30 Min Foam Rolling Routine for Recovery is an excellent foam rolling recovery workout from Julia Reppel. She has a lot of great ones but I think this one is her best yet. The intervals are long, giving you time to get really deep into the muscle tissue and fascia. She uses both a foam roller and a massage/yoga ball and between the two, my muscles were hit deeply. Just like her 15 minute foam rolling workout, there are two versions. A no talking version and a voice over version. I did the voice over version. She gives lots of good form pointers and tips to get the most out of this routine.
This workout is done interval style; 60 seconds of work followed by a 15 second transition. There is a timer in the lower left hand side of the screen counting down the intervals and transitions. During the transition Julia previews the next exercise. There is a progress bar in the upper right hand corner of the screen counting down the workout time as a percentage. If you do the voice over version like I did, Julia walks you through each move giving form pointers. She also occasionally provides graphics of the body musculature to assist you in finding the muscle you are massaging.
30 Min Foam Rolling Routine for Recovery is 31:26 minutes. Equipment: foam roller, tennis or massage ball and a fitness mat.
- T-spine (sit on mat with foam roller behind upper back, roll slowly up and down spine)
- T-spine flexion>extension>rotation (same position as #1, hands are behind head, lean back opening elbows out to sides then round spine/shoulders bringing elbows together, open elbows to sides and rotate torso to one side then to the other)
- M. latissimus dorsi (lay on side with foam roller underneath you armpit, slowly roll down ribs and back up under armpit)
- Repeat #3 on other side of body
- Rear delt & external rotators (same starting position as #3 then roll back slightly so foam roller is under rear delt, roll side to side slowly)
- Repeat #5 on other side of body
- Front delt & chest (lay on stomach with foam roller between chest and shoulder, roll slowly side to side)
- Repeat #7 on other side of body
- Biceps (change arms after 30 seconds) (still laying on stomach, place foam roller under bicep, roll slowly along bicep)
- Forearm extensors (change arms after 30 seconds) (kneel on mat and place top of one arm on massage/tennis ball, hands are clasped, apply pressure to ball as you roll slowly up and down forearm)
- Forearm flexors (change arms after 30 seconds) (still kneeling, extend arm to side with massage/tennis ball underneath it, arm is turned so palm faces behind you, apply pressure to the ball as you roll is slowly along forearm)
- Glute (sit with massage/tennis ball under one glute, roll slowly back and forth and up and down over ball, massaging one glute)
- Repeat #12 on other glute
- M, tensor fasciae latae (this is the hip/side of body–she calls it the “pocket” area, place massage/tennis ball under this area so you are on one hip, top leg is bent and on mat in front of you, roll ball slowly around this area)
- Repeat #14 on other side of body
- Quadricep (in forearm plank, foam roller is under one quad, other leg is bent on mat, roll slowly up and down quad)
- Repeat #16 on other quadricep
- Hamstring (sit on mat with foam roller under one hamstring, other knee is bent with foot on floor, roll slowly up and down hamstring)
- Repeat #18 on other hamstring
- Outer shin (start in a straight arm plank with foam roller under one shin, other leg bends with foot on floor so you are in a sort of quadruped pose, roll foam roller slowly up and down shin)
- Repeat #20 on other shin
- Calf (sit on mat with hands on mat behind hips, one leg is bent with foot on mat, other leg rests on foam roller under calf, lift hips and roll slowly up and down belly of calf)
- Repeat #22 on other leg
- Plantar fascia (stand and hold onto something for balance if you need to, place massage/tennis ball under one foot, slowly roll the ball up and down the length of the sole your foot)
- Repeat #24 on other foot
For more info on Julia Reppel and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.
