Foam Rolling!

My new obsession: Foam Rolling

When you're doing high impact workouts (or even low impact workouts), your joints and muscles may become torn and sore. Foam rollers have made a huge debut into the fitness world recently and can be found  in most gyms next to the mats.

Benefits of Foam Rolling:

1. Increases blood flow to the muscles- they are often used to help people warm up because they start the blood flowing faster to the muscles which can prevent injury.

2. Smooths out muscles that have been tightened- as Jillian Michaels said, foam rolling basically "irons out" your muscles and all the little wrinkles. 

3. Increases Flexibility-  the mayofascial  release of the muscles allows for muscle tissue to be thinner and less dense thus allowing for a more flexible muscle. 

3. Helps prevent and treat injuries- due to the reasons above, it allows for muscles to repair easily which helps keep them from becoming injured and allows for faster healing. 

With all the benefits, why wouldn't you try it? They are tons cheaper than massages and last for quite a while.

If you want to buy one, you can find them on amazon and there are several different types you can choose from. 

The one I have been using is a more high grade foam roller with accupressure points on it for an extra bonus. It is called the rumble roller. It looks like a torture device, and feels slightly like it as well, but it works wonders.  The exercises below show a woman doing foam roller exercises with a rumble roller.

Health Tip: Do it for yourself. You may have times when people mock you or don't appreciate your passion for fitness and wellness but stay with it because we all know they are just jealous and you're going to out-live em ;)