When Foam Rolling Isn't Helping.

Nourish, Inspire, Educate and Connect Core Concepts

This is a very common experience that I come across in my clinic, and I'd like to reinforce some soft tissue techniques and reasons why "just foam rolling, isn't enough'.

Let me offer a few solutions if this sounds like you! Try using softer balls/foam rollers.  Again, this goes against the hard "lacrosse ball" recommendations that are out there, but here's my perspective.  If your tender muscle meets a hard lacrosse ball, your nervous system interprets this as more or added stress into your system.  In fact, this will likely cause [compensatory] breath holding, or increase resistance to releasing the localized trigger point/overactive muscle.  

Breath holding and increased muscle tension, puts you on the side of stimulating your nervous system versus trying to downregulating it and causing your muscles to release.

Instead of focusing on rolling and rushing, try BREATHING!  Try using a soft ball, and breathing on the targeted tissue.  The depth and speed of your breath helps to soften, or melt the muscle tension.

Aim to slow your breath.  This may be hard to an over breather, where we have no concept to slowing or breath or we don't have the C02 tolerance to allow that to happen peacefully.  It's hard to "relax" through your breath, because it's been in a state of chronic hyperventilation (over breathing, or shortness of breath) for so long.

Some other concepts to be addressed are nutrition, hydration, biotensegrity and dynamic movement!  We can save that for another "healthy snack" of information:^)

Looking forward to sharing more Core Concepts!

                                                                                      xo Dani