The Effect of Foam Rolling on Tissue Stiffness depends on Athletes’ Experience

A study published in Journal of Sport Rehabilitation investigated muscle-specific and connective tissue-specific responses after foam rolling in recreational athletes with different rolling experience.

The study was conducted with 40 participants, consisting of 20 foam rolling experienced and 20 non-experienced athletes. The intervention included 5 trials per 45 seconds of foam rolling of the lateral thigh in the sagittal plane with 20 seconds of rest between each trial.

The authors measure the stiffness in the superficial and deep muscle (vastus lateralis and vastus intermedius) and connective tissue (iliotibial band). The measurement was done at baseline under resting conditions and several times after foam rolling (right after 0 min, 30 min, 6 hour, and 24 hour.

The study found that

– In experienced athletes, tissue stiffness of the iliotibial band showed a significant decrease of 13.2% right after rolling and 12.1% after 6 hours.

– In non-experienced athletes, a 6.2% increase of ITB stiffness was found right after rolling, which was not significantly different from baseline.

– For both groups, no significant iliotibial band stiffness changes were observed after 6 hours.

– No significant differences were observed for both groups on muscles (vastus lateralis and vastus intermedius)  stiffness at any time.

This study demonstrates a significant short-term decrease of connective tissue stiffness in experienced athletes. The authors added that rolling effects on tissue stiffness depend on the athletes’ experience in rolling, and thus studies have to be interpreted cautiously in the context of the enrolled participants.