About 5 years ago I was encouraged to try out the foam roller by my then gym instructor in New York. I had no idea what it was or that it would hurt so much. Since that day I have never gone near a foam roller since. But a few months ago I was reading up about the foam rollers and I thought I would give it a go. I purchased one off of Amazon and began using it at home. With a bit of practice I found that I was able to get to grips with it much better than before but still wanted to make sure I was using it correctly.
Foam rolling for those who have never tried it is simply a way to improve recovery and reduce soreness. It has become one of my favorite pieces of exercise equipment and I think everyone should use one. It can work out kinks and knots in your muscles through self-myofascial release. It loosens muscles whilst promoting mobility. It can replace the BOSU or Swiss Ball trainer for many common exercises and is used very often in Pilates classes too to give a whole body workout.
So today I went to my first ever foam roller class. Never knew such a class existed but when my friend Kate told me about this I had to give it a try. Kate our class instructor asked if anyone had done foam rolling before. I eagerly raised my hand and she then produced a foam roller for me with lots of rubber spikes on it! This she said is a rumble roller and handed it to me with a smile whilst the rest of the class got a regular foam roller.
Kate then spend the next 45 minutes showing us the different movements and positions to hit troubled spots that none of us had reached before. She was able to adjust the exercises for those with small injuries so that we could all join in. I have to say there were groans of pain from most of us – this thing does hurt – but Kate told me well done for sticking with my roller. There is no doubt it can be quite painful but as the saying goes…no pain, no gain.
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