Walk into most gyms, and you’ll be presented with a vast array of exciting and new equipment. Chances are you’ve seen a foam roller before. In most cases, you’ve probably used it from time to time to warm up and work out a stubborn knot. However, despite being seemingly commonplace in gym practice, many people don’t understand what foam rolling is and how it works.
While foam rolling is often marketed as a form of myofascial release, in reality, the two are fundamentally different. Both, indeed, aim to reduce muscle tension and improve mobility. However, they’re not the same.
With years of experience working in the industry, I want to help shed some light on some of the misconceptions I commonly hear. At the end of this article, you’ll understand why foam rolling isn’t myofascial release and how you can correctly implement both rehabilitation methods.
Without further delay, let's start with the main differences.
Why Foam Rolling isn’t Myofascial Release
While foam rolling is often marketed as myofascial release, it differs in technique, tools used, and pressure applied. Both aim to reduce tension in the body to improve function and mobility. However, the key differences in application change the intended purpose.
These are the key differences when looking at foam rolling vs myofascial release.
Technique variations: self-massage vs. targeted pressure
Foam rolling involves repetitive rolling motions that are applied using your body weight. This is often done with quick, repetitious motions in a rhythmic fashion. This forces your body to release while pushing through the specific restrictions.
Myofascial release applies slow and sustained pressure to a targeted area of fascial tension. This is often done for a much longer period, with the main aim to release the tension using static pressure. It gently encourages the body to release and heal, which may often be less painful than foam rolling.
Remember, the fascia is a thin layer of connective tissue that surrounds our muscles, bones, joints, and organs. It's primarily made of collagen, allowing it to stretch as we move around. We’ve gone into more detail regarding this in a previous article.
Tools used: rollers vs. specialized tools for myofascial release
As the name suggests, foam rolling uses a foam roller or myofascial roller as the primary tool. This is a lightweight, cylindrical tube commonly made of foam. You’ll often find these myofascial release rollers in most commercial and private gym spaces.
Myofascial release uses hands-on techniques, often applied by a trained therapist or by yourself when using the correct guidance. Furthermore, specialized tools such as the Relief+ can offer deeper, targeted fascial release.
Depth of pressure applied: superficial vs. deep tissue focus
Foam rolling uses a smaller depth of pressure, meaning it primarily focuses on the superficial muscle layers, such as the elastin fibres. These are the tissues located near the surface of the body. that are often convenient and easily accessible. With this, it only addresses the areas you target rather than affecting other areas of the body.
Myofascial release uses a much larger depth of pressure, focusing on the deeper fascial layers, adhesions, and trigger points. These are the areas that foam rolling is unable to reach. This means that myofascial release can be performed on more areas of the body.
Alongside helping to release the superficial elastin fibers, it focuses on the deeper collagen fibers. With this, it achieves a whole-body impact using the interconnected fascial web, affecting areas of the body that it doesn't touch.
Intended Use And Purpose
Foam rolling is often used as part of a general warm-up, post-exercise recovery method, and a way to provide temporary relief from tightness and pain. It primarily aims to improve circulation and reduce tightness to increase range of motion.
Myofascial release is designed as more of a specialized method for injury rehabilitation, chronic pain, and restoration of fascial health. It can be integrated into your daily routine, often performed multiple times throughout the day.
When to Use Myofascial Release
Myofascial release is principally designed to break down deep fascial restrictions and adhesions to restore tissue mobility and reduce chronic pain. With this, these are the situations where myofascial release is best suited:
- Injury Rehabilitation — Use it as part of your physical therapy to improve musculoskeletal dysfunctions and postural imbalances. Helps to release trigger points and break down stubborn scar tissue. Examples include frozen shoulder and lower back pain.
- Performance Improvement and Recovery — Use alongside corrective mobility exercises to improve movement efficiency. This can help athletes restore correct function during sports performance.
- Chronic Pain and Mobility Restrictions — Use when suffering from long-term tightness, poor movement, and chronic injuries. Examples include myofascial pain syndrome and arthritis.
The science behind myofascial release.
The fascia is a deep, interconnected layer of connective tissue that surrounds most of our body structures. These include our muscles, bones, joints, arteries, nerves, veins, and organs.
The fascia carries out several vital roles within our body. It provides support to our body structures, protects them from damage, and helps our body to move by allowing different tissues to slide over each other during movement.
Myofascial release applies deep, static pressure to areas of fascial tightness. This aims to break down tension and adhesions, improve blood flow, and enhance mobility and function. Each of these contributes to improved performance, quicker recovery, and a better quality of life.
Myofascial release is about more than just pressing on superficial areas of your muscles. It’s designed to change the fascial structure, providing gradual relief by improving tissue mobility over time.
When to Use Foam Rolling
Foam rolling fascia provides short-term relief by reducing perceived tightness, improving circulation, and enhancing range of motion. These are the situations where performing a type of myofascial release with a foam roller is best suited:
- Warming Up — Use as part of a dynamic warm-up alongside movement-based cardio and dynamic stretches. Helps to improve blood flow and mobility.
- Cooling Down — Gently apply to fatigued muscles post training. This may help reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and improve recovery time.
- Daily Mobility Routine — Incorporate it into your daily practice to improve generally tightness and range of motion issues.
The science behind foam rolling
Our body is made up of several layers, some of which are superficial. These are the body tissues that are located near the surface and, in some cases, can be seen. Examples include the skin, muscles, subcutaneous fat, and superficial fascia.
Unlike myofascial release, fascia foam rolling targets these superficial layers rather than the deeper fascial restrictions. The main goal of this is to change the response of the nervous system and muscle tone to provide temporary improvements in range of motion and perception of pain.
Foam rolling targets mechanoreceptors on the skin, which provide sensory feedback to the nervous system. Stimulating them via foam rolling may help to reduce the perception of muscle tightness, even though structural changes don't necessarily occur.
By compressing the soft tissue and surrounding structures, performing fascia release with a foam roller may provide a temporary increase in blood circulation and lymphatic drainage. This concerns the removal of potentially harmful waste products from the body. Because of this, foam rolling may help to provide oxygen and nutrient delivery to the tissues where it's needed.
How to Choose the Right Technique for You
The choice between foam rolling and myofascial release should be based on three important factors. These are the type of restriction, depth of tissue involvement, and your exercise goals.
If you’re looking for a quick improvement in muscle tightness and circulation, using a myofascial release foam roller might be a good idea. However, if you’re dealing with chronic pain and persistent movement restrictions, you need to implement a deeper myofascial release.
For optimal results, consider implementing both practices into your daily routine. Get to know both methods and learn how to integrate them properly. Once you do this, your recovery opportunities really are endless!
For more guides on myofascial release, read:
- How Myofascial Release and Light Therapy Work Together
- Myofascial Trigger Points and the Skill of Releasing Them Yourself Explained
- Get Comfortable with Myofascial Release With This Comprehensive Guide to Myofascial Release
-
Massage Guns vs. Myofascial Release Tools: Which Is Better?
References
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11266154/
- https://www.dovepress.com/a-review-of-the-application-of-myofascial-release-therapy-in-the-treat-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-JMDH
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310473391_Defining_the_fascial_system
- https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2020/11000/foam_rolling_prescription__a_clinical_commentary.35.aspx
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031940623000834
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11441305/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559512/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10801590/
- https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/3/694
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322770652_Role_of_Fascia_in_Human_Function
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6465761/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4299735/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541068/
