Mobility Series: Myofascial Release

Mobility Work
Spending time trying to improve your mobility is one of the least glamorous things the exercise world has to offer. Unlike with strength training or intense conditioning, you don’t lift anything heavy or move fast; you just sort of end up rolling around on the ground for 10 minutes wondering why it hurts so much. Despite its unappealing nature, mobility work is perhaps the most underrated aspect of fitness that people need to spend time developing.

The term mobility in this context refers to your joints’ range of motion. Having enough mobility enables you to do things like squat to depth or fully reach overhead. Many of the people that struggle to perform these basic movement patterns are unironically the ones who are least interested in foam rolling and stretching. The tighter you are, the more painful trying to improve becomes.

Myofascial Release
This process generally hurts so much for most of you because you build up a lot of stiffness throughout the day. Most of this comes from being in one static position for up to 8 hours at a time while sitting at your desk. Sitting for this long creates tension around the hip flexors, glutes, hip external rotators, quads, lower back, upper back, anterior shoulder, neck, and head; all of which are vital regions for healthy joints and effective training.

This is where myofascial release comes in as a method for alleviating that tension. It involves using an object like a ball, foam roller, pencil, or anything else you can think of to break some of the tightness up. Muscle tissue in the human body is surrounded by a connective sheet known as fascia that wraps around muscle bellies like a large casing. Whenever a muscle shortens or stays in one position for a prolonged period of time, the fascia shortens with it and will eventually become wound up into tighter tissue that we often refer to as “knots.” Myofascial release, or foam rolling, literally massages these areas of tightness to help unwind the muscles and fascia.

Implementation
Eventually, myofascial release won’t hurt nearly as much as you remove a lot of the knots and adhesions that are ingrained in your muscle tissue. Below is a video from Fitwell Trainer Liz on how you can easily perform some self myofascial release in your office.




Guidelines for Foam Rolling:

• Roll above or below joints and on muscle only. Never on bone.
• Apply enough pressure to produce actual change.
• Spend 1-2 minutes on the relevant body part(s).
• Do it 1-2 times daily.
• If painful areas are found, dedicate more focus to those spots.

In addition, here are some basic methods you can begin incorporating regularly. Don’t be afraid to pull a foam roller out at BHIP anytime you’d like. If you have a particular question on how to tackle a certain area or improve a position, post it in the comments below.

 

Thoracic Extension over foam roller (Left). Hamstring Release with Lacrosse Ball (Right).


Forearm/Hand Release with a pencil.