The firm foam cylinder is ideal for easing out muscle knots and soreness post-workout (see: 7 awesome ways to use a foam roller), but that’s not all it’s good for in your fitness routine. Try these five exercises to get a whole different kind of slow burn. Do 15 reps of each move then go on to the next, only resting if you need to. Aim for four sets for a 25-minute total-body tone-up. Finish off your sweat session, of course, by rolling out your muscles from head to toe.
—Amy Roberts, NASM-CPT
This one targets the glutes and hamstrings. (A) Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and place the roller up on end about a foot and a half in front of you. (B) With your hands atop the roll end, slowing hinge at your hips, sending the roll forward at an angle, and your butt back behind you; your knees will bend slightly. Contract your butt and backs of legs and press your hips forward to lift your body back to standing. Do 15 slow, deliberate reps.
Hit your chest, arms, and shoulders with this variation to the bench press—the roll adds instability so more muscles engage, and also allows your elbows to drop lower so you’ll get a greater range of motion. (A) Grab a pair of heavy dumbbells (at least 10 pounds). Lie down atop the foam roller the long way, so the cylinder is along your spine and supporting your head, and hold the dumbbells out to the sides, elbows bent so your upper arms are in the same line. (B) Press your arms straight up so your hands hover above your chest and the dumbbell ends come close together but don’t touch. Resist the weight as you lower your arms back down. Do 15 slow reps. (For a greater focus on your triceps, keep your elbows in close to your body.)
This simple tweak to an already-core-challenging hold makes the upper back work even harder. (A) Rest your knees on the floor and place the foam roll perpendicular to your body, hands resting on it. (B) Come up into a solid straight-arm plank position, toes tucked behind you and hips level with or just lower than your shoulders. Aim to hold it for 30 seconds. Feeling little too wobbly on your hands? Come down onto your forearms, placing the roll under the meatiest part of them.
Adding the roller here taxes the shoulders and engages the chest. (A) Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding the roll down in front of you with hands on either end. (B) With straight arms, begin pressing in on either end of the roll while simultaneously raising the roll so it’s parallel to the ground. Keep pressing in with your hands as you lower the roll to the start position. Do your 15 reps at a slow, controlled pace.
Here’s a great move for fab abs. (A) Lie on your back, holding the roll the long way at the top end above your body. (B) Bend your knees and lift them up toward your hands, pinching the lower end of the roll between your feet. (C) Release the roll from your hands, then extend both arms and legs out (the roll is between your feet/legs). (D) Slowly bring legs and arms back in, passing the roll from feet to hands then extending your body again (roll is now in your hands). That’s one rep; do 15.
Original article and pictures take www.womenshealthmag.com site
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