Foam Rolling of the Calf and Anterior Thigh: Biomechanical Loads and Acute Effects on Vertical Jump Height and Muscle Stiffness.

Christian Baumgart,Matthias Kühnemann,Matthias Hoppe,Moritz Hüttel,Thilo Hotfiel,Jürgen Freiwald

doi:10.3390/sports7010027

Christian Baumgart, Matthias Kühnemann + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7010027

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Abstract

When considering the scientific lack concerning the execution and acute effects and mechanism of foam rolling (FR), this study has evaluated the biomechanical loads by the force-time characteristics during two popular FR exercises. Additionally, the acute effects of FR on jump height and muscular stiffness were simultaneously assessed. Within a randomized cross-over design, 20 males (26.6 ± 2.7 years; 181.6 ± 6.8 cm; 80.4 ± 9.1 kg) were tested on different days pre, post, and 15 and 30 min after three interventions. The interventions consisted of a FR procedure for the calf and anterior thigh of both legs, 10 min ergometer cycling, and resting as a control. Stiffness was measured via mechanomyography at the thigh, calf, and ankle. The vertical ground reaction forces were measured under the roller device during FR as well as to estimate jump height. Within the FR exercises, the forces decreased from the proximal to distal position, and were in mean 34 and 32% of body weight for the calves and thighs, respectively. Importantly, with 51 to 55%, the maxima of the individual mean forces were considerably higher. Jump height did not change after FR, but increased after cycling. Moreover, stiffness of the thigh decreased after FR and increased after cycling.

Highlights

IntroductionThe popularity of foam rolling (FR) has increased. Its postulated benefits are to optimize warm-up procedures, to enhance performance and recovery, and to treat fascial disorders [1,2,3]
In recent years, the popularity of foam rolling (FR) has increased
A mean force of 34 and 32% of the body weight were registered for the thigh and calf, respectively

Summary

Introduction

The popularity of foam rolling (FR) has increased. Its postulated benefits are to optimize warm-up procedures, to enhance performance and recovery, and to treat fascial disorders [1,2,3]. Despite its popularity, the effects of FR are not well investigated. This is especially true concerning performance alterations [4,5]. More studies to investigate the effects of FR on sportive performances are needed. A major problem of the investigation and application of FR is that the biomechanical load has been poorly studied [4]. The few existing studies have measured the force passing through a roller device using a force plate and revealed mean forces between 29 and 50% of body weight during FR of the anterior thigh [6,7]. To standardize the biomechanical load, some studies used constant loads to investigate the effects of FR [9,10]

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