Running is tough on your body. With every step, you鈥檙e subjecting your body鈥檚 soft tissues to a crazy amount of force (over and over鈥nd over), which can cause microtears in your muscles that lead to lingering aches and pains if you don鈥檛 recover properly.

It鈥檚 no wonder so many coaches, trainers, physiologists, and physical therapists say foam rolling should be an integral part of your running regimen. Foam rolling can help you loosen up pre-workout, decrease pain, recover faster after a run, and generally keep your muscles more mobile so you can get the most out of every mile.

Weirdly enough, the science hasn鈥檛 quite caught up to the popularity of the practice. Most studies on foam rolling have been small and haven鈥檛 determined exactly how effective foam rolling can be.聽However, a of the scientific literature determined that foam rolling may reduce muscle stiffness and increase range of motion before training, and can reduce delayed onset muscle soreness and potentially optimize recovery from training.聽Win-win, right?

As researchers try to catch up with runners, foam rolling remains one of the easiest prescriptions for most maladies (not full-blown injuries, but the kind of tightness and tension you feel a day or so post-run).

Here鈥檚 why you should spend just a fraction of the time you log on the road or treadmill draped over a foam roller, how to use one properly, and what you’ve probably been doing wrong.

What Foam Rolling Is and How It Works

Foam rolling is a form of self-myofascial release. To understand that, you have to understand what your 鈥渇ascia鈥� is. 鈥淭he fascia is a sheath of connective tissue that covers all your muscles,鈥� says Sarah Bair, an athletic trainer for the Brooks Beasts Track Club. It also covers all your organs, bones, joints, and tendons, keeping everything where it should be.

It Helps Keep Your Muscles Flexible and Expands Your Range of Motion

Your fascia is kind of like webbing, and when it鈥檚 healthy, it鈥檚 flexible and moves smoothly over your muscles. But injury, overuse, and inactivity can cause it to get stiff or form adhesions that get in the way of it doing its job. Your fascia can also contract and expand separately from the muscles it surrounds, and if a specific muscle is tight or sore, chances are it will cause tightness in the surrounding fascia as well鈥攂oth of which can have ramifications throughout your body. It鈥檚 all connected.

By keeping that fascia nice and elastic, 鈥測ou allow your muscles to reach its full range of motion without restriction,鈥� says , a board-certified sports physical therapist. But if that restriction (i.e., tightness or tension) is bad enough, it can actually mess with your body mechanics, adds Malek. Think about it this way: if your quads or hamstrings are tight, it can decrease the range of motion around your knee鈥攚hich prevents you from opening up into a full stride and nailing your most efficient running form.

Plus, if you鈥檙e not able to achieve your full range of motion within any part of your musculature (whether that tightness is in your fascia or a particular muscle), 鈥測our body is going to compensate in some way to achieve that range of motion,鈥� says Bair. Say you don鈥檛 have a full range of motion in your psoas (the muscle that extends through your pelvis to your femur and is responsible for flexing the hip joint and lifting the upper leg towards the body), you might bend your back to compensate with every forward step鈥攁nd end up with lower back pain, she explains.

Foam Rolling Can Aid in Relaxation

One more thing: because your fascia has nerves that make it almost as sensitive as your skin, foam rolling is also a way to trigger your central nervous and prompt your body to chill out, says Bair. 鈥淏y applying that pressure and working through it, you鈥檙e telling your brain to relax itself, which relieves that pain and stiffness.鈥�

OK, let鈥檚 go back to the term 鈥渟elf-myofascial release.鈥� Release is pretty self-explanatory, and 鈥渟elf鈥� just means you don鈥檛 need an expert to apply this technique.

There are all kinds of massage therapists who practice hands-on myofascial release, but the beauty of a foam roller is that you can DIY that same technique at home鈥攁nd, if you do it right, get the same benefits. It鈥檚 like having a personal masseuse on hand, minus the pricey bill.

How to Choose a Foam Roller

There are a range of foam rollers of all shapes and sizes available; most are made of a type of foam called EVA and come in varying densities鈥攈ard, medium, and soft鈥攄epending on how much pressure you want when you roll.

Start with a Low-Density Roller

If you鈥檙e new to foam rolling, Malek recommends starting with a longer, lower to medium-density roller. 鈥淭hat will help you develop a tolerance to foam rolling while getting used to the mechanics of doing it safely and properly,鈥� she says. Once you鈥檙e more comfortable and aware of your body鈥檚 response to foam rolling, you can progress to a higher-density foam or more textured rollers with bumps or ridges, adds Bair.

Thick Foam Rollers Are Best for Large Areas of the Body

Those thick, round foam rollers are best for large muscle groups, such as the quadriceps, iliotibial band, calves, and hamstrings, says Melanie Strassburg, a physical therapist. A good, basic roller should be versatile enough to hit the most important areas for runners (including the shoulders and upper back, says Malek鈥攊mportant areas to roll pre-workout if you spend the majority of the day sitting).

Try Other Roller Shapes for Hard-to-Reach Spots

If, for some reason, the standard, cylindrical roller isn鈥檛 accessing the areas in your body that you need it to, you might want to explore other shapes like a ball (which can get into the small muscles of your feet or deeper into your glutes), a peanut (which is like a foam roller and ball in one and protects your spine while rolling out your back), a massage stick (which allows you to apply pressure in a different way), or even a vibrating version of any of the above.

What You鈥檝e Been Doing Wrong

Believeing That Pain Is a Good Thing

Ever laid on a foam roller and thought, 鈥淎hhhh,鈥濃�攁nd not in a good way? There鈥檚 this idea that foam rolling 鈥渉urts so good,鈥� but it鈥檚 not a 鈥渘o pain, no gain鈥� sort of practice. 鈥淚t鈥檚 normal to feel a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn鈥檛 feel painful,鈥� says Malek. 鈥淚f it hurts to the point where you鈥檙e resisting any pressure on the roller鈥攚hether that鈥檚 by unweighing yourself or tensing the muscle itself鈥攖hat鈥檚 a red flag.鈥� Remember, the point of foam rolling is to release tension, not cause it.

Rolling Over Already-Sore or Tender Spots

Speaking of pain, avoid rolling over injuries. 鈥淲ith [something like] a muscle strain, going directly over the area will increase inflammation, increasing tension in the area of injury,鈥� Strassburg says. Avoid bony protuberances, ligaments, and tendons as well; it won鈥檛 feel good, and there are no benefits to hitting those areas.

Rushing Through a Foam-Rolling Session

Sometimes foam rolling feels like something you just need to check off your to-do list to be a healthy runner. But 鈥渋f you really want it to do its job, take your time with it,鈥� says Malek. 鈥淵ou should be moving about one inch per second. Think of it like yoga pace versus HIIT pace.鈥�

Part of how foam rolling works is by using your body weight to apply pressure to the soft tissues while you roll; if you鈥檙e speeding through a quick routine, you鈥檙e not giving your fascia and muscles time to absorb that pressure as they sink into the foam roller.

How to Use a Foam Roller Properly

It seems pretty straightforward, right? Place foam roller on the floor, lay the body on top of it. Not quite.

Pick the Muscle Group You Want to Roll

To start, 鈥減ick a muscle group and find a position where both legs feel comfortable on the roller; that will help disperse some of the pressure,鈥� says Bair. Then, find the meaty part of the muscle. For example, to roll out your quadriceps, you鈥檇 lie on your stomach and place the roller under your thighs. For your hamstrings, you鈥檇 place the roller under the back of your thighs while in a seated position.

Start with Broad Strokes

Once you鈥檝e found your starting point, 鈥渄o about five to ten broad muscle rolls鈥攈itting the bottom, middle, and top鈥攖o scan the area for any tight spots,鈥� says Bair. Found one? Transition to one leg (if that feels OK to you) and move through a few different ranges of motion to help actively release the muscle.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e rolling your calves, think about pointing and flexing your foot,鈥� says Bair. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e rolling your quads, bend and extend your knee.鈥� Go through those motions five to 10 times while you鈥檙e paused over that tight area.

Spend at Least 30 Seconds Rolling Each Body Part

Is there a certain amount of time you should spend on each muscle?聽That 2020听谤别惫颈别飞 mentioned earlier found the best amount of time to achieve the flexibility and the optimum dosage to achieve the flexibility benefits of foam rolling to be a total of 90 to 120 seconds.

A study published in the , on the other hand, found that a total of 60 seconds of rolling had an effect. Most trainers recommend at least 30 seconds per side.

You Can Roll Before and After Working Out

And in terms of whether rolling pre- or post-workout is better, 鈥渆vidence seems to justify the widespread use of foam rolling as a warm-up activity rather than a recovery tool,鈥� according to a published in 2019 in Frontiers in Physiology. However, the more recent review noted foam rolling鈥檚 positive effect on DOMS and deemed it a potential recovery method. So do both.

If that鈥檚 asking too much, Malek prioritizes pre-workout rolling. 鈥淚f you have to choose stretching or foam rolling, 100 percent foam roll plus a dynamic warm-up,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to make everything feel more mobile, which will make your stride a little better.鈥�

Can鈥檛 do it immediately before or after a workout? Your muscles and fascia will still benefit if you do it earlier or later in the day鈥攋ust don鈥檛 skip it!

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