With the increased popularity of foam rolling as a means of recovery, it is important to establish the exact manner in which the practice is useful. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of foam rolling on recovery between two 800 m runs. Sixteen trained males (mean ± sd; age, 20.5 ± .5 yr; average 800 m treadmill run time, 145.2 ± 1.8 s) participated in the study, using a randomized, crossover design. The subjects completed two 800 m runs on a treadmill, separated by a 30 min rest, during which time a foam rolling protocol or passive rest period was performed. The speed of each run was as fast as possible. Subjects had access to speed controls, but were blinded to the actual speed. Blood lactate concentration and CO2 were measured prior to and following each run. Stride length, 800 m run time, and hip extension were measured during each run. CO2, stride length, 800 m run time, and hip extension were not significantly different between conditions (p > .05). For blood lactate, no statistical interaction was found between condition and time (p > .05). Foam rolling between two 800 m runs separated by 30 min performed by trained male runners does not alter performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of foam rolling (FR) on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). Thirty-seven males performed 40 x 15 m sprints, inducing muscle damage. Immediately following sprinting and in the four days following, perceived muscle soreness, hip abduction range of motion (ROM), hamstring muscle length, vertical jump, and agility measures were recorded. Eighteen subjects (mean ± sd; age 22.4 ± 2.0 yrs; BMI 26.9 ± 4.2 kgm) foam rolled prior to testing each day (FR), while 19 (mean ± sd; age 23.2 ± 3.2 yrs; BMI 26.3 ± 4.0 kgm) served as a non-foam rolling control (CON). Measurements recorded during the five days of recovery from the repeated sprint protocol were compared to week one baseline measurements. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated by summing all five scores as they changed from baseline measurement, and these data were compared by condition using a two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test (alpha level = 0.05). Perceived soreness, hip abduction ROM, hamstring muscle length, and vertical jump were not significantly different between groups (p ≥ 0.25). Agility was less impaired in the FR condition (p = 0.0049) as AUC was higher in CON (2.88 s ± 2.45) than FR (0.33 s ± 2.16). Based upon these data, FR appears to expedite recovery of agility following EIMD instigated by a repeated sprint protocol. FR may be useful for athletes requiring adequate agility who need to recover quickly from demanding bouts of exercise.

Gillis, DJ, Vellante, A, Gallo, JA, and D'Amico, AP. Influence of menthol on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-This study assessed the influence of menthol, a cold receptor agonist, on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). Forty-seven healthy males were allocated to a Control (CON, n = 18), Placebo (P, n = 14), or 4.0% Menthol (M, n = 15) condition. Participants were familiarized with a testing battery (TB) including: perception of lower-body muscle soreness, hip flexion/abduction range of motion, vertical jump (VJ), and the agility T-test. Muscle damage was induced on day 1 using 40 × 15-m sprints with a 5-m deceleration zone. The TB immediately followed this and was repeated once-daily for 5 days. Over this time, participants in M and P applied gels to the lower body immediately after sprinting and twice-daily thereafter, whereas CON did nothing. Dependent variables were compared by condition using the Kruskal-Wallis test (α = 0.05), and mean differences with 90% confidence intervals were calculated with small, moderate, and large effects. A significant difference by condition (p < 0.05) in muscle soreness was found, and moderate to large effects were observed in the reduction of muscle soreness with P, compared with M or CON, indicating a placebo effect. A reduction in VJ height across all conditions was observed, with a significant effect (p < 0.05) by condition, and moderate to large effects (1-5 cm) were observed in its preservation with menthol, compared with P or CON. No other differences were observed. These findings raise the possibility that menthol influences recovery of lower-body power after EIMD, and this may have practical implications for menthol's use when recovery of muscle power is important.

No abstract

No abstract