Immediate effects of foam rolling on lateral thigh soft tissue movement: A pilot study

Abstract

Introduction

Foam rolling interventions have shown improved range of motion and reduced mechanical stiffness. However, little is known about the effect of foam rolling on the movement of the fascia lata and surrounding muscles. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the movement of the fascia lata and vastus lateralis muscle during knee joint motion before and after a foam rolling intervention.

Method

This was an interventional laboratory study of 18 sedentary men (age 20.8 ± 0.4 years); no controls were included. A total of 3 min of foam rolling was conducted on the right lateral thigh. The right lateral mid-thigh was assessed twice (before and 5 min after the intervention). Stiffness at rest was measured using a durometer, and video analysis of ultrasound imaging was performed to measure the movement of the fascia lata and vastus lateralis muscles during isokinetic passive knee motion. The tissue movement velocity during five cycles of knee motion was arranged as a time series. Negative values indicated displacement in the proximal direction and positive values indicated displacement in the distal direction. The maximum, minimum, and mean velocities were calculated from the time-series data.

Results

After the foam rolling intervention, the stiffness (p < 0.001) and minimum velocity of the fascia lata (p = 0.04) significantly decreased.

Conclusions

Foam rolling on the lateral thigh can improve proximal sliding of the fascia lata during passive knee extension.