Rolling the foot

Why we need to roll our feet?

I like to end my office workouts often with stretching and rolling. Foot sole rolling has become a favorite exercise for many. Sounds funny? Actually, it’s a pretty nice activity, but that’s not the only reason. Namely, sole rolling also has several useful advantages.

I haven’t written about foot sole rolling before, but I’ve been practicing it for years. I read an article that described the benefits of sole rolling and why it is such an enjoyable activity for people. I’ll say right away that if you’re looking for the principles of Chinese massage, you won’t find them in this blog post. Inspired by the article I read, I present sole rolling from a slightly different angle.

Firstly, take off your shoes. Unless you’re working at a startup, your feet are probably in shoes all day. Your feet cannot move while your wearing shoes, but during rolling you can activate your feet.

Another and slightly more exciting point: the effect mechanism of sole rolling is neuronal, i.e. when rolling the sole, the receptor cells are activated, which during proper stimulation (or rolling) send signals to the sensory cortex of the cerebral cortex (located on the surface of the brain and interprets the information coming from the sensors). The sensory cortex is connected to the motor cortex, which controls the work of the muscles. It is the cooperation between these two cortices that allows a person to perform a forward bend much better. This activation of receptors on the sole activates the entire central nervous system, which also leads to better mobility. It is the central nervous system that affects our mobility.

While reading the article, I began to doubt whether this is really the case. Just for fun, I did a little “human experiment” on my clients and over half of the people said that the forward bend was indeed better after rolling.

A better knowledge of the functioning of the central nervous system, in addition to explaining the mechanisms of action, helps to give us a better understanding of the work of the whole body, which is why regular exercise also becomes more effective.

After reading this post, I’m sure some people are interested in starting to roll the soles of their feet in order to be able to touch the ground while bending forward with straight legs. It doesn’t have to be your only goal. You can also freely roll the soles for the purpose of pleasure or to pass the time.

Here is also a video – how to roll a sole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9j26teCj0E&feature=youtu.be