Don’t use the roller fitness machine randomly! Learn stretches and exercises all at once

People who often go to the gym must have often seen many people using rollers to slowly roll their bodies back and forth after exercise to help relax their muscles and fascia. However, experts remind that you should be careful when using roller massage to avoid injury. Also, who says rollers can only be used “after exercise”? The roller is also a good helper for strengthening stick-type muscle training.

Roller stretches your muscles, are you doing it right?

Professional fitness coach Li Zheyu said that the roller can stretch muscles and deeply relax them after exercise. However, people with chronic pain or circulatory system diseases should seek medical advice before use. When operating, care must be taken not to roll the roller to the spine and joints, so as to avoid excessive pressure on the bones, which may cause damage.

Also, the scrolling speed should not be too fast. The correct way to use the roller for soothing is like finding acupoints in traditional Chinese medicine massage. First, use the roller to find the hidden pain points in the muscle group, apply static pressure, and then slowly roll the roller around the pain points to massage and stretch the surrounding muscles. When rolling, the more painful it is not necessarily better; a slight numbness or soreness is enough.

In addition to stretching tense muscles after exercise, office workers can also use roller massage to relieve muscle tension and soreness caused by stress or maintaining the same posture for a long time. However, just like warming up before exercise, you should also pay attention to body temperature when using a roller. Muscles at normal body temperature are more flexible and less likely to suffer sports injuries. The body temperature drops when sleeping, and the muscles just after waking up have poor elasticity, so it is not recommended to use a roller to stretch the muscles.

【Stretching posture demonstration】

1. Front of thigh: Lie prone with your elbows on the ground, place the front of your thigh on the roller, and swing your body slightly back and forth. The rolling amplitude of the roller should not compress the pelvis and knee joints. Press and stretch the muscles of both legs first. After adapting for a period of time, you can change to pressing and stretching on one leg.

2. Outer thigh: Lie on your side, place the roller on the outer thigh, support yourself with one elbow, place the upper foot on the ground, roll back and forth, keep your body stable, this can stretch the muscles on the outer thigh that are tense due to exercise.

3. Buttocks: First sit on the floor, put a roller under your buttocks, lift your left foot and place it on the thigh of your right foot, support the ground with your left hand, and after stabilizing your posture, move your body's center of gravity to the left side, roll back and forth to help stretch your buttocks muscles. After a while, switch sides.

Rod-type muscle training roller assisted re-strengthening

Coach Li Zheyu said that in addition to stretching after exercise, the roller can be used in muscle training to create an unstable interface, breaking the muscle training intensity that the body has already adapted to, allowing the body to re-adapt to a stable posture under more difficult situations, thereby achieving the purpose of strengthening muscle strength. At this time, the roller "cannot roll" but is fixed. The following is a demonstration of the strength training method of the stick combined with the roller:

【Demonstration of muscle strengthening training posture】

1. Roller stick pose: Assume the stick pose with your palms supporting the floor, face down, hold both sides of the roller with your hands, and place your palms directly below your shoulders. Keep your body supported in a straight line from the head, neck, back, lumbar spine, buttocks to calves. Keep the roller still, breathe normally without holding your breath, and do not let your buttocks and abdomen drop down. Kneel down and rest after 10 to 30 seconds, depending on your personal load level, and then repeat the same action after a while.

2. Roller elbow support: Maintain the stick-like posture of supporting your elbows on the floor, place the roller under your ankles, without your toes touching the ground, and straighten your body from head to toe in a straight line. The roller does not move, which can strengthen the core muscles of the body.