It works for me which is what matters.
In a perfect world a person might get routine massage up to 1 x per day, eat well and often and fully supplement with specifics according to age, weight, body type and bloodtype. One might also do routine contrast baths, stay off their feet, wear the right shoes in and out of the gym, sleep long and deeply and do all things and everything he or she might possibly be able to do to enhance performance in their given event. As a coach or athlete these ideals are goals but some coaches and or athletes might not even understand this formula.
Foam rolling is a tool for you to help yourself with your soft tissue.
There are a variety of rollers and some are better than others. ( Travel Roller has been invented by a Canadian guy and I think it’s one of the best ones I have used and or seen).
The internet is a wonderful place for all sorts of fun.
Sometimes more information can be confusing.
If you have found stretching cold muscles is effective for you than who is anyone to say it does not work.
Sprinting at an elite level requires consistent methodology based on tried and true ideas from those who have accomplished repeated results over time.
My understanding of the stretching that we did once we were warmed up and then throughout training sessions and then at the end was to restore the fiber to improve blood flow and aid in faster recovery.
The debate about stretching seems to be endless. When , how , why , how often and under what conditions.
I have kept the information on this site online to provide free access to methods that worked repeatedly with multiple people who were developed from the beginning of their athletic careers to national team status and international prize winners.
In 25 years I have never , nor will I ever stretch cold. I find it counter productive.
As a competive gymnast we never stretched cold. We were told the best way to improve our flexibility was to stretch every day once we warmed our bodies up.
As a track person my flexibility improved as I got stronger, fitter, able to do higher intensity runs longer and faster.
There are many people on this forum that are working in the health and fitness and training industry and each has their own perspective , are not paid to be here and offer their experiences.
Take it or leave this advice but understand some things are for every day fitness and training but when speaking of elite performance it’s a very specialized topic.
I think this is a key distinction. Much of the information published for general consumption is directed at the former, and quite a lot is lost in translation to the latter.
I will say it again - it’s not necessary but if it works for you then more power to you. BOL with your training.
When you say - It’s not necessary - what do you mean? Therapy is not necessary?
This whole site is based on getting plenty of therapy. There is a chart from this site showing when in the training cycle of a week one should do therapy, from 1 session a week right up to doing 13 therapy sessions a week.
Most long term users of this site will have most of CF materials - and understand how to implement them, and why.
I believe therapy is more important than the training itself. It’s a lot less glamorous - but try training in a fatigued state, or with your posture out of alignment, with your muscles not firing due to being in spasm etc.
It would be marvelous to not worry about this - yet foolish at the same time.
I deal personally with most over the age of 30yrs - and so many have issues from not ever having therapy. Once somebody has a few yrs off training when they are over 30, their body becomes riddled with issues… I spend so much time re-teaching their bodies how to perform correctly - and this means therapy, before, during and after training for a lot of people.
Once again, if it works for you then do it everyday!!! We don’t have the time to foam roll everyday - not very efficient when you have time limits. If I had an athlete that needed to foam roll everyday, his ass should find cash and go get manual therapy and leave the dam golf balls/foam rolls along. I’m not gonna spend all of my time foam rolling - very similar to coaches who spend half the training session performing prehab exercises. If an athlete needs to perform that many prehab movements they need to take their asses to the training room and come see me when they are ready to train.
I have no issues with foam rolling 2-3 times per week. We actually have one recovery day per week.
1: Contrast showers
2: Foam roll
3: Stick
4: Stretching
This is done one day per week on our time.
This shit isn’t hard - “DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU”!!!
The main problem I have with foam rolling specifically is that it relies primarily on compression, and compression is one of the easiest massage methods to overdo. It’s the method most likely to produce protective bracing by the muscle, which is the exact opposite of what you want. Because you have to rely on gravity to do the work, it’s difficult to precisely adjust the pressure, so it can often be a sledgehammer approach for many people. Of course this all depends on the individual in question.
For the reasons above, I tend to prefer a quicker movement to create more of a flushing effect, as opposed to the slower, deep tissue approach most commonly used.
Flash: regarding when rolling with ‘R8 roller’ do you stand or sit? I see people on youtube, who ain’t sprinters apparently, and they use it while standing. The model on the roller pamphlet is standing while using.
I’ve been using the ‘r8 roller’, albeit only once a week, and it has been as a recovery session where I perform static stretching for 5-8 second holds after. I sit almost right at the edge of a chair or bench so i could roll up as close to pelvic girdle on the bench, thus hoping to reach as much of the muscles running the length of leg up towards upper leg. I feel when sitting and using the r8 roller that i ‘better feel the looseness’ achieved in the leg muscles, when I do decide to stand and walk.
I always sit down. If you stand, the leg muscles have to contract to hold you up. Sitting allows them to relax. You can also use the roller on your arms if you prop it up on your thigh and hold it steady with the other hand. That can be pretty intense, especially on the upper arm. Go easy.
RB34
I think it’s clear you know a lot of valuable information.
You appear to work hard and have a solid business and follow through with many principles espoused here.
I think the reaction from others about you saying " it’s not necessary" might indicate you know what is best for someone. You may for yourself and your clients but…
Foam rolling , gum chewing and training hard every day might just be the correct method for some. Does this make it right? NOT NECESSARILY.
One thing I would like to make crystal clear right now to all people reading this. Most people excluding a very small percentage of elite athletes need LOTS of attention to recovery , regeneration, supplementation , eating right , drinking water and sleeping…
BEFORE they need to get too wrapped up in annual plans, short to long, long to short or how best to get faster. Having said that each person gets to pick what they are focused and or intersted in and it’s not necessarily the best thing for that person.
FOR SOME = Training is therapy.
FOR SOME = Therapy can be training them for the life they live.
ARe there better ways to achieve the alleged results of foam rolling? Maybe. For whom and under what cirumstances. The beauty of the rollers is it’s something you can do for yourself.
- One general principle taught here has been is TAKE ADVANTAGE FIRST AND FOREMOST OF WHAT YOU HAVE NOW.
- Another general principle taught here has been ROUTINELY REPEAT METHODS OF THERAPY AND LAYER THERAPY FOR GREATEST RESULTS.
Boldwarrior has pointed out a key point that " therapy is not sexy" so people don’t have time for it. - Another general principle of training is to prioritize the most important variables of each days training session. I guess it might help people if I began to log on my blog or here what I actually did do over the past several years of my own training with Charlie.
I almost always wanted to DO MORE.
RARELY did I ever show up at practice and say…" Can we do very little today ? "
RB, I thank you for your contribution here as you are keen and you have a lot to offer.
I have to disagree, we wear compression wear to hold the muscles, veins and connecting tissues firm. The blood flow is in the natural position. Foamroll if you must either standing or wear a compression garmet and sit or lay down.
If im rolling for 20 minutes i’ll stand up and walk around(some lateral walking, backward walking) for about 1 minute every 4 minutes.
Do you wear compression gear when you get massage? Do you get massage standing up?
My massages are deep tissue, yes there are times when I had to stand.
An interesting perspective.
I’ve often done back and hips standing.
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Stick with this forum, most of hte contributors know their stuff.
[QUOTE=Angela Coon;248673]RB34
3. Another general principle of training is to prioritize the most important variables of each days training session. I guess it might help people if I began to log on my blog or here what I actually did do over the past several years of my own training with Charlie.
I almost always wanted to DO MORE.
RARELY did I ever show up at practice and say…" Can we do very little today ? "
Ange, that would be really cool if you could post what you actually did do over the past several years of your own training with Charlie. Would be really interesting to see a real life situation with an elite athlete and to see how much or little gets done.