Stretching versus
Foam Rolling
F OA M R O L L ING CA N E L I MI NATE T HE NE E D F O R S T R E TCHIN G
Should you foam roll or stretch
• There is lots of different information on the internet about stretching
and foam rolling
• Which is best?
• Foam rolling allows you to spend as little as 30 seconds on each muscle group to
gain benefits.
• Foam rolling can be done throughout the day.
• Stretching can be done throughout the day also but you must finish stretching
the body part you are on currently before moving onto another body part.
• For stretching each body part you must hold it 30 seconds and repeat 6 times.
• If there are knots or trigger points that have been there for awhile, stretching will
not be effective.
Stretching
• Research is varied on how long you have to hold a stretch in order to
be effective.
• Minimum requirements to get an effective stretch is 30 second hold
and repeat 6 times. (20 second hold is sufficient but since people
usually count in their head, I recommend counting to 30 so you at
least get 20)
• In order to stretch the entire body, and that just means one stretch
for your legs, ankles, arms, back, neck, and elbows you would have to
stretch for 30 minutes minimum and that is ONE stretch for each
body part. Not even nearly enough to see results.
Stretching
• Stretching will not identify a potential problem until it is already causing
pain.
• You can stretch too far and cause yourself injury.
• You can stretch too long and cause yourself injury.
• You do not need any equipment to stretch and it can be done anywhere
which is certainly a positive.
• It is extremely difficult to target only one muscle when stretching. You
usually will stretch a group of muscles and whichever muscle in the group is
tightest, will get stretched and the rest of the muscles in the group will not.
And there is no way of telling which ones are getting stretched and which
ones are not.
Stretching
• Stretching should only be done after a warm up. You should never
stretch without warming your muscles up.
• You should NEVER partner stretch. Having someone else stretch
your muscles can lead to injury
• When stretching if you feel pain stop. You should not think no pain no
gain when it comes to stretching. Pain indicates that you have
reached the end of the muscle length and you should not push it any
further.
• You should stretch to the point of feeling a good stretch, not pain.
Foam Rolling
• Need to foam roll 10 minutes every day. That is enough time to foam
roll the entire body.
• Can break it up into as little as needed to throughout the day. If you
hop on and only have time to do your hamstrings for 30 seconds then
roll your hamstrings for 30 seconds, you can get an effective result in
reducing the knots with even 30 seconds.
• Foam rolling can indicate a problem before there even is pain. Rolling
over a knot or trigger point is a sign of a dysfunction. If you are able
to reduce the knot with foam rolling, which is the most effective way
to reduce knots at home, then you will be able to save yourself from
injury.
Foam Rolling
• Foam rolling can be done without a warm up. You do not need to
warm your muscles up before you start to foam roll.
• Foam rolling does require a foam roller which can be big and bulky to
transport around.
• ‘The Stick’ commonly sold in running stores does not qualify or take
the place of foam rolling.
• It is nearly impossible to hurt yourself foam rolling. The most that will
happen is if you foam roll too much you can make yourself sore.
• If you really feel the need to stretch it should be done after foam
rolling and still for the same amount of time as you had done before.
But foam rolling hurts!
• WHE N YO U FIR S T S TA R T F OA M R O L L I NG I T WI L L B E
U N CO MF OR TA B LE A ND SO ME T IME S D O WNR IG HT PA INFU L
• T HIS I S NO R MA L! !
• B U T WHY DO E S I T H U R T S O B A D ? T HE PA I N T HAT YO U F E E L
WHE N YO U FOA M R O L L I S T R I G GE R P O I NT S O R K NOT S T HAT
A R E IN T HE MU S C LE . T H E S E A R E S I G N S O F P R O B L E MS! !
• IG N O R ING A KNOT AND NOT FOAM R OLLING IT WILL ONLY
MA K E IT WO R S E A N D C A U S E T H E K N OT TO G R O W I N S I Z E A N D
R E CR U IT MO R E A N D M O R E K N OT S T U R N I NG A S M A L L
P R O B L E M IN TO A N I N J U R Y
• S E L E CTIN G T H E P R O P E R F OA M R O L L E R TO U S E I S
IMP E R ATIVE F O R SU CCE SS IN A FOA M R O L L ING PR O G R A M
• WHE N YO U FIND A K NOT, O NLY S TAY O N I T F O R A F E W
S E CO N DS A N D T H E N C O N T I NUE TO F OA M R O L L A N D C O M E
B ACK TO IT T H E N E X T D AY.
• T HE MO R E YO U F OA M R O L L T H E L E S S K N OT S T H AT W I L L B E
T HE R E
Pros and Cons of Stretching and Foam
Rolling
FOA M R O L L I NG
ST R E TCHING
• Able to target each muscle in 30
seconds
• Need to hold a stretch for each
muscle 30 seconds and repeat 6
times in order to get true
change in the muscle length
• Can do one muscle group at a
time so if you have 30 seconds,
you can roll out for just 30
seconds
• You need at least one foam
roller
• Need to complete all 6
repetitions at one time, cannot
stop and come back to later
• Need no equipment
Foam Rolling versus Stretching Progression
• 10 minutes each
day
• Can be broken up
throughout the day
Foam Roll
Trigger Point
• Focus on specific
knots
• 30-60 second hold
per knot
• 30 second hold 6
times each muscle
• Only effective if no
knots
Stretch
Muscle recovery is important!
• MA K E S U R E T H AT W H E T H E R YO U D E C I D E TO F OA M R O L L O R
S T R E TCH T HAT YO U TA K E T I M E TO H AVE YO U R M U S C LES
R E COVE R
• S L E E P A N D G E T T I NG T H E P R O P E R A M O U N T O F R E S T I S
I MP O R TA N T F O R M U S C L E R E C OV E R Y A L S O
• PR O P E R NU T R ITION I S VER Y IMPOR TANT FOR MUSCLE
R E COVE R Y
• N E G L ECTIN G M U S C LE R E C OV E R Y C A N N E G AT E T H E P O S I T I VE
B E N E F ITS T HAT E X E R C ISE H A S , M A K E S U R E TO F O C U S J U S T
A S MU CH O N R E C OV E R Y A S YO U D O W O R K I N G O U T.