Foam rolling improvements in passive hip flexion last up to 60-minutes in ice hockey players

Abstract

Background: Ice hockey players often lack hip mobility which may be attributed to excessive time spent in a flexed position during competition and the intensive use of hip external rotators and extensors. Previous investigations demonstrate that foam rolling increases range-of-motion in healthy populations. It is unclear whether such benefits occur in athletes with chronic hip tightness. Further, athletes often perform pre-competition warm-up up to 60-min prior to a game, therefore we investigated the retention of the effects of foam rolling. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of foam rolling the anterior and posterior aspects of the thigh on passive hip flexion in ice hockey players, up to 60-min post-rolling.

Methods: Sixteen amateur ice hockey players (8 ♀, 22 ± 2 years, 25.1 ± 3.5 kg m^-2) warmed up for 5-min then performed 2, 1-min bouts of foam rolling using a high density multi-rigid roller on the quadriceps and hamstrings, with 1-min break between sets. Passive hip flexion was measured before and immediately after rolling, 10-min, 30 and 60-min post-rolling using the Coach's Eye application during a passive straight leg raise.

Results: Compared to baseline, passive hip flexion was greater immediately after foam rolling (p < 0.01), 10 min (p = 0.05), 30 (p < 0.01) and 60-min post-rolling (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Regardless of measurement time point, significant increases in passive hip flexion occurred up to 60-min compared to baseline. Incorporation of foam rolling into pre-competition warm-ups may be beneficial when increases in hip mobility are warranted, up to 1-h before competition.