Cheap Massage: Help Your Surfing
GET YOUR ROLL ON! Guide To Foam Rolling
IMPROVE TISSUE QUALITY, RESTORE RANGE OF MOTION, WORK ON INJURY PREVENTION… HELP YOURSELF! AND HELP YOUR SURFING!
Surfer foam rolling: As a surfer you’ve got to be flexible, and your joints require proper amounts of mobility in order for you to move efficiently, quickly, and injury-free.
Both of those athletic prerequisites aren’t going to happen if you’ve got “unhealthy” tissue.
Surfer Guide To Foam Rolling
So what the hell is unhealthy tissue anyways, and why should you even care?
It’s basically muscle and fascia that is full of scar tissue, knots, adhesions, and has improper length tensions. Some tissue is too tight, other tissue may be too loose.
This fact alone can offset your joint range of motions, inhibiting you ability to move properly. Also, when a muscle is full of adhesions, it doesn’t stretch properly, which can lead to muscle strains.
Not to mention the muscle cannot exert its full force when it has knots/adhesions…. less force means less power, and less power means less performance.
- Ankle Problems – try this out
- Knee Problems – try this out
- Patellar Tendon Problems – try this out
- Hip Problems – try this out
- —–see the consistency here?
Improving your tissue quality is a HUGE step towards injury prevention and keeping your ass in the water doing the things that you love in life.
Some foam rolling is also going to help work on problem areas that may be prone to injury, again keeping you doing the activities you love.
All of the weekend surf warriors out there undoubtedly have some problem areas. Anyone doing work at a desk or computer is very likely to have some postural offsets, and with postural offsets come tight tissues….. so foam roll em’!
It’s also damn cheap… a foam roll will run you about $25. While it in no means takes the place of some quality hands-on soft tissue work, it does take some serious steps in the right direction of helping you to improve your body’s capability, and relieve some aches and pains.
This is something that needs to become part of your routine, and after several weeks you will notice some serious changes. I want to help you improve your time in the water, and this is a step towards that goal, so get to work and love that foam roll.
And keep an eye out for when we get into some tennis ball and lacrosse ball love. It’s a much more intense form of getting your foam roll on, and will move the hell out of tight tissues, which is a good thing.
A last quick note: foam rolling may be elicit some serious tenderness for some of you out there. This is a sign that the tissue really needs to be released and is likely full of adhesions and lacking in proper blood flow. Get to work, but take your time and be diligent. It will improve.
IF YOU WANT MORE INSIGHT INTO PAIN RELIEF, JOINT HEALTH, STRETCHING, AND FLEXIBILITY, CHECK OUT MY FULL STRETCHING & FLEXIBILITY PROGRAM: STRETCHES FOR SURFERS
If you’ve got questions, get in touch, flick me an email: [email protected]
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Reached your website through Bing. You already know I will be signing up to your rss.
Thanks! Let me know if there are any specific topics you’d like to see addressed!
Thank you for this demonstration!
I have had severe bilateral chronic compartment syndrome (all lower leg compartments have pressures between 35-45 mmHg at rest) for over ten years. I opted out of going through fasciotomy (x2) and began a yoga practice. Unfortunately, over time, I have gotten out of shape from lack of intense exercise (cardio etc.) and yoga has become just a restorative, gentle practice. I am 42 years old and this lack of exercise has exponentially effected my body and mind. I have on many occasions succumbed to the idea that I will never be able to hike, walk, bike, run, swim, etc. in the way that I once did. I can not afford Rolfing, or the various workshops on myofascial release… so this gives me a major rope of hope to hang onto. Thanks again for the great info and demo!
Also – I have always wondered how my legs have maintained muscle after all these years of sedentary living – I find this incredible peculiar given the lack of movement. I can barely walk 1/4 of a mile most of the time. Can you shed some light on this?
I will definitely ask some other practitioners I work with, as I’m not in depthly familiar with your particular issue. I would advise that you begin with the softest foam roll that you can find, so as not to place too much stress upon the capillaries within the muscle/leg tissue. Also, I would advise that you keep the direction of the rolling strokes in an upward direction: always towards the heart, as that is the natural direction of veinous blood return. If you’d like get in touch via facebook and we can talk more indepthly regarding your situation. http://www.facebook.com/surfstrengthcoach
Hi Chris, I have been watching all of your videos and love everything that you do, believe and teach. I really want to get a foam roller now but what would you recommend as far as sizes? I am 5′ 10″ and 180 lbs if that helps.
@[email protected]
I really appreciate your feedback, it means a lot! As far as sizes for foam rollers, you’d do best with a 6 inch diameter. I prefer the 36inch long version, as you see in the video, but they also sell some that are about 12inches long. Length is really up to you, but like I said, the diameter should be 6inches. What will be really relevant is the density of the foam. The black one I use in the video is the most dense available, and often for someone that has never foam rolled, this may be too intense. For just getting started, I’d recommend one of the blue ones, as they are more dense than the white ones, but firm enough to still get some good work done . PerformBetter is a good website to find what you need.
-Cris Mills