Foam Rolling w/ Scott Kemp

Keeping Your Body Fresh & Limber During The Tournament

By now you have put in the countless hours in the gym, track, field, park or wherever your sanctuary of training goes down. (Editors note: Not all of us Scott, but we’re trying)

It’s now the week of the event and it’s time for that hard work to pay off. The biggest mistake an athlete can make at this point is overtraining, coming into the event too sore and stiff. I recommend you take 1-3 days off before the event to let your body fully recover. Even more, if you feel you need it.

What you must now focus on is staying fresh, limber, and recovering from each day of the event played. So how do we do that?

Easy, myofascial release.

Myo whoooowhatt??!?!?! Haha don’t worry, it’s just a fancy word for foam rolling and stretching.

You will need to foam roll every night in your hotel room before you go to bed. This will help break up lactic acid in the joints and muscles, allowing you to recover faster and be more flexible. It is painful but it works! Spend 10-15 minutes each night rolling out. After you roll out be sure to drink at least 8oz of water because the myofascial release will break up toxins and release them in the blood stream and we need to flush them out with some good old H20.

You can purchase a small foam roller to travel with from your local gym or sports store. An alternative to this is a softball. It’s easier to travel with but will hurt a hell of a lot more!

Below is a video I have uploaded showing you the important places and techniques to foam rolling. The one variation I want you to do is, for any technique where I say to hold it on the pressure point instead of rolling, scratch that. I want you to roll over every muscle. This is because we are really trying to break up the lactic acid and get the blood moving in the muscles. So roll back and forth nice and slow over each muscle indicated.