Foam Rolling on the Whole Leg and Its Immediate Effects on Postural Control in Collegiate Female Athletes

The maintenance of body posture relies on mechanoreceptors, suggesting myofascial release could assist postural control. The effects of this have not been well documented, providing room for this investigation. Twenty-one female athletes spent approximately 2.5 minutes foam rolling the calf and thigh muscles on one leg then repeated on opposite leg for a total of 5 minutes. Center of Pressure (CoP) and Limit of Stability (LoS) were assessed using a Bertec posturography plate before (pre-) and after (post-) foam rolling. CoP was measured with eyes open stable surface (EOSS), or eyes closed stable surface (ECSS) and perturbed surface both eyes open (EOPS) and eye closed (ECPS). conditions. LoS was evaluated in the Anterior, Posterior, Left, and Right Directions. A significant effect of Condition for CoP showed ECPS Condition was greatest at both pre- and post-foam rolling (p<0.001). A significant main effect of Direction (p<0.001) showed LoS was greatest in the frontal plane Directions compared to sagittal plane (p<0.01). A significant effect of Time (p<0.05) indicated LoS decreased from Pre- to Post-foam rolling (mean change = 0.569 cm). The study demonstrated that acute effects of self-myofascial release via foam-rolling of the lower extremities can influence postural control.