Should You Foam Roll––What Does the Science Say?

Foam rolling is a type of self-massage that involves rolling parts of your body on a cylindrical tube.

Because it mimics the mechanisms of a massage, it’s claimed that foam rolling can help reduce muscle tightness, reduce muscle soreness, and increase joint range of motion and flexibility. Thus, improving performance and recovery.

But what does the research say?

1. Can foam rolling increase range of motion?

Fascia is connective tissue found throughout the body — it surrounds and holds your muscles, organs, and bones in place. When you stress fascia, like say by lifting weights, the fascia tightens which can reduce range of motion.

By foam rolling, some will claim, you ‘release’ this tightness which can increase range of motion.

A recent systematic review by Skinner et al. (2020) looked at 32 studies published between 2013 and 2018 and found that foam rolling did indeed increase range of motion.

However, any increase in range of motion is short-lived. As the researchers note:

While the acute effects are evident, the chronic effects are not, and it cannot be concluded that foam rolling has a positive effect on range of motion or flexibility over time.