For every successful athlete, recovery is important equally as working out. If you consider the fact that swimming activates almost all of your body muscles, it is not so hard to understand why the quick recovery is crucial not only for a successful workout but also for your own health and safety.
For instance, if you ignore the soreness that appears after practice, it could lead to shoulder problems, and not just that – if you overwork any muscle, you may end up getting injured. So, besides the knowledge on how to prevent shoulder injuries and how to recover quickly, it is useful to learn about tools that could speed up the recovery time. One of them is a foam roller.
Helps Recovery
One of the main things a swim roller is great for is its ability to help your body recover faster. Using it for 20 minutes just after your practice, and then repeating in about 24 hours and again in 48 hours after the practice will help your muscles regain their freshness and get you back to your maximum level of performance in a no-time.
Relieves Soreness
For swimmers, most of the workout weight goes traps and shoulders, so it is just a matter of time when will the soreness happen. It can cause quite a bit of problem when it strikes and makes the workouts way harder. By using foam rollers for swimmers three times in 48 hours, you’ll remove most signs of soreness, and combined with other forms of rest – like sleeping – you’ll be good to go fairly quickly.
Increase Range Of Motion
Another great and important benefit of foam rollers for swimmers is their ability to improve motion range. It is important because the bigger range allows us to move faster through the water by making our strokes efficient. Combined with stretching, the usage of foam rollers for swimmers in intervals of two or ten minutes on your quadriceps will improve the range of your stroke.
How To Use It
You may use it literary any way you want and you see fitting so trying out anything you want is more than welcome, but these three swim roller activities will help you achieve what you need from foam roller for swimmers.
- T-spine is great for fixing and preventing swimmer’s shoulder injury. It really “opens” the spine, and it is easy to do. If you don’t have a foam roller, you could use a swiss ball.
- Lats will probably get the most out of your verbal dictionary for the first time as there are lots of knots to be broken, but it will release the tightness, although it may go a bit slower in the beginning.
- Hamstrings can become tight if you sit for most of the day, and rolling them out is a great way to keep them and your hips loose, so it takes much less time to achieve full kick force once you get back to the pool.
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Types Of Foam Rollers For Swimmers
There may be some variables, but the foam rollers are made in five different categories, all of which have their own specific targeted users. Their main difference is their look and their hardness.
1. Soft Foam Rollers
The softest foam rollers could be used by anyone, which makes them great for beginners or those who are just trying to rehabilitate from injury. It is the best choice for starts as it offers really revitalizing rolling experience, without the agony the other types of rollers provide. The downsize is the fact that it doesn’t go deep and it affects mostly the surface. It will help with soreness, but not on some game-changing level.
2. Firm Foam Rollers
This type of foam rollers is made to help athletes who have problems with really tight muscles or those with Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). You’ll recognize this condition if it’s been a few days after you’ve practiced last, and you still feel sore. It is denser, heavier, and it is better when it comes to relieving tight muscles and trigger points.
3. Grid Foam Rollers
Once you gain enough experience and you start to feel the two swim rollers don’t work for you, or you simply want to feel more of that healthy pain of knots and kings being broken, this is a good option. It has a textured surface and it will do the job. When we’re speaking about pain, if you feel the 7 out of 10, don’t worry. The pain from the rolling shouldn’t last more than 30 minutes, after which you’ll feel better.
4. Deep Tissue Foam Rollers
Now we’re talking hardcore. It is an extra firm, it has bumps and it should trigger and stimulate deep muscle layers. It will hurt even more than the grid foam roller, but as the result, you’ll get soft tissue and those few minutes of pain will relieve you for a longer period of time. So, to summarize – it will be painful, but the understatement is to say that it is worth it. Just be careful not to use it if you have any problems with your muscles. If you want it to work, you have to be healthy, so avoid it if you’re in the middle of rehab or similar.
5. Vibrating Foam Rollers
Deep tissue foam roller with vibration included. It should minimize the pain and maximize the relief. They are more expensive, but they’ll do amazing work.
Alternative
There are some areas hard to reach properly with foam rollers, like pecs, and a lacrosse ball can serve as a good replacement. Not to mention the fact that they are cheap and you can have them with you wherever you go.
Globo Surf Overview
Swimming has lots of health benefits, and foam rollers for swimmers combined with stretching and your best time for swimming are there to keep it that way.