When the decision was made to facilitate a 21 Day Foam Rolling challenge, it was purely selfish. There’s probably not much else that can motivate me to put my body through uncomfortable– wait, scratch that–UNBEARABLE recovery methods every. single. day. As a fitness professional, I know how important it is to move our bodies and believe that sweat can cure almost anything, but taking care of myself with proper recovery is something I’m not so great at. The 21 Day Foam Rolling Challenge was the ultimate commitment to self-care and helping my body recover– and I’m happy to share that I’m seeing so many improvements with my recovery. Stress levels, overall muscle tension and even my sleep.
Thanks to this challenge, I’ve started a new evening ritual to unwind from the day. Trust, my days are packed and the hardest part is shutting off! Who else has this problem? My new wind-down looks something like this: I get home, make a cup of tea, put on some relaxing music, take some deep breathes and start the work on all of those tense spots. To be perfectly honest, getting started was always the hardest part. There have been many nights when I’ve sat on my couch and scrolled through Instagram while my roller sits on my floor, reminding me of my perpetual problem with procrastination (my Mom is probably reading this and nodding her head). I’ll tell myse
lf, “5 more minutes and I’ll roll”– and before I know it, an hour has gone by. #realtalk Tell me I’m not the only one! I had no choice, though! Once I got started, it was easy. I found that I would not only complete the days exercises, but I would go beyond. I’ve learned so many AMAZING rolling techniques that I’ve never done before and I will absolutely include them into my everyday. The overachiever in me would get some momentum and I’d even get in a little stretch to make even more space– and because of that, my mobility has increased immensely.
I now cringe to think about all the times I would teach my Monday PM Rev classes in Palo Alto, do a minimal cool down, then hop in my car to get back to SF. I’d shower and head straight to bed with ZERO RECOVERY or anything to help my body heal. 90 minutes of strenuous activity and no recovery?! It’s no wonder I would have problems falling asleep, muscle soreness, lack of energy, etc. My new found foam rolling routine has proved to help me wind down, sleep better, and wake up the next morning with less aches and pains. Sure, I still get sore after Steve’s Sunday GRIT class (one of my favorites to take), but I seem to bounce back in half the time.
Have I convinced you to take up a daily foam rolling practice?
Fitness Director and GRIT Rockstar, Ashley Bishop has been loving this challenge! Here’s what she had to say:
“I love that instant feedback that I feel when I roll out. No matter how tight, short or tense an area feels, I experience significant improvement after going through the motions. What is extremely helpful by going through this challenge, is even those nights while I would rather lay on the couch and watch an episode of “Longmire”, I get this great text from Amanda motivating me to roll out, and my body is insanely grateful for it. The only downside is I was SO into my roll last night, I scraped my arm on an upholstery staple under my couch! Boo!”
Revolutions Rockstar Ida Poser agrees with the benefits:
“In addition to the stretching and tension relief benefits, I had no idea what a great (read: hard) core work out it could be– working those abs was never something I associated a foam roller with. It’s fantastic post-Rev for it’s strengthening routine.”
Stay posted for Part 2 of the Check to hear from more Rockstars!