Leg foam rolling has been shown to have positive effects on lower body range of motion, showing 3-6% increases in dorsiflexion, knee flexion, and hip flexion with a 15-minute protocol, while maintaining maximum sprint speeds. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of foam rolling on maximum sprint performance and range of motion (ROM) in recreational athletes. Eleven men (mean ± SD age = 22.16 ± 3.2 years, body mass = 81.6 ± 7.97 kg, height = 175.2 ± 5.4 cm) and eleven women (21.7 ± 1.8 years, 64.5 ± 8.8 kg, 162.8 ± 4.4 cm) volunteered for this study. Participants visited the laboratory and outdoor field on three occasions. The first visit was an orientation and familiarization session, the second and third days involved measuring the participant`s baseline range of motion during dorsiflexion, hip flexion, and knee flexion, in addition to baseline 20-m sprints with 2 minutes of rest in between. On the second and third visits, they took part in either a foam rolling intervention or a control condition. Then, the participant`s range of motion and sprint times were measured again. Range of motion improved significantly for both men and women after the foam rolling intervention (p = 0.05). No significant changes were seen in range of motion for the control condition (p > 0.05). Sprint times did not significantly change from the control or foam rolling interventions for men or women (p > 0.05). While no significant decreases in sprint times were found with the implementation of foam rolling, it may be advantageous to implement foam rolling in individuals who need acute improvements in range of motion but wish to avoid decreases in performance occurring from other methods used to increase flexibility.
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