Have you ever wondered what kind of strain your body is under during training? If you've never thought about it, take your word for it — a very big one.
Imagine a tight string and a flexible piece of rubber. Which one of these materials will crack faster with a violent jerk? While elastic rubber is able to absorb much more force, it's not hard to say that a stiffer, less elastic cord is more likely to break. The same situation is in our body. The muscle that is more susceptible to tension, tearing or injury is not flexible, stiff and has an abnormal consistency.
What is roll forming and for what purpose is it used?
Popular rolling is a great tool used in training and rehabilitation. It is perfect for musculoskeletal and fascial relaxation and trigger points, i.e. very tense areas that may be one of the causes of pain leading to injury. The simplicity of using this tool makes it suitable for everyone. Using a roller is a good way to regenerate after workout, accelerates the flow of blood and fluids in muscles, improves the flexibility of muscles and changes their consistency, which translates into a good preparation of the body for a faster return to subsequent training activities.
The muscle can be tense or have a so-called trigger point. What is the difference? The trigger point is the place for a muscle with a changed density, limited displacement and increased tenderness, which, when pressed, spreads to other parts of the body higher or lower. For example, when rolling the side of the thigh (hip and tibia strand), you may feel the pain spreading to the knee or the lumbar spine. If we manage to locate such a point, we need to spend some more time working on it. Usually after 3-5 minutes the intensity and radiation of pain decreases. Excessively tense muscle does not necessarily need to give symptoms of the projected pain, but it should also be loosened.
In deep tissue massage, therapists focus on finding adhesions on the course of the muscle and simply relax them through pressure and friction, which unfortunately is not a pleasant part of the work for the patient (the effect of the therapy compensates for the pain). A very similar work of musculoskeletal and fascial release after training can be done on an automatic massage roller. At the very beginning of the adventure with rolling this work will also be unpleasant, but with further attempts should be better and better. The fascia is a connective tissue so it takes time to change its consistency so 3-5 minutes is the best time for rolling one body segment.
How do I roll my muscles with a rollover?
Fast rolling is a great way to stimulate and congest, slow rolling (2.5cm per second) with the search for painful, achy and preferably spreading points to other body segments has a relaxing effect on the muscle.
The roller coaching technique is a lot and there are thousands of instructions on how to roll a given segment on the Internet, so what I would like to share in the subject of the entry will not be a description of the starting positions (interested parties are referred to Google) but the principles of physiology on which the therapeutic effect is based.
Rolling out tense muscles can be compared to rolling out a pizza dough. At the beginning we have a large ball but after putting some effort it becomes a uniform thin cake designed to perform a specific function. The same is true of the body, which is in fact also designed to perform a specific function. Under the influence of pressure, compression takes place within the rolling structure.
Skin, adipose tissue, fascia — these are the layers through which we penetrate to reach the most blood-stained structure, which is the muscle. Only then is the best effect. The pressure should be great but acceptable. If we roll too superficially, the effect will be small. If it is too deep, there will be a bruise. What is important is time. Connective tissue is a structure that needs a stimulus duration to occur thixotropy, i.e. the phenomenon of change in viscosity and consistency of fluids. Pressure is important to be on the right structure, but time plays a key role in this process. Rolling improves not only the flexibility of the muscle but also the flow of blood and other fluids within the rolled structure. This results in a regenerative effect, improves joint mobility, muscle length and consistency, and improves injury prevention.
Remember to avoid hard bone points, knee pits, feelings of unpleasant radiation (as if hitting the elbow) and impaired circulation or pressure of blood vessels (feeling of numbness of limbs).
Rolling muscles — what is worth remembering?
- Rolling is a good way to regenerate and prevent injuries.
- Rolling improves mobility, muscle length, consistency and congestion.
- Rolling is perfect for eliminating trigger points and relaxing excessively tense muscles.
- Slow furling for relaxation, fast furling for agitation.
- Time and pressure are the most important factors influencing the effectiveness of furling.
- Proper preparation of tissue quality is one of the ways to prevent injuries.