Foam Roller Technique

First of all, you’ll need a foam roller. Get a smooth one to start with as one with texture
can be quite painful.
The idea is to release the tension in the muscles and fascia, and to introduce
movement back into tissues that have become stiff and painful. It is difficult to fully
stretch or contract a muscle that is tight so if you could keep on top of them yourself, at
regular intervals at home, you would feel the benefits. You should spend about 10-15
minutes foam rolling a day.

Make sure there are no distractions.

Try to just focus on the technique and listening to your body.

Feel the pain.

When you’re working on a muscle you should be searching for the painful parts. It’s
difficult but try and find the pain and stay with it. It should feel like a dull ache that can
be quite strong. Stay with it until you feel the pain easing off.

Breathe.

Breathe into the pain and try to relax into it. Try and make your “out” breath longer than
your “in” breath. This stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which helps you
relax even more.

Roll slowly.

You’re aiming to stay on each muscle for a good couple of minutes so move slowly.
Find a painful area and stay with that until it releases and then move slowly to the next
part.
By the time you’ve been through the tight muscle groups, you’ll be feeling relaxed,
loose and ready to take on whatever comes next. When the foam roll starts to feel too
easy you can progress to a hard ball for more localized pressure (eg. Cricket, hockey or
tennis ball).