foam roller exercises and stretches

by Monica

Get a better body and boost fatloss with the best foam roller exercises and an easy foam roller stretch that releases tons of pelvic tension that contributes to low back, hip, knee, and shoulder pain.

The foam roller is a great tool that can help you release all that tension that builds up and eventually starts causing you all kinds of pain syndromes and can prevent you from working out the way you need to burn fat.

If you're in pain using a foam roller will be a very unpleasant experience but if you can just breathe through the discomfort and foam roller your body every couple of days for a few weeks you WILL get the relief you need to get back on track with your fat loss workouts.

Start with the top 5 foam roller exercises in the video below and spend about 60 seconds on each exercise (30 seconds per side). You can do this routine 2-3 days a week.



ITB rolling 60 sec.
quad rolling 60 sec.
adductor rolling 60 sec.
glute rolling 60 sec.
thoracic rolling 60 sec.

Once you're done rolling finish up with the foam roller hip flexor stretch below. Hold each side for 1-2 minutes and focus on deep breathing. Visualize your supporting leg and spine sinking beneath the floor.

If supporting leg is not straight (knee is bent and quad is not relaxing) you can place a sandbag or weight right along the outside of the foot to keep the toes pointing up. This will allow your inner thighs to relax and your quad and knee will begin to straighten much faster.

Resist the urge to get out of this stretch too soon. The hip flexors take much longer than other areas to release so be patient.



Not sure what type of foam roller to buy? Check out my cheap home gym store for ideas. My favorite for clients in a lot of pain is the OTPT pink roller. It's softer than other rollers but still very effective. I use the basic white foam roller and sometimes if I can handle it I use the black high density foam roller but the high density ones are very very painful.