Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Getting Started with Rolling 5
Chapter 1: Rolling for Life 7
The Mind of an All-Pro Roller 8
Rollers 101 8
Getting Under Your Skin 9
Key Questions for You 10
How do I unlock my thigh and hamstrings muscles? 10
Why do my lower legs always seem to be my troublemaking “Achilles heels”? 11
If I could make my lower back and hips pain-free, would it make my life easier and more fun? 12
How can I improve my posture to relax my chest, upper back, and neck? 13
How can I eliminate my shoulder and arm pain with a small roller ball? 13
Working Out with Rollers 14
Using Rollers to Manage Your Injuries 15
Preventing Injuries with Roller Treatments 17
Chapter 2: Choosing the Right Roller(s) for You 19
Not All Rollers Are Created Equal 20
Circular rollers: Keeping it simple 21
Multi-pattern design rollers 22
Vibrating rollers 23
Roller balls 26
Half rollers 27
Travel rollers 28
Other Equipment You May Want 28
Handheld rollers 29
Handheld massager 30
Yoga mat 31
Chair and balance dowel 32
Pad and pillows 33
Stretch bands 34
Resistance bands 34
Finding a Roller to Meet Your Needs 35
Chapter 3: Finding the “Perfect” Roller Launch Pad 37
Improvising in Unique Roller Settings 38
Finding a Relaxing “Roller Rink” 39
Having Enough Room to Roll 40
Other Tips to Rolling Right 42
Padding and Pressure Relief 43
Chapter 4: Caring for Your Roller 45
Cleaning Your Roller: Illness Prevention 101 45
Understanding What’s Good and Bad About the
Covering on Your Roller 48
Storing Your Roller 49
Chapter 5: Roller Safety 101 53
Assessing the Safety of Your Roller Rink 53
Rolling surface 54
Roller rink real estate 55
Objects in the roller rink 55
Objects positioned over the roller rink 55
Objects landing in the roller rink 55
Who Should Not Be a Roller 58
What Not to Roll 59
Avoiding Injury on a Roller 61
Part 2: Rolling the Right Way 65
Chapter 6: Timing is Everything: When and When Not to Roll 67
Knowing When to Roll 68
Best times to roll 69
Pre-sleep rolling tips 72
Knowing When Not to Roll 75
Listening to a painful injury 75
Rolling warning signs you should never ignore 78
Chapter 7: Warming Up Your Body for the Roller 79
Preparing Your Entire Body for the Roller 79
Warming Up Your Mind Before Rolling 81
Getting the Rolling Site Ready for Contact 83
Chapter 8: Work With Your Muscles, Not Against Them 85
My Five Ryan Rolling Rules 87
Align the spine 89
Breathe 90
Slow your roll 91
Seek and destroy trigger points 92
Move the muscle 93
Working with Your Muscles by Keeping Them Hydrated 97
Good Roller Pain versus Bad Roller Pain 99
Chapter 9: Supercharging Your Post-Workout Recovery with a Roller 103
The Value of the Recovery 104
Give Me Six: The Six-Minute Recovery Roll-Down 104
Stretching a Freshly Rolled Muscle 108
Common Recovery Mistakes to Avoid 109
Part 3: Meeting the Muscles You’re Rolling Over, and More 111
Chapter 10: Discovering What’s Under the Skin: Knowing Your Anatomy 113
Muscles and Tendons 114
Bones and Joints 115
Fascia 116
What’s a Myofascial Trigger Point? 117
The Treasure Hunt 119
Chapter 11: Upgrading Your Posture 123
Why Good Posture is So Important 123
Understanding Posture 125
Key Landmarks for Evaluating Posture 127
Head 127
Shoulders 128
Lower back 129
Pelvis 130
Feet 131
What Does Perfect Posture Look Like? 132
Perfect standing posture 133
Perfect sitting posture 133
What Does Poor Posture Feel Like? 134
Neck and upper back symptoms 134
Shoulder symptoms 135
Lower back symptoms 135
Improving Your Posture 135
Chapter 12: How Muscles and Joints (Supposedly) Work in Harmony 139
Your Body — The Ultimate Machine 140
Understanding How Healthy Muscles and Joints Work Together 142
Knowing When Your Body Needs a Wheel Alignment 146
Compensating to keep moving 146
Looking at long-term consequences of altered movement 147
Identifying pain and limitations in order to fix them 150
Chapter 13: Fascia: Taming the Beast 151
How Tight Fascia Makes Even Simple Movements Hard 151
Tight Fascia’s Impact on Other Types of Tissue 155
Tips for Healthy Fascia 156
Chapter 14: Managing Scar Tissue 157
What is Scar Tissue? 157
Four Phases of Scar Healing 158
Factors Making Scar Tissue Good or Bad 160
Symptoms of Scar Tissue Pain 161
Types of Scars 162
Tips to Manage Scar Tissue 163
Part 4: Unlocking Tight Muscle and Fascia with Rollers 165
Chapter 15: Scouting Your Body for Pain, Stiffness, and Restrictions 167
Constructing and Interpreting Your True Past Medical History 168
Why all three elements are key 168
Interpreting the information 169
Body Assessment 170
Standing 171
Walking 174
Squatting 177
Finding the Source of Your Pain 179
What a muscle injury feels like 179
What a joint injury feels like 180
What a bone injury feels like 180
What a nerve injury feels like 181
What overly tight fascia feel like 181
Putting Your Scouting Report Together 182
Evaluating your TPMH 183
Identifying blinking red lights (warning signs) 183
Matching blinking red lights with tissue symptoms 184
Chapter 16: Unlocking Your Upper Legs 187
Ryan Rolling Rules for the Upper Legs 188
Unlocking the Quads (aka the Workhorses) 189
Getting ready 190
The exercise 190
Do’s and don’ts 193
Unlocking your Iliotibial Band (ITB) 194
Getting ready 195
The exercise 195
Do’s and don’ts 198
Unlocking the Groin Muscles 198
Getting ready 199
The exercise 199
Do’s and don’ts 202
Unlocking the Hamstrings 204
Getting ready 204
The exercise 205
Do’s and don’ts 208
Chapter 17: Unlocking Your Lower Legs and Feet 209
An Inside Look at the Lower Legs and Feet 210
Ryan Rolling Rules for Lower Legs and Feet 212
Unlocking the Calf — Back of Shin 214
Getting ready 214
The exercise 215
Do’s and don’ts 217
Unlocking the Peroneals — Outside Corner of Lower Shin 218
Getting ready 219
The exercise 219
Do’s and don’ts 221
Unlocking the Ankle Dorsiflexors — Front of Shin 223
Getting ready 224
The exercise 224
Do’s and don’ts 226
Unlocking the Arch 226
Getting ready 227
The exercise 228
Do’s and don’ts 229
Chapter 18: Unlocking Your Lower Back and Hips 231
Ryan Rolling Rules for Your Hips and Lower Back 232
An Inside Look at the Lower Back and Hips 233
Unlocking the Lower Back — Back Extensors 235
Getting ready 237
The exercise 237
Do’s and don’ts 238
Unlocking the Front of the Hip — Hip Flexors/Upper Quad 240
Getting ready 240
The exercise 241
Do’s and don’ts 242
Unlocking the Side of the Hip — Hip External Rotators, aka “The Ladder” 243
Getting ready 246
The exercise 247
Do’s and don’ts 248
Unlocking the Back of the Hip — The Glutes, aka “The Roof” 249
Getting ready 252
The exercise 252
Do’s and don’ts 254
Chapter 19: Unlocking Your Chest, Upper Back, and Neck 257
An Inside Look at the Chest, Upper Back, and Neck 258
Ryan Rolling Rules for Chest, Upper Back, and Neck 260
Unlocking the Front of Your Chest — The Pecs 261
Getting ready 262
The exercise 263
Do’s and don’ts 264
Unlocking Your Upper Back — Shoulder Blade Stabilizers 265
Getting ready 267
The exercise 268
Do’s and don’ts 269
Unlocking Your Side — Latissimus Dorsi 270
Getting ready 271
The exercise 272
Do’s and don’ts 273
Unlocking Your Neck — Upper Trapezius 274
Getting ready 276
The exercise 276
Do’s and don’ts 278
Chapter 20: Unlocking Your Shoulders and Arms 279
An Inside Look at the Shoulders and Arms 280
Starting with the shoulder girdle 280
Moving down the arm 281
Ryan Rolling Rules for Shoulders and Arms 281
Unlocking the Front and Side of the Shoulder — Delts 283
Anterior delt 283
Middle delt 284
Level 1 and Level 2 for anterior and middle delts 286
Do’s and don’ts 286
Unlocking the Back of the Shoulder — External Rotators 287
Getting ready 289
The exercise 290
Do’s and don’ts 291
Unlocking the Palm-Side of the Forearm — Wrist Flexors 293
Getting ready 294
The exercise 295
Do’s and don’ts 297
Unlocking the Back of the Forearm — Wrist Extensors 297
Getting ready 298
The exercise 299
Do’s and don’ts 300
Unlocking the Palm of the Hand — Finger Flexors 301
Getting ready 302
The exercise 303
Do’s and don’ts 304
Chapter 21: Foam Rolling Workouts and Key Stretches 305
Strengthening with a Roller 306
Forming your strengthening game plan 306
Key strengthening tips 307
Stretching with a Roller 307
Forming your stretching game plan 308
Key stretching tips 308
Upper-Body Roller Workouts and Stretches 308
Upper body–strengthening exercises 309
Upper-body stretches 319
Core and Spine Roller Workouts and Stretches 321
Core- and spine-strengthening exercises 321
Core and spine stretches 329
Lower Body Roller Workouts and Stretches 331
Lower body–strengthening exercises 332
Lower-body stretches 339
Part 5: Workouts, Stretches, Injury Management, and Injury Prevention with Rollers 343
Chapter 22: Injury Management with Rollers 345
ROLLER Treatment Planner 346
R: Research your muscles and joints (the What) 347
O: Origin of your restrictions (the Where) 347
L: Listen to your body (the Why) 347
L: Lay out your treatment plan (the How) 347
E: Execute your treatment plan (the Work) 348
R: Reset the way you move (the Reward) 348
Shoulder Injuries 350
Impingement syndrome 350
Rotator cuff strain 351
Elbow Injuries 353
Tennis elbow 353
Golfer’s elbow 354
Lower Back Injuries 355
Lower back pain 356
Glute pain and tightness 357
Hip Injuries 358
Hip flexor strain 359
Hip rotator strain and tightness 360
Thigh Injuries 361
Quadriceps strain 362
Hamstring strain 363
Knee Injuries 365
Patella tendonitis 365
Chondromalacia 366
Ankle Injuries 368
Ankle arthritis and tightness 368
Achilles tendonitis 369
Chapter 23: Injury Prevention with Rollers for Your Sports 371
What is Injury Prevention? 372
Three Steps to Prevent Injuries 373
1 Unlock the motor muscles 374
2 Strengthen opposing muscles 374
3 Launch prevention exercises for your sport 374
Applying the Three Steps to Preventing Injuries in Your Sport 375
Running 375
Cycling or spinning 376
Gym weight training 376
Swimming 377
Basketball 378
Golf 378
Soccer 379
Tennis 379
Gym cardio 380
Part 6: The Part of Tens 381
Chapter 24: Ten Roller Do’s and Don’ts 383
Do Breathe 383
Do Trust Your Roller and Your Body’s Response 384
Do Be Creative 384
Do Toughen Up 384
Do Follow Up Your Roll with Reset Moves 384
Don’t Hold Your Breath 385
Don’t Roll on Swollen and Inflamed Injuries 385
Don’t Add Joint Motion Too Early 385
Don’t Work Against Your Body 385
Don’t Roll on Nerves, Bones, or Open Wounds 386
Chapter 25: Ten Changes Your Body Will Feel from Rolling 387
Looser Muscles 387
Increased Joint Range of Motion 388
Less Effort to Move 388
Smellier Urine 388
Faster Warm-Up 389
Less Pain and Fewer Injuries 389
Increased Muscle Strength 389
Improved Posture 390
Faster Recovery 390
Better Sleep 391
Chapter 26: Ten Groups Who Love Rollers 393
Stiff or Inflexible People 394
The Injury-Prone 394
Runners 394
Mature Athletes 395
Cross Trainers 396
Bikers 396
Stop-and-Go Athletes 397
Walkers and Hikers 397
Human Cardio Machines 397
Yoga Haters 398
Index 399
