Foam Roller

Hey guys!

Any foam roller experts out there? I'm feeling the older I get the more important is soft tissue work.

I don't want to waste any money by buying crab that is useless.

1) What size do you recommend?

2) Is there any use of the "Premium" products that are as twice as expensive? Here in germany (ebay etc.) http://cgi.ebay.de/KETTLER-Foam-Roller- ... 320wt_1138

you can get one for about 40 USD.

3) Soft or hard roller?

3) Do you get the same/better results with a baseball/tennisball? I tried tennisball once but I think I'm too heavy for the ball or it was damaged. I don't know..

4) Small ball or foam roller: which one is more versatile or easier to use?

As always, any help or comments are much appreciated

I'm interested in any expert opinions on foam rollers and their use as well. I also have a general question re: soft/deep tissue work which I'm shamelessly going to post in this thread

What is the prevalent opinion on using foam rollers/tennis balls directly on the spine? I'm not talking about brutal force, mind you but applying pressure to the tissue surrounding the vertebrae nonetheless.

Well, as you can probably guess from the picture you linked to, the more expensive roller is longer, allowing you to comfortably put your entire upper body from head to tailbone on the roller. Not only does this help with relaxing and massaging the spinal erectors, the picture makes it clear that this roller provides the opportunity for various levels of intimacy in partner work.

You're talking about a small difference in price even at 60vs40 bucks, so I think that if you can get the longer roller then that's the way I would go unless you plan on traveling with it a lot.

I use my roller for my spine all the time, it's awesome. I am going to get a second one so that I can put my whole spine on the two back to back, I'm surprised that I didn't think of that.

Tennis balls are for smaller knots and specific deep work.

The foam roller is easier, but there are some things you need a smaller ball for. Hitting read deltoid trigger points, for example.

Yeah I use a tennis ball for most trigger points but there is a tender spot on/next to my spine which I want to treat with a gentler approach, so I figured a foam roller might do the trick. Do you prefer to roll from side to side, or up and down along the length of the spine?

It depends, I use both as well as odd angles sometimes, it's just whatever I need to do to hit the spot.

Personally, I'm a fan of the 12 inch size of foam roller. I like to do my quads, hams and glutes and I find it a bit easier to maneuver on that size. I also use it on the back; my preferred method there is to sit on it and grab opposite shoulders with my hands expanding across my back and then rolling down onto the foam roller from sacrum to neck. Great stuff.

Go to the hardware store and get a piece of 3" thick PVC. It costs a few dollars, doesn't lose it's shape. I think they had precut pieces at HomeDepot and I want to say it cost no more than 5 bucks. I've tried out a few rollers, red, white, black but they don't work as well. I came across some rollers at one gym that were PVC in a soft foam-like sleeve basically.

It's not too friendly as you roll on the shoulder blades but it's harder than the foam.

Tennis ball can get small stuff. I had a SMR ball, but tried a baseball and it's lot more useful. I heard some people use a lacrosse ball.

I use the roller to pop all the stuff in my upper back and the ball to massage any specific tissue.

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts!

Blairbob, I tried a 3 inch PVC pipe and it really hurts my spine. I grabbed my opposite shoulders like jl5555 because I think my back could need some rolling but it didn't work very well. I tried other spots (legs and butt) but I reached those much better with the broken tennisball. So a new tennisball is on my list anyway.

Slizzardman, does your foam roller loose its shape? If it supports your weight I won't have to worry

heinrich said:

...Sllizzardman, does your foam roller loose its shape? If it supports your weight I won't have to worry

LOL, slizzardman as benchmark for crushing things....

HAHAHA!!! So far so good! Those things are built to last.

Heinrich, that's why the foam rollers at that one gym has sleeves/inserts that the PVC pipe went into. I'm sure you could come up with something if you could just pad it somehow. Glue the padding on. It not particularly comfortable on the shoulder blades or individual vertebra.

Blairbob said:

Heinrich, that's why the foam rollers at that one gym has sleeves/inserts that the PVC pipe went into. I'm sure you could come up with something if you could just pad it somehow. Glue the padding on. It not particularly comfortable on the shoulder blades or individual vertebra.

I put on several shirts but it still felt bad on the vertebrae. I could put on some more and it will be ok... in winter! So I think I'll invest in a foam roller from one of those pilates guys.

jl5555 said:

heinrich said:

...Sllizzardman, does your foam roller loose its shape? If it supports your weight I won't have to worry

LOL, slizzardman as benchmark for crushing things....

slizzardman said:

HAHAHA!!! So far so good! Those things are built to last.

Thanks slizzardman! You are always of great help :wink: