What is foam rolling -also known as self-myofascial release (SMR)?

Over the past decade, the use of a self-induced neuromyofascial release technique (such as foam-rolling muscle) has emerged to become a relatively common and practical flexibility technique used within the health and fitness environment. This form of flexibility is termed self-myofascial release (SMR). Self-myofascial release can be used for two primary reasons:
1. To alleviate the side effects of active or latent trigger points
2. To influence the autonomic nervous system
Self-myofascial release is therefore believed to stimulate the Golgi receptors through sustained pressure at a specific intensity, amount, and duration to produce an inhibitory response to the muscle spindle and decrease gamma loop activity.