Foam rollers help muscles get a workout and massage - Lancaster Newspapers

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Athletes have known for years that massage works wonders for sore muscles.
Some in the business of easing pained muscles — athletic trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors — have used a device for years that does the work of a masseuse but bestows benefits beyond that.
Foam rollers, made of foam rubber-like material, knead muscles with the power of a person's own body weight, and they are growing in popularity among fitness enthusiasts.
The most common rollers are 6-inch-thick cylinders of varying lengths and hardness. Color usually indicates density — white rollers are the softest, black the hardest.
Maureen Dressman has used foam rollers throughout the 20 years she's worked in fitness. As owner of Pilates in Motion studio in Neffsville, she sometimes incorporates foam rolling into her sessions.
"Pilates is all about stabilization and core work," Dressman says.
In a recent class, her clients laid lengthwise on top of blue, 36-inch rollers, stabilizing their core as they moved their arms and legs. They also tested their balance, standing on top of the rollers, remaining still.
That was the easy part. When it came time to roll, smiles got stiffer.
"It can feel a little uncomfortable when you're doing it," Dressman says before the class. "Rolling the IT band actually hurts, but after it's done, they're like, 'Oh, I'm so glad I rolled.' "
The iliotibial, or IT band, is the hip-to-shin ligament on the outside of the leg. It's a common sore spot, especially for runners, walkers and bicyclists.
Angela Richards combines Pilates and walking. She and her classmate, Laurie Cubbell, have seen physical therapists for treatment of various injuries. They say their PTs used foam rollers.
"When I go to physical therapy, everything they tell me to do is what I already do here," Cubbell says. Both Richards and Cubbell own their own rollers. Cubbell even has a travel roller.
Bill Cheek, a physical therapist with Orthopedic Associates of Lancaster, 170 N. Pointe Blvd., for 13 years, works in sports-related orthopedics. He says there is limited research on foam rolling, but he's convinced of its effectiveness.
It's self-myofascial release, or self-massage. Myofascia is soft tissue that runs through the body from head to toe. Resembling a thick, sticky spider's web, it surrounds all parts of the human body and the theory goes, when it tightens, it causes pain. Rolling over tight areas slowly — and with control — massages the knots, relieving the pain.
Cheek says foam rolling is more effective than just stretching. He's seen an increase in range of motion from foam rolling, not stretching, and he tells his patients to roll before starting a treatment session.
"If someone can't touch his heel to his butt, I'll tell him to foam-roll his quadricep in three different positions (IT band, center thigh and inside thigh) for a minute each, and he'll be lying on the ground saying it hurts. But then I put him back on the table in the same position and his heel touches his butt. Then they kind of buy into it," Cheek says.
"It definitely hurts," Cheek says. "But you're in control. It puts the patient in charge."
Cheek treats patients from 10 to 90 years old, but foam rolling isn't for everybody.
Matthew Moses, a strength coach and personal trainer at Spooky Nook Sports, 2913 Spooky Nook Road, Manheim, says you have to be able to support your body weight.
"If you can hardly do a pushup, you'll have a hard time using a foam roller," he says.
Moses interned with the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins hockey team while in college and kept the position after graduating with a degree in exercise science.
He saw many players using rollers before practices and games, and sometimes afterward.
"It promoted the healing process, got blood flow back to the area and helped prevent any muscle damage that would occur, whether in a practice or a workout," Moses says. "It enhanced recovery, which, in professional sports it's all about recovery, preparing for your next practice or your next game because the schedule can be quite brutal."
Moses uses foam rollers with his clients if they have the strength. Dressman, too, uses caution and only instructs in small group settings.
"You want people to get the best workout in a safe environment," she says.
After foam rolling in Dressman's Pilates class, Barbara Goss says she felt relaxed. For her, it's about prevention.
"I haven't had an injury," Goss says. "I don't want to have these problems."
Her work on core strength, flexibility and balance in Pilates, including foam rolling, avoids those issues.
"I feel relaxed because my muscles have been stretched and worked. I'm tired — but in a good way," Goss says.
For more information about foam rollers, visit http://lancasteronline.com/...
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