Having taken up a spot of running*, then painfully discovering/remembering why I hadn’t done it for so long, a couple of Triathlete mates recommend I buy a Foam Roller to self-massage the tightness away.
I know, I know I shoudve gone to a specialist running shop and had proper gait analysis done but I just breenged in, bought some shoes in an online sale…

Now, as with all things they range in price. From £10 to about £40 for the essentially a tube of EVA foam. Do I NEED[/b] to buy a dear one, or will an Argos tenner special do the job?

I dont mind wasting money on bike related fripperies, as generally speaking I know what I’m doing, but this seems to be causing me all sorts of consternation…any experiences?

*stupidly agreed to enter a 10mile Fell Race

They are all created equal (I got an eBay one for £8 inc postage!) except the Rumble Roller which is vastly more expensive but IMO much more effective. It actually takes a bit of practise to get the most out of it but due to the design can hit trigger points much deeper in the muscles. They are also much better constructed and will last a lot longer than a regular one which will seem to only last a few months of regular use.

That said, I definitely got some benefit out of a cheapy one so they are better than nothing. Definitely combine it with some gentle stretching afterwards to get the most out of it. The gait analysis would not have prevented muscle tightness, etc, it’s just something that comes with age IME! Massage/foam rolling, stretching and general conditioning are what helps for me!

You had me at “they are all created equal”…Thanks!

How about stopping being stupid, MTFU and decline the silly fell running thing?
it’s certainly not woth getting constipated over!

I made mine.

A length of 5″ soil pipe (clean!, lying around from some work I’d been doing) wrapped in a single layer of foam sleeping mat held in place with gaffa tape.

Helped to sort a few niggles out, with advice from a physio, especially ITB band tightness.

It hurts to start with, but after a few weeks it gets easier.

It hurts to start with, but after a few weeks it gets easier and continues hurting but not so much as to leave you sobbing.

ftfy

What wwaswas said.

It’s the piece of equipment that has me screaming whith pain when I hit a knot. Bloody evil things. 👿

The darker blue ones are a far denser foam and last longer.

I had one and I had to use it to roll my quads on, flippin eck they hurt. I canned it and not done it since, I should start again though.

Just make sure you get a suitable density of foam. Too hard and it’ll be very painful and put you off. Too soft and it wont do as much good as you’d like.

Use a rolling pin and MTFU!

Note: I use a cheapy foam roller and it still hurts when I try and loosen off my ITB and quads.

To start with, a cheap foam roller will do – the white ones, for example.

You might find after a while that you want something a bit firmer. My bro-in-law recently bought one which is a thick walled plastic tube with a thin layer of knobbled foam on the outside. It is brutal.

Any of the plain rollers should be much the same, wouldn’t use a “rumble roller” or similar, trigger point therapy needs to done by hand not indiscriminately with a knobbly roller….

wouldn’t use a “rumble roller” or similar, trigger point therapy needs to done by hand not indiscriminately with a knobbly roller….

It is done “by hand”, not as if the roller is robotic is it?! I can see why you might not understand if you hadn’t used one but it isn’t indiscriminate; you use the knobbly bits with the roller stationary to target specific trigger points exactly like a therapist would. You don’t actually massage by rolling, that’s just done gently and slowly in order to locate the trigger points. Calling it a “roller” is a bit deceptive as to it’s actual use tbh!

Rumble roller is great. It definitely had more affect on my calves than a normal roller. It’s good on muscles, but I still use a cheap roller for the ITBs though.

Like drugs & alcohol, you may find it OK to start with a basic roller but over time you need something stronger just to get any effect.

Yes agree normal smooth roller is perfect for IT band work (it isn’t a muscle after all!)

zilog6128 – Member
you use the knobbly bits with the roller stationary to target specific trigger points exactly like a therapist would….

None of the therapists I work with would think of treating trigger points except directly with thier hands, a lump of expanded foam is a blunt instrument offering neither precision nor feedback so not suited for TPT…

I don’t understand how you can talk with authority when you’ve never seen/used one. Yes, a proper massage is better. I have one every month or other month and that’s all I can afford. I have to make do with the rumble roller otherwise and yes, I do find it genuinely helpful. You might just have to get over yourself on this one.

(I also disagree with you re. the precision & feedback but admit I’m not a qualified therapist. Bear in mind that the RR only costs slightly more than one massage and you can use it as often as you like. Obviously a therapist isn’t going to use one on me, that’s not what I pay them for 🙄 )

zilog6128 – Member
I don’t understand how you can talk with authority when you’ve never seen/used one.

I have, I don’t see how you conclude I haven’t

… I’m not a qualified therapist.

I am 🙂

I used a roller after a long run on the very sore part of my calf I complained about here. Felt like I was bruising the hell out of it and didn’t make anything better. It got better on its own though just fine 🙂

OTOH, a normal roller worked superly well on my ITB.

I don’t see how you conclude I haven’t

it was when you said this:

Trigger point therapy needs to done by hand not indiscriminately with a knobbly roller….

Because the way it works is not indiscriminate, you,specifically target the trigger points.

I used a roller after a long run on the very sore part of my calf I complained about here. Felt like I was bruising the hell out of it and didn’t make anything better. It got better on its own though just fine

they’re meant to be for myofascial release, not for alleviating DOMS (which is what I assume you had?) although some people do use them for that purpose too.

I have no idea what I had. It was very localised pain on the ouside of my calves associated with a bit of a lump. Not DOMs unless that can be very lcoalised and acute?

Oh OK. The rollers are not meant to cure the problems immediately in any case, but work gradually over weeks/months

How about stopping being stupid, MTFU and decline the silly fell running thing?
it’s certainly not woth getting constipated over!

You know how it is Druidh – a challenge made, no backing down…

Anyway I’ve just been up the Pentlands, yep it was hard as ****, but constipation isnt going to be a problem, in fact I thought I was going to be caught short at one point but thankfully made it back to the van and MacD’s at Straiton bore the brunt. Now the roller…

zilog6128 – Member

Because the way it works is not indiscriminate, you,specifically target the trigger points.

and you identify the trigger points how ?
Just randomly roll yourself until you go :ouch: or plapate the area, feel for adhesions/knots and collate this with client response…

..but as you say, you’re unqualified 😆

molgrips – Member
I used a roller after a long run on the very sore part of my calf I complained about here…

molly, pretty much any form of massage is inappropriate for an area in acute pain – rolling is particular is a technique best used on uninjured tisue post exercise as part of a stretch down routine….

molly, pretty much any form of massage is inappropriate for an area in acute pain

I concluded it was not a good idea after a couple of gos. I was thinking it was one of these ‘trigger points’ that needed massage, but as you say rolling didn’t do much.