The Only Foam Roller I Trust to Relieve Tension in My Always-Tight Upper Back and Shoulders

I’m a giant fan of froth rolling to launch muscle stress, however I discover it’s normally simpler for my decrease physique than my chronically tight higher again and shoulders. That’s primarily as a result of the sore muscle mass in these areas, particularly across the shoulder blades, may be onerous to hit in simply the suitable spots. Flat foam rollers don’t all the time attain these upper-body nooks and crannies, whereas the raised factors on grid rollers may be too intense or put stress on the flawed locations (ouch!).

However as a health author, I do know there’s a wealth of analysis exhibiting utilizing a foam curler can enhance muscle soreness, flexibility, and efficiency. For example, 20 minutes of froth rolling on a high-density curler instantly and 24, 48, and 72 hours post-exercise was discovered to boost restoration and scale back muscle tenderness attributable to delayed onset muscle soreness, based on a 2015 examine¹ within the Journal of Athletic Coaching.

My quest to seek out an efficient strategy to foam roll my higher physique took a brand new flip after I tried the GoFit Revolve Curler, a curler with adaptive therapeutic massage rings you possibly can change as much as create a singular number of ridges and patterns designed to focus on even hard-to-reach muscle mass. Might this newest innovation be an answer for my ongoing higher physique tightness?

Learn on to seek out out extra in regards to the significance of froth rolling in your higher physique, why it may be difficult, and my expertise attempting the GoFit Revolve Curler.

The advantages of froth rolling your higher physique

Foam rolling is an effective way to launch muscle stress, promote higher mobility, and improve blood circulate that helps muscle restoration, says Ramon Felix, CPT, founding father of Stretchergy.com, a mobility and adaptability on-line platform. In relation to your higher again, foam rolling additionally has a protecting impact.

“By relieving tightness within the higher again, foam rolling protects the shoulder joints, as overly tight muscle mass can pull the shoulder blades upward probably inflicting ache, discomfort, and even shoulder impingement,” says Felix.

However focusing on your rhomboid muscle mass (situated between your shoulder blades) and your rear deltoids (working from the again your the shoulders to your higher arms) may be difficult with a regular curler due to the muscle mass’ smaller dimension and deeper placement, explains Felix.

Neck stress may contribute to a decent higher again and shoulders. “The trapezius and levator scapulae muscle mass, which connect to the neck, could cause discomfort when they’re shortened,” Felix says. “Foam rolling the higher again and shoulders will help launch these muscle mass, decreasing neck ache.”

Tight biceps (entrance of your higher arm) and lats (just under your shoulder blades) may spherical your shoulders and elevate your shoulder blades, negatively affecting your neck and posture, explains Felix. “Tending to those areas with a foam curler can not directly relieve neck tightness,” he says.

The best way to use a foam curler in your higher physique

For hard-to-reach higher again and shoulder muscle mass, Felix suggests utilizing a higher-density or grid foam curler—the GoFit Revolve Curler is principally an adaptable mixture of the 2. “As a substitute of rolling backwards and forwards, lie on the curler till you find a young spot, then maintain stress for about 30 seconds to launch stress and enhance blood circulate,” he advises.

As a result of extreme foam rolling can irritate muscle mass and worsen ache, Felix recommends foam rolling three to 5 instances per week, spending a median of 1 to 2 minutes on every muscle group. Athletes or these with bodily demanding jobs would possibly profit from foam rolling 5 to 6 days per week, he provides.

To make use of the Revolve Curler (or any foam curler) in your higher again or shoulders, Felix gives these three ideas:

1. Don’t overlook to breathe. Correct respiration is important. Holding your breath can improve muscle stress, elevate blood stress, and scale back the effectiveness of froth rolling.
2. Don’t roll your neck or decrease again. These areas are delicate and rolling them could make current points worse.
3. Gradual your roll. Foam rolling isn’t meant to be finished rapidly. Maintain stress on tender areas for at the least 30 seconds to permit your muscle mass to launch successfully.

My expertise utilizing the GoFit Revolve Curler

The GoFit Revolve curler has two primary parts: a 13-inch hole curler and adaptive therapeutic massage rings that match over the curler and may be taken on and off to create completely different configurations. The therapeutic massage rings have dimples and raised factors and are available three diameters—purple low profile (the least diameter), gray mid profile, and inexperienced excessive profile.

The curler was created to be a transportable, reasonably priced choice you possibly can change up relying in your wants, explains Mark Ish, president of GoFit. “Every configuration is like having a brand new curler, so that you don’t want to purchase 5 rollers to get outcomes,” he says.

I attempted the 423 mannequin curler, the deluxe model that comes with 4 inexperienced, two gray, and three purple therapeutic massage rings. (Two lower-level fashions include both purple or purple and gray rings; you may also purchase further rings individually.) With Felix’s options in thoughts, I began utilizing the curler about 4 instances per week for a month, normally later within the day when my higher again and shoulders had been tight from sitting at a desk for hours.

With so many doable combos, it was onerous to know the place to begin, however fortunately, an instruction booklet with configuration options was included. After attempting a number of of them, my favourite was “the cradle”— three purple rings within the center, then one gray and two inexperienced rings on every finish.

Inserting my backbone on the center purple therapeutic massage rings and rolling up and down from the bottom of my neck to my mid backbone allowed the upper profile gray and inexperienced rings to hit all the suitable spots. Because the identify suggests, it was like mendacity in a self-massaging cradle. After I hit a very spicy set off level, per Felix’s suggestion, I might maintain there for about 30 seconds on the curler’s raised factors.

I used the identical method, together with slowly rolling aspect to aspect, on my biceps and lats. One in all my favourite components of utilizing the curler was transferring my physique place let me fluctuate the session based mostly on how I used to be feeling that day. For instance, when utilizing “the cradle” on my lats or biceps, if I wanted extra depth, I’d merely transfer a few inches to the denser inexperienced rings. If issues bought too spicy, I’d simply slide over to the purple or gray rings.

Due to the dimples and factors, the Revolve curler is certainly steadier than flat rollers—you gained’t go rolling off of it onto the ground. The cons had been minor—reconfiguring the rings took a couple of minutes and I struggled to get the top screw-in caps that lock the rings in place on and off. These had been solely small drawbacks in comparison with my general expertise, although.

My outcomes and remaining ideas

After simply a few classes with the Revolve Curler, I felt particular enchancment within the tightness and stress in my higher again and shoulders. If I skipped greater than a pair days, I might inform—I’d really feel these drawback areas progressively tensing up because the day went on and know I wanted one other session. Inside a few weeks, my shoulder and higher again tightness was noticeably improved and continued to be, so long as I persistently used the curler.

The adaptive therapeutic massage rings actually made all of the distinction, permitting me to focus on hard-to-reach muscle mass (particularly round my shoulder blades) far past what I’ve been capable of obtain with a flat curler. Whereas grid rollers have raised factors just like the Revolve, you possibly can’t alter them. I’ve tried a variety of foam rollers and by no means discovered one which supplied this degree of adaptability. I severely can’t wait to strive it out on my decrease physique.

As a aspect notice, newcomers would most likely profit from watching educational movies or a private coaching session to ensure they’re utilizing the curler correctly. Even in case you’re an previous professional like me, the curler does require some trial and error till you discover configurations that work finest for you. However once you do, in case you’re like me, the outcomes can be price it.