When it comes to the vast array of workout aids available on today's market, foam rollers are an excellent fitness tool which is lightweight, porous and a cylinder. Personal trainers and massage therapists use this tool alone and in conjunction with other products like dumbbells, gliding discs and resistance bands.

There are actually a lot of things you can do with foam rollers, but one of them targets a specific problem among the many desk workers across the U.S. who are looking at cheap and effective ways to deal with lower back problems.

How the Foam Roller and the Lower Back Work Together

When you sit at a desk all day your lower back suffers and starts to stiffen leading to discomfort and possibly injury. In recent years people have started to experiment with standing desks and stability ball chairs at their desks to help alleviate the discomfort. From stay at home workers to top government officers, we are all trying to find a way to get relief while still being productive. The only constant variable is the discomfort, the cure is individual to each person. Some need more lumbar support and others need less. Some need to sit more and other less.

That's where the foam roller comes into play. Using this tool as part of a specific workout session can actually “work” the lower back, making the spine more supple, and even strengthening support muscles. Some call the foam roller a “self massage tool”. Others refer to a technical term, a myofacial release, which refers to stretching spinal support muscles through activity.
Some of the training guides that focus on foam rollers for the lower back show a very simple motion: the user lays on top of the foam roller, and uses the legs to push back and forth. The foam roller rolls under the body, up and down the spine, creating a good moderate amount of pressure on the back.

Caution Using the Foam Roller on the Lower Back

Of course, you have to be careful with activities like these. If you already have back pain, or if it increases with a certain positioning, go back to the drawing board and get help from your chiropractor. However, if your back is currently fine with handling this foam roller activity, chances are it will help your back stay stronger and handle the daily demands that you place on it.

This specific exercise illustrates how foam rollers are generally used. You could say that the foam roller is often used to “space out” body parts from the surface. This small changes in body positioning that a foam roller creates can be crucial in ironing out existing problems, or preventing future ones.

That's why extensive foam roller guides show much more than just lower back activities. A variety of stretches, resistance activities, and massage type exercises give foam roller users a lot of options to stay healthy and enjoy the benefits of better muscle tone.