Why do we use a Foam Roller?
Just stretching alone is not always enough to release muscles tightness. Imagine a bungee cord with a knot tied into it and then envision stretching the cord. This creates tension, stretching the unknotted portion of the muscle and the attachment points.
The knot, however, has remained unaltered. Using a foam roller can assist in breaking up these muscle knots, resuming normal blood flow and function. The goal to any corrective or recovery technique is to get you back to the point of normal functioning, as if nothing was ever wrong in the first place.
How do I use the Foam Roller?
It is better to be too soft than too hard. It might feel tender as you roll through the tissue but it should not be agonizing.
To keep it simple and systematic, I like to divide the muscle that you’re rolling into three segments—bottom, middle, and top. Give each section a few passes up and down, move onto the next one, and then finish off by giving the entire length of your muscle a pass over. With each pass through the muscle group, you can then work deeper into the tissue for more release.
It is very possible to find several trigger points throughout your body. When you hit a spot that’s especially painful or tight, pause here and try to relax. Give it time and the muscle should release—anywhere from 5-30 seconds. For more precise areas, try something like a lacrosse ball or tennis ball. As you get to know your body and how it responds to foam rolling, you may go shorter or longer as needed.
When should I do a foam rolling class?
Good question! Basically, whenever you really feel that your body is starting to tighten up. You’ll know this feeling because it will be a little different to how you would normally feel after a good week of training. You might be finding it just a little harder to get out of bed in the morning or just generally moving around.
Our foam rolling classes are an awesome way to break up your week, give your body the attention that it deserves and when combined with a few sessions of Pilates and Yoga, can be an amazing way of re-calibrating your system so that you are firing on all cylinders again!
Three reasons to try a foam roller class
Improve mobility
Foam rolling will improve your mobility in a different way to the other flexibility and mobility based sessions that we have, such as Yoga and Pilates. Think of your muscles as long string, like spaghetti. Now thing of thousands of them. Sometimes, the get tangled. Foam rolling, when performed well, works on ‘ironing out’ the kinks in our muscles to allow them to return to their full length.
Reduce tension
Fascia is the connective tissue that we have that holds virtually all of our muscular and tendon system together. It is the glue that binds it all together. When we move, we are keep the glue warm, so that it doesn’t seize up and when our movement is intermittent or absent, this glue can seize up and becomes immobile. Foam rolling helps to keep the fascia, the glue, warm and moving.
Improve your pain threshold
If you have ever had a deep tissue massage, we warn you now, foam rolling can be a little like that. In fact, for the optimal effects, it should be. So, this class is not for the faint hearted. Get ready to wince a little when the foam roller hits that ‘trigger point’ and roll through it. You certainly won’t be deep in meditation or mindfulness when in the middle of a foam roller session!
Foam Roller TIMETABLE
Foam Roller community
We love our members
4.5/5
4.5/5
Google reviews
I’ve been training at Fitness Playground and the Bunker for over 18 months now. Apart from strength training, I’ve loved working on improving callisthenics skills with my trainer Dave Marsh. It’s really helped with mobility, movement and strength, and overall well being. What I love most about the Bunker is the sense of community.
I’ve been training at Fitness Playground and the Bunker for over 18 months now. Apart from strength training, I’ve loved working on improving callisthenics skills with my trainer Dave Marsh. It’s really helped with mobility, movement and strength, and overall well being. What I love most about the Bunker is the sense of community.
I’ve been training at Fitness Playground and the Bunker for over 18 months now. Apart from strength training, I’ve loved working on improving callisthenics skills with my trainer Dave Marsh. It’s really helped with mobility, movement and strength, and overall well being. What I love most about the Bunker is the sense of community.
I’ve been training at Fitness Playground and the Bunker for over 18 months now. Apart from strength training, I’ve loved working on improving callisthenics skills with my trainer Dave Marsh. It’s really helped with mobility, movement and strength, and overall well being. What I love most about the Bunker is the sense of community.
I’ve been training at Fitness Playground and the Bunker for over 18 months now. Apart from strength training, I’ve loved working on improving callisthenics skills with my trainer Dave Marsh. It’s really helped with mobility, movement and strength, and overall well being. What I love most about the Bunker is the sense of community.
Totum Health
Our aim is to be the number 1 provider of Exercise Physiology and Personal Training in Australia. This is not a small task – there are a lot of providers across our industry. However, we are attempting something different. There is no Exercise Physiology company that is attempting to establish themselves within a commercial gym. This means that we are able to provide our clients with unrestricted access to the most up-to-date and widest array of equipment and space that any other provider can offer.