Post 6: Foam Rolling & The Kinetic Chain

          Foam rolling is essentially a method of massage therapy that enables the user to control the motion as well as pressure applied. The goal here is to reduce tension in "tight" areas of the muscle by passing it over the foam roller using body weight. Myofascial release is a more technical term to describe this. The entire body, from head to toe is covered in connective tissues called fascia, and this definitely applies to muscular fibers and tissues. As I just mentioned, the fascia is important for maintaining structure and shape of the muscles, and in order to do so the fascia adjusts to the muscle fiber lengths and shapes by becoming shorter and tighter and creating Trigger Points in the muscle.

Fascia at the Glute/Abductors

         
            Trigger points are areas of especially tight muscle due to long term use typical of practice, lifting, and conditioning in athletes. They are also related to the tightness of the fascia within the muscle bellies that surround individual fibers as they adjust to shortened muscles following strenuous exercise. Trigger points are often called "knots" and are sensitive to the touch and in bad cases are even visible as protrusions beneath the skin. This is why it is important for athletes to foam roll before and even after they finish their daily routines. 

           It is important to be proactive when dealing with trigger points because if they are left alone too long, they can have serious negative effects. When tight muscles and fascia are allowed to stay tight, they can begin to have negative effects on adjacent muscles, antagonists, and even joints far from the initial site of pain and inflammation. The body is an amazing machine and will adapt in it's own ways to overcome the stressors placed upon it, even if the way it does this can cause chronic conditions in other areas. 

          The kinetic chain is the relationship of the body's "balance" from head to toe with the hips and pelvic girdle being the central unit. Let's look at an extreme case to illustrate. Say for instance a right handed baseball pitcher stubs his left toe one morning on the bathroom door. He may show a noticeable change in gait (the way he walks) to keep from putting too much weight on that foot. The right leg is now doing more work to let him get to class. The new increase in right hamstring contraction will have an offsetting effect on the hips/pelvis (the central unit) and will likely fall into external rotation on the right side and internal rotation on the left side. From here, he will likely experience tightness in the right lower back due to tightening from the insertion of the erector spinae. Now at the end of his classes he heads to practice and has a bullpen that afternoon, when he throws, he overcompensates with arm velocity through the range of motion to make pitches. After a few sessions the toe is healing, but his body is becoming used to the pattern he has used during these training sessions and he continues to overcompensate with velocity in the arm slot. A few weeks later, he has pain in the rotator cuff, labrum, or even the elbow. All as a result of a painful toe stubbing. 

          Now I'm not saying that unless you foam roll and stretch you will experience a career ending injury, but it is important to listen to your body and heed what it's telling you. This extreme case should provide a good enough reason to address muscle tightness and pain even before it occurs. Foam rolling is a great way to keep the fascia and muscles at optimal resting lengths and decrease the associated pain and discomfort that may hinder performance as a result. 

-Alex