Foam Rolling: Do It Well

ATSC Family,

One of the most critical responsibilities of successful players is making sure their bodies are optimally recovered and ready for their training weeks and competition days. At the professional and collegiate levels, this recovery process is planned and precisely managed by the entire support staff around a team; the technical staff plan training sessions specifically to help with recovery, the sports performance staff deliver training programs designed to enhance recovery, the medical staff work to implement modalities and treatment to aid recovery, and even the nutritionists and sports psychologists work to create a holistic recovery program after the game, all to help players be their best for the training and games ahead.

At the club or youth level, while coaches are always working to develop the absolute best training plans they can for you, in absence of a sports performance team, a medical team, a nutritional team, and a sports psychology team, a lot of the recovery process will fall to you, the player. Which can be a good thing! There’s no one who knows your body better than you do; you know where you’re sore or tight, you know where you’re feeling a little draggy or not your most dynamic. The question is: What do you do about it?… and even more so, HOW do you go about optimizing your recovery?

Let’s take a look at one intervention that helps with recovery, something that most of you are familiar with, the foam roller. Running anywhere from 6” to 3’ in length and made from a wide variety of materials, foam rollers have become ubiquitous among serious athletes who care about their development. For the focused athlete, they are an easy, effective tool to help with your recovery, one that travels well and can be a great first step in helping you bounce back quicker and more completely from games and training.

While foam rollers don’t do crazy things like “release knots” or “bust up adhesions” in muscles, they can serve an incredibly beneficial role in helping your muscles relax and move better, leading to healthier, more explosive movements. Foam rolling can be done before or after practices/games, or even as their own separate activity on days you don’t have practice. The key, as with all things in your athletic development, is not just to do it, but to do it well. Here’s how we encourage you to use your foam roller to get the most out of your recovery!

Foam Roll: It-Band.

Your IT-Band runs along the outside of your leg, stretching from the hip down past your knee. If it’s not feeling its best, it can impact a wide range of issues, from not being able to sprint or change direction as quickly as possible, to even pain at the knee or hip. This is one of the first areas we encourage athletes to address to help them maximize their musculoskeletal system recovery after games/training. Try doing these for two minutes on each leg to make a real, lasting change in the tissues.

Foam Roll: Quad.

Your quadriceps muscles are the muscles on the front of your thighs, running from your hips down to your knee (and they actually attach just a little bit past your knee). With all the knee bending and hip flexing you do on the field, these muscles take on a high workload… and it's therefore essential to help make sure they’re recovered as much as possible after games/training. Try doing these for two minutes on each leg to make a real, lasting change in the tissues.

Foam Roll: Hip Abductors.

The muscles on the outside of your hips are your hip abductors. They do a few different muscular actions, but the important piece of information to know is that they can quickly get very tender and very tight after hard games or training. Helping them recover, then, is a priority for players who want to perform their best! Try doing these for two minutes on each leg to make a real, lasting change in the tissues.

And there you have it! Three easy drills to do with your foam roller that, if done properly, can make a significant difference in how quickly you can recover from games and training. Try doing these three movements before or after every game or training session for a few weeks and let us know how you’re feeling… we imagine you’ll be fresher, move better, and be ready to be your best on the field!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us through our Contact page here

and, for more general and sport-specific training information, visit our Instagram at: atsc_solutions. We also have a vault of proven, effective programs that we implemented at the Division I and professional sports levels for purchase on our Products page here. And if you’re looking to take your game to your highest levels, click here and let’s work together either in-person if you’re in the Cape Fear area or here if you’re interested in our individually-specific online training!