people's previous or present injuries, and/or daily movement habits, our muscles and their surrounding fascia (think of cellophane wrapping your muscles so they don't just flop around inside you) can become shortened and more dense. Picture a 12" shoelace with a few knots in it. Those knots will result in that shoelace having thicker areas where the knots are, and it will shorten the length of the lace. A similar phenomenon happens in our bodies, resulting in negative changes to our muscle fibers.
So literally every one of our members begins his/her session by doing some soft tissue therapy. By using inexpensive implements such as foam rollers (picture pool noodles on steroids), tennis and lacrosse balls, and our own body weight, we can stimulate the formation of fibroblasts to change randomly-aligned Type 3 collagen back to stronger, parallel Type 1 collagen.
Soft tissue therapy can be hard work. In fact, it can be quite painful. And while I don't necessarily believe in the old gym adage of "No Pain, No Gain", it is actually true when it comes to foam rolling, ball rolling, etc. You have to exert some pressure while slowly rolling over these knots and adhesions in order to decrease their density. For some people, soft tissue work can be a workout in itself.
But with consistent pain comes reward. You will find that by taking 7-10 minutes twice a day to do some soft tissue therapy on yourself, these "trigger points" will decrease significantly in just a few weeks. The less it hurts, the higher the tissue quality, and the better you can move.
Two words of caution: please do not stretch if you're not doing some tissue work first. Again picturing the shoelace with knots in it, if you stretch that shoelace, you will make the knots tighter and tighter, increasing its thickness and decreasing its length, to the point of it tearing under tension. Second, foam rolling is not meant for people with severe neuropathy or those with conditions such as fibromyalgia. Although I have had great success with a couple of clients who could not sleep through the night due to significant leg cramping, and with one client who was self-diagnosed with fibromyalgia, their conditions were favorable enough to start with some light work and slowly progress to actual tissue release methods.
If you would like more information about soft tissue work, give us a call at 775.432.1356. I've also had some people inquire about purchasing foam rollers to use at home (we have 2 at our house). Let me know if you would like one. A quality, molded roller will last about 3-4 times longer than one made of closed foam. They are about $15 for a 6" round, 18" long roller, and about $20 for one that's 36" long (+ tax and shipping). I will be happy to order them for you (we may get a discounted price by ordering several of them, and save on shipping charges too). Once they arrive, I will be happy to offer a couple of FREE classes (about 45-60 minutes each) on how to use foam rollers and tennis balls to enhance your tissue quality, movement patterns, and activity levels.
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