On A Roll(er) And Having A Ball Now!

With all my crazy workouts, I’m sore 99% of the time. The other 1% I’m usually am not realizing that I’m not sore. Soreness goes hand in hand with pushing muscles beyond their comfort zone. See? Even muscles don’t like change. 😉

I’m not talking agonizing soreness. Just the kind that makes you moan and groan when getting up or sitting down. Or lifting a cup of coffee some days. It’s a good kind of soreness that reminds me that I’m getting buff and muscled. At least as buff and muscled as I can managed to get, that is.

As part of my Crossfit workouts, they taught us about the joys of foam rolling and using a ball to work out kinks and soreness. It really works and I’ve started doing it in the evenings while watching TV with The Kid. Afterall, watching TV doesn’t take my full concentration. What better time to roll than then!

I got my foam roller at the Walmart for really cheap. There are varying degrees of hardness. From what I’ve observed in using a few, more hardness = more ouch while rolling. Not necessarily a bad thing, but something to be aware of. If you are really hardcore, you can even hit the Home Depot and pick up a short PVC pipe.

Whatever area is sore, I lay it across the roller and roll back and forth for a bit. My roller also came with some helpful diagrams on where and how to roll. I lay on it and roll and stretch. You can lay flat on it, on your side, or whatever works for you. Afterwards, it’s almost like my body is saying “Ahhhhh.”

I also got a bag of lacrosse balls at the gym’s recommendation. These came in a bag of 3 for $5 and seem like they’ll last forever. The balls are for more concentrated and intense rolling. Great for behind the shoulder blades or along the back.

You can either lay on the floor and position the ball between you and the floor and roll on it. Or you can stand up against a wall and put the ball between you and the wall. The wall version is a little easier to control the pressure of the ball, but both work wonders on getting the knots out.

I feel almost back to normal after rolling, and then I work out again. Hee hee. Change, muscles, change and grow!

Have you tried foam rolling?