The effects of a 6 week rolling and dynamic movement training intervention on tissue hardness, pain pressure threshold, knee range of motion and muscular strength

Foam Roller (FR) intervention is popular in sports and rehabilitation settings. Recently, we showed that conventional FR (FR_rolling) as well as compression of the target muscle (knee extensors) during joint movement using FR (FR_KM) have similar acute changes. The present study aimed to expand on these findings and compare the effects of a 6-week FR_rolling and FR_KM intervention on the passive and active properties of knee extensors. The participants were 36 healthy male university students (21.9 +/- 1.1 years) who were randomly assigned to either controls, FR_rolling, or FR_KM. An intervention per session of 180-sec was performed 3-time/week for 6 weeks in both FR_rolling and FR_KM groups. Measurements were tissue hardness, pain pressure threshold (PPT) of knee extensors, knee flexion ROM, maximal voluntary isometric and concentric contraction before and after the intervention. PPT and knee flexion ROM were significantly increased in the FR_rolling and FR_KM groups, with no significant differences between the two groups. No significant changes were observed in tissue hardness, and muscle strength in all groups. Long-term interventions with FR_rolling and FR_KM could effectively increase knee flexion ROM and PPT similarly. Therefore, if difficulties from trunk stabilization or rolling during the FR-rolling occur, a simpler approach could be sustained through the FR_KM.