Foam Rolling Report

MacDonald, G. Z., Button, D. C., Drinkwater, E. J., & Behm, D. G. (2014). Foam rolling as a recovery tool after an intense bout of physical activity. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 46(1), 131-142. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3182a123db Nearly every athlete can attest to the fact that walking after a heavy leg resistance training session one or two days after exercise is an unpleasant experience. This discomfort is commonly referred to as delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. DOMS is a phenomenon that can result in point-pressure pain, loss of range of motion and loss of contractile power. The mechanism behind this pain is called exercise induced muscle damage, or EIMD. EIMD is thought to result from the high mechanical stress placed on myofibrils leading to damaged muscle and connective tissue, provoking an acute inflammatory response that disrupts cellular homeostasis. Foam rolling, a means of self myofacial release, has been hypothesized to aid in the recovery of DOMS and restore normal muscular function. This experiment sought to examine the rehabilitation effects of foam rolling on DOMS by looking for improvements in muscle soreness, voluntary and evoked contractions, vertical jump and

A handful of prior experiments are referenced, however none are examined at a level in depth enough to provide significant evidence as to why this treatment is effective. A brief physiological explanation is given for DOMS, and it seems as though the authors will transition into an explanation of the effects that foam rolling has on these symptoms, however instead it is only mentioned that foam rolling has a beneficial effect, but the mechanism is absent. The authors clearly outline the goals of their experiment, however no hypothesis is present presumably because this is the first experiment of its