Chances are you’ve seen one of these at your gym, not the menacing tiger, but the humble foam roller below. You may even have used it for self-myofascial release, a fancy way of saying you roll on it to work the kinks out of your muscles before or after your workout. However, these solid chunks of styrofoam have much more to offer than being used as a glorified rolling pin. Today, I’ll review two traditional core exercises that can be made much more challenging by adding the foam roller.
Why Anti-Extension?
The primary purpose of your ‘core’ muscles, including all your lower back abdominals and muscles, is to protect your spine and joints by resisting movement, not creating it. Think of it as the foundation upon which the rest of your body relies to keep it working correctly. These muscles work in conjunction to keep everything in its proper place. They also transfer force from the upper to lower extremities and, most importantly, help prevent injury. These exercises are prevalent in physical therapy, especially for lower back pain patients. However, you don’t need pain to reap the benefits. Everyone can benefit from a solid foundation, from desk jockeys to elite athletes.
Let’s compare anti-extension to other types of core exercises, such as sit-ups and crunches, and see why anti-extension is better.
You can’t cheat! Sit-ups are particularly prone to this. Since a sit-up involves hip flexion, you will use some hip flexor muscles no matter how hard you try to focus on your midsection.
Safer for the lower back. Once again, sit-ups can put tremendous stress on the joints in the lower back. This is the last type of movement you should do if you have or are worried about a lower back injury.
Effective and safe. These are just two examples, but plenty of other anti-extension, anti-flexion, anti-rotation, and anti-lateral bending exercises utilize the core without undue stress on other joints.
The two exercises reviewed today are classic anti-extension exercises: the plank and the dead bug. These movements are great for your core, but they have one problem: They can become too easy once you’ve reached a certain threshold of strength. As you’ll see, adding the foam roller considerably increases the effort.
Foam Roller Plank
Placing your feet on the roller adds an element of instability that being on a solid floor can’t match. This instability forces you to work harder to maintain a flat back and proper position. It’s called a plank for a reason: You want to keep your back flat and not let the hips sag. See the video below for more tips and a demonstration.
Foam Roller Dead Bug
Like the plank, adding the roller forces you to work harder by engaging more muscles. One side of you is tightly squeezing the roller while the other resists while your arm and leg extend out. The slower you go, the more difficult it will be. You can also vary this movement by extending the arm and leg and holding them straight out in a static position instead of going back and forth. See the video for a demonstration.
These aren’t only two exercises where you can take advantage of the foam roller instability, but they are great places to start. You’ll be surprised at just how challenging these exercises become with this simple addition.
I never tried them - always thinking they were just meant to relieve stress or something. Great post. Need to try them for myself.