Short-Term Effects of Rolling Massage on Energy Cost of Running and Power of the Lower Limbs

Abstract

An acute use of foam rollers for SMFR performed immediately prior to running may negatively affect endurance running performance, but its use should be added before explosive motor performances that include stretch-shortening cycles.

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

“…Concerning the impact of FR, inconsistent findings of the acute effects on jump performance, which were potentially based on different assessment protocols and/or performance levels, hinder a generalization. In fact, immediately after FR, jump performance was decreased [13], unchanged [11,14,15], or enhanced [16]. Despite these inconsistent effects of FR on jump performance, the underlying mechanisms are also unclear.…”

“…Thus, more research to investigate the effects of FR on vertical jump performance and potential underlying mechanisms is required. One factor, which may explain alterations in jump performance after FR, is related to changes in muscular stiffness [16,17]. After FR, two studies have shown a decrease in the stiffness of anterior and posterior thigh muscles [18,19].…”

The Acute Effect of Foam Rolling and Vibration Foam Rolling on Drop Jump Performance

“…The FSSC requires more elastic energy contribution than a slow stretch-shorting cycle (SSSC) [2]. Hence, these results suggested that the FRE will likely produce greater positive effects in the FSSC than in the SSSC, based on the assumption that the FRE can induce moderate muscle compliance due to increased muscle temperature induced by prolonged rolling, which increases musculotendinous unit storage and/or generates elastic energy [14,17]. Furthermore, if the VFRE induces vibration stimulation and enhances neural potentiation by tonic vibration reflex as described by Lamont, et al [18], then the VFRE could be expected to show greater improvements on FSSC than the FRE [19].…”

“…FRE and VFRE are self-massage techniques performed using foam and vibrating foam rollers, respectively, rather than a massage by a physical therapist or trainer [9,12]. Most studies have found no effect on countermovement jump (CMJ) and squat jump performance after FRE [10,[13][14][15], but other studies found an increased CMJ performance after FRE [14,16]. The FSSC requires more elastic energy contribution than a slow stretch-shorting cycle (SSSC) [2].…”

“…It would allow coaches and conditioning professionals a time reference for improving sports performance. Previous studies have indicated the time after an acute bout of FRE and VFRE and collected multiple testing measures at individual time points [11,14,22], including flexibility [11,20,22], vertical jump [11,14,22], muscle strength [11,22], agility tests [10] joint proprioception [9], 10 min running test [14], and balance [9]. However, these studies lack the optimal time interval between post-FRE or post-VFRE and competition.…”