Re-Generate Your Golf Muscles Using a Foam Roller

Posted by doug

February 10, 2012

If you have never used a foam roller on your muscles you’re in for a real “tortuous” experience. I almost guarantee you’ll be wincing, cursing and feeling pain like you haven’t in some time. Fun, fun.

So why on Earth would you do this? To get the damn knots and adhesions out of your muscles and bring your tissue back to it’s original length.

See, your muscles, in some way, represent a rubber band. It has a certain length to it, so, for example, if you tie the rubber band in a knot it only gets tighter and more uncomfortable. Then you have to use your hands to really work out the knot and soothe your tight facia tissue to it’s original length.

What exactly is fascia?

“The superficial fascia is a soft connective tissue located just below the skin. It wraps and connects the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels of the body. Together, muscle and fascia make up what is called the myofascia system. For various reasons including disuse, not enough stretching, or injuries, the fascia and the underlying muscle tissue can become stuck together. This is called an adhesion and it results in restricted muscle movement. It also causes pain, soreness and reduced flexibility or range of motion” (reference: Elizabeth Quinn)

These knots (or adhesions) can result due to inactivity or repetitive stress. The good news is that using a foam roller can really restore your muscles so they become like they once were – more supple, pliable and functional.

Foam rolling, of course, most resembles massage. By using compression (your weight) you roll your various body areas over an extremely hard piece of foam.

The deep compression causes your nerves to relax and unwind, loosens muscle, increases blood flow, and assists your body recover. Said another way, foam rolling can alleviate soreness, make your muscles feel better and regenerate your muscles to their original suppleness.

Keep in mind, if you do feel intense painful spots as your foam rolling, then it’s actually good news because you have some areas that stand to benefit greatly from using it.

See, if the muscle(s) does not return to it’s normal resting length and you don’t flush out some of those nasty by-products that sit in the tissues, adhesions and scar tissue will develop over time.

What will likely happen is a noticeable decrease in your mobility. This is particular troublesome for golfers (really any athlete) so it makes sense to plan foam rolling and massage into your golf conditioning and maintenance program.

Buy a foam roller here:

Gaiam Stretch & Strength Foam Roller Kit

The Grid Revolutionary Foam Roller

Here are a few helpful foam roller videos:

Top 5 Foam Roller Exercises

Foam Roller Stretches for Therapy

How to release trigger points in your piriformis

Top photo by: Erik Isakson