Preventive and regenerative foam rolling are equally effective in reducing fatigue-related impairments of muscle function following exercise

Objectives of the study were to compare the effects of a single bout of preventive or regenerative foam rolling (fr) on exercise-induced neuromuscular exhaustion. single-centre random-ised-controlled study was designed. forty-five healthy adults (22 female; 25±2 yrs) were allocated to three groups: 1) fr of the lower limb muscles prior to induction of fatigue,2) fr after induction of fatigue,3) no-treatment control. neuromuscular exhaustion was provoked using a standardized and validated functional agility short-term fatigue protocol. main outcome measure was the maximal isometric voluntary force of the knee extensors (mivf). secondary outcomes included pain and reactive strength (rsi). preventive (-16%) and regenerative fr (-12%) resulted in a decreased loss in mivf compared to control (-21%; p < 0.001) five minutes after exhaustion. post-hoc tests indicated a large-magnitude,non-significant trend towards regenerative foam rolling to best restore strength (cohen’s d > 0.8,p < 0.1). differences over time (p < 0.001) between groups regarding pain and rsi did not turn out to be clinically meaningful. a single bout of foam rolling reduces neuromuscular exhaustion with reference to maximal force production. regenerative rather than preventive foam rolling seems sufficient to prevent further fatigue. ©journal of sports science and medicine.