ExRx.net

and how did it work for you as in helping with pain etc., and I'm wondering if it could help with mild hip/pelvic arthritis. If I walk too fast in the morning for cardio I pay for it at night in bed. Thanks.

I use one, I couldn't get through leg day without it. They really do work very well so if you don't already have one then I cannot recommend it strongly enough

I've used it a little. I really need to start doing more of that though.

I bought one with dvd a few years ago, and used it about 3 times, but pain was a bit intense and I put it away. I'm guessing you have to use it a while before the pain in using it gets standable?

I noticed the same thing when i first started rolling, theres a bit more pressure than what you'd expect. Now it doesnt hurt at all and feels quite good. I roll before and after squat and dl days and really only roll my lower back, hams, and glutes. It really helps loosen up your lower back if it is a little achy. 20 passes on each body part seems to set me right. I don't have any scar tissue to break up, as some p'lifters recommend it for, but it still helps quite a bit.

That's just as well, since "scar tissue" that you need to "break up" is just a myth made up by someone trying to sound like they understand trigger points, which no one does.

_________________
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

I use foam roller every time I lift. Back, front quads, IT band, glutes, hamstrings, sometimes hip flexors and inside of leg. Its the only thing that lets me lift. Not due to pain or anything, but because if I don't roll for a while my back and left leg kind of start seizing up and my left knee feels really funky. I used to do tennis ball on calves, shoulders and pecs, but I never really had any problems with those. Hmm, let me correct: I never have had problems with calves or pecs and tennis ball didn't do anything to help my shoulder.

On the other hand, some shoulder mobility drills (I think I got pointed to them by this forum, in conjunction with some stuff I found on Eric Cressey's site) have done wonders for me. I didn't use to be able to OH press at all, I was able to get up 205 for sets of three this week.

To say that I highly recommend them would be an understatement.

anyone recommend a particula roller?

How long should it last

I'm kind of afraid that if I recommend one Oscar will call me a spammer...

But I'll do it anyway.

I bought this off of Performbetter.com. It has been going on two years and it still works a champ, no noticeable deformation or anything (and I'm not a small guy).

http://www.performbetter.com/webapp/wcs ... yErrorView

Hmm, I hope that link works.

thanks Khronos, that's one I've seen recommended highly on another forum.

I'm thinking foam rolling could be one of those things you don't realize you need, until you try it. Sort of like those minvans with the sliding rear doors and keychain remotes.

I'm guessing the reason you couldn't do OH press was because of shoulder pain. Right? If so, was it the roller that helped your shoulder, because you said that tennis balls didn't. help

When you guys are rolling, are you rolling very slowly as in creeping along, or passing over the areas at a moderate speed several times? I was told to creep ever so slowly, and it felt like someone was putting a cigar out on my leg/hip. Not much fun.

Frank,

Foam roller didn't do anything for my shoulders. It was the shoulder mobility drills, which I also do every time I work out, even if I'm not particularly targeting my "shoulders" that really fixed me up. As part of my warm up I do...

Side lying windmills
Thoracic extension and rotation
Then I do 1-5 of the movements in this article http://www.dieselcrew.com/5-minute-shou ... -exercises
I will occaisonally throw in a scap wall slide as well.

Adding that to my warm up has made all the difference in being able to OH press.

My pain was all in the front, where the anterior deltoid kind of ties into the clavicle? You'd have to ask somebody who knows anatomy well to tell you what the actual muscle insertions were. Shoulder is a complicated spot.

As to roller speed: I usually pass over the length of the muscle I'm rolling at a moderate speed unless I feel a tender spot. Then I kind of linger over the tender spot, sometimes rolling back and forth right over it, sometimes just letting the roller press into it. It took a couple of weeks for the acute pain developed when doing that to go away.

I've always thought foam rolling was more or less pseudoscience.

I make no claims to the scientific basis or general applicability of foam rolling for everyone. I simply know what it has done for me. I would suggest to anyone I know that they try it out and see if it works for them. I dont know why it works for me, only that it does.