Foam Rolling Prescription: A Clinical Commentary

Abstract

Behm, DG, Alizadeh, S, Hadjizadeh Anvar, S, Mahmoud, MMI, Ramsay, E, Hanlon, C, and Cheatham, S. Foam rolling prescription: a clinical commentary. J Strength Cond Res 34(11): 3301–3308, 2020—Although the foam rolling and roller massage literature generally reports acute increases in range of motion (ROM) with either trivial or small performance improvements, there is little information regarding appropriate rolling prescription. The objective of this literature review was to appraise the evidence and provide the best prescriptive recommendations for rolling to improve ROM and performance. The recommendations represent studies with the greatest magnitude effect size increases in ROM and performance. A systematic search of the rolling-related literature found in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar was conducted using related terms such as foam rolling, roller massage, ROM, flexibility, performance, and others. From the measures within articles that monitored ROM (25), strength (41), jump (41), fatigue (67), and sprint (62) variables; regression correlations and predictive quadratic equations were formulated for number of rolling sets, repetition frequency, set duration, and rolling intensity. The analysis revealed the following conclusions. To achieve the greatest ROM, the regression equations predicted rolling prescriptions involving 1–3 sets of 2–4-second repetition duration (time for a single roll in one direction over the length of a body part) with a total rolling duration of 30–120-second per set. Based on the fewer performance measures, there were generally trivial to small magnitude decreases in strength and jump measures. In addition, there was insufficient evidence to generalize on the effects of rolling on fatigue and sprint measures. In summary, relatively small volumes of rolling can improve ROM with generally trivial to small effects on strength and jump performance.

Local and Non-local Effects of Foam Rolling on Passive Soft Tissue Properties and Spinal Excitability

“…The intensity was steered based on the participants' feedback, targeting a 7/10 in discomfort on a numerical rating scale (0, no discomfort; 10, maximal discomfort) (Smith et al, 2019;Kiyono et al, 2020a). Based on previous studies, participants performed three sets of RM for 60 s with a 30-s break between sets (Smith et al, 2019;Behm et al, 2020;Kiyono et al, 2020a).…”

“…Previous studies (Krause et al, 2019;Wilke et al, 2019Wilke et al, , 2020Behm et al, 2020) have not only shown an immediate increase in range of motion (ROM) following foam rolling but also revealed the absence of changes in athletic performance (Macdonald et al, 2013;Behara and Jacobson, 2017). This is relevant because static stretching for more than 60 s can likely decrease muscle strength and athletic performance if performed isometrically (Kay and Blazevich, 2012;Behm et al, 2016Behm et al, , 2021.…”

Acute Comparative Effect of Foam Rolling and Static Stretching on Range of Motion in Rowers

“…This discrepancy may be due to the different types of exercises performed and the results measured, rendering a comparison of results difficult. However, static stretching before exercise can negatively influence athletic performance [13] while foam rolling does not appear to induce deficits in performance [17] and can be used to improve the extensibility of the muscles.…”

“…Finally, dorsal The participants used a bumpy foam roller with a diameter of 12 cm and a 5 mm thick hollow plastic core covered with a 12 mm layer of dense foam. The protocol for foam rolling was 3 sets of 2 s repetition duration for each exercise, with a total duration of 30 s per set [17]. One repetition of foam rolling intervention consists of one distal rolling plus one subsequent proximal rolling movement [10].…”

“…Less fatigue can allow athletes to increase training time and volume [16]. Furthermore, foam rolling does not induce meaningful strength performance deficits and can be used to improve the extensibility of the muscles without harm performance [17]. Some studies have shown that it can be a useful tool for athletes of ballistics sports with stretch-shortening movement parameters [18] as in swimming, cycling or rowing [19].…”