Simple Foam Rolling Questions

Hey guys bit of a bump as some of you may know I have recently been to the doctor plenty of times and can not continue any further till this holiday season is over, I will be back to visit the doc in January 2.

I just had some questions I wanted to ask :

I have been researching into foam rolling because T nation told me to start from the top of the muscle and go all the way down spot by spot and build pressure and I can’t do it. To put it bluntly apparently building pressure towards the bottom of the muscle is dangerous I was rolling towards my knees and I had nerve jolts going down my legs when I was rolling which I neglected and this may have resulted in a severe injury.

The person who said that foam rolling like this is bad is “MyFoamRoller” on youtube and he seems to have good information, he says to roll over the whole muscle slowly up and down all the way, so my question is:

HOW DO I FOAM ROLL?

Should I perform myofascial release on my shoulders? is it necessary?

Should I foam roll my feet? does it do anything?

Should I perform myofascial release on my upper traps?

BY THE WAY I have internally rotated shoulders from too strong of a frontal upper body and my upper back is weak so it caves in. I don’t think foam rolling the shoulders is necessary and my instincts tell me it may be dangerous should I do it or should I not?

I also have flat feet, but I don’t know if foam rolling my feet will help at all, I remember a “specialist” I went to who recommended this.

Here is some pics btw:

http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_beginner/what_is_wrong_with_my_posture_?id=5479241&pageNo=0

Scroll down roughly 1/3 of the page that is where it starts.

I use a couple different sizes of PVC pipe and foam roll my feet, ankles, calves, hamstrings, quads, lower back, and upperback as often as I can. Good for warming up, decreasing injury, increasing mobility, increasing CNS recruitment, and other shit probably. I do 50-100 rolls, up and down, on the muscle, just one time. This is before I’ve done any other warmup.

If you have an active trigger point in the upper trap area (one that causes pain), then yes you should release it. If you have myofascial restrictions anywhere they should be released so they do not further impede function.

If you have plantar fasciitis or a tight achilles/calves you should can roll out the bottom of your feet, I suggest using a lacrosse ball or a field hockey ball.

Louie had some solid advice so there’s no need to repeat what he said, I also feel that foam rolling and light stretching help with DOMS but only short term. If I have the time on my off days I will stretch and foam roll multiple times a day.

If you are prone to trigger points in the upper trap area you may want to look at this: http://www.theracane.com/

Thanks for the feedback guys I will go all the way up and down strongly and slowly.

About my trapezius I think they are tight because when I run for distances of lets say 2km my trapezius will be in action and will feel “sore”, after that I will get a headache in the lower region of the back of my head. This is the most frequent place I get headaches. When I press down on my trapezius I feel pain in that exact same region where I get headaches.

So to conclude about the trapezius I THINK they are tight I do not know. Reply to my trapezius issue of you can.

I can go into more detail about the trapezius if necessary.

I’ll look into the theracane though.


The trap could be the cause, you can see the origin of the upper fibers of the trap in the pic.
Try to stretch, ice, and release those trigger points. More importantly relax those shoulders when you run.

Ok, thanks man I will definitely work on the traps then, what stretches/release do you think I should do on the upper traps?

The question I had about rolling the shoulders, is it dangerous? is it necesary?

*EDIT: If you have seen the thread I linked in the original post it had all of my pictures from practically all angles to judge my posture, I made this thread on another website and a member who was extremely experienced in weightlifting/anatomy/powerlifting and basically everything to do with the body, from the pictures he told me that I had so many problems he didn’t know where to begin.

He said he would do it in steps with me and said it looks like the first step would be to strengthen my upper back, stretch/myofascial release on pecs.

Please have a look to the original thread I linked it has all pictures of me side/left/right/front/back.etc.

bump