Effects Of Foam Rolling For Delayed-onset Muscle Soreness On Military Performance And Perceived Recovery

Abstract

PURPOSE: Evaluate the effects of post-exercise foam rolling (FR) and passive recovery (PR) on short-term symptoms of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and military performance tasks (MPT). METHODS: Twenty participants (23.6 ± 4.1 years) completed a baseline session that included four MPTs: 1) stair climb, 2) cover-to-cover sprint, 3) ammunition can carry, and 4) 200-yd shuttle run. All tasks were completed while participants wore a 12-kg weighted vest and timed using photocell laser timing gates. Participants then completed two experimental sessions that included a DOMS-inducing exercise protocol followed by either a 20-min FR or 20-min PR, and a follow-up MPT test 24 hours later. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured after each MPT. Ratings of muscle pain (RMP) were assessed prior to MPT and after FR and PR. A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare peak and mean MPT times across baseline, FR and PR sessions. If necessary, a post-hoc pairwise comparison with least significant difference was performed. Friedman test compared perceptual variables between the three sessions. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test evaluated post-recovery RMP between FR and PR. RESULTS: MPT times after PR were slower than baseline or post-FR measurements (Table 1). MPT mean and peak times differed for all but two tasks. In addition, a medium-large effect size was found for all variables. Post-recovery RMP approached significance (p = .06) showing a slightly lower median of 3.0 (IQR 2.3 - 4.0) for FR compared to a median of 4.0 (IQR = 3.0 - 6.0) for PR. There was no difference (p = .21) in RPE across the sessions. Similarly, no difference (p = .09) was found for RMP assessed before each MPT session. CONCLUSION: FR appears to be an effective and practical recovery method for mitigating the negative performance effects associated with DOMS. Given the importance of military readiness, practitioners should consider including FR after strenuous exercise.