Rollers are great, but you need to be careful with them. I managed to give myself a peroneal nerve entrapment by using one and I’ve heard of other people having the same problem. I’m not saying don’t use one, just don’t go overboard. And sometimes massage combined with physical therapy or a personal trainer might be a better, though more expensive, option. Having someone show you how to use a foam roller, as you did, is a great idea.
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Not to be too personal, but if that’s your competition I wouldn’t feel too bad. Many men have been replaced by a much smaller device.
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Energy doesn’t flow through your back and legs.
Energy doesn’t flow period.
Energy is not an object that moves. It is a description of interactions.
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I use something very much like this to stretch my achilles tendons and hamstrings. I purchased it not for 20 or 30 dollars, but for $5 and an arts and crafts store.
It is MUCH harder than the ones designed for stretching, but of approximately the same dimensions. The hardness makes it hurt more, but you get a better stretch out of it. No pain, no gain.
The other advantage is that being of hard foam, I could easily saw off neat sections of it to put in my roller bag for when I would travel. After all, it doesn’t require that much balance to get the same stretch out of a small section.
Looks like it belongs on the end of a Hitachi Magic Wand.
You can google “foam roller myofascial release”
I’ll take phrases that sound like a very specific porn search but aren’t, Alex.
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This I have to try. Thankyou!
Looks like a great way to target trouble-spots. I already walk up to 10km a day, but it doesn’t always alleviate the damage from sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours a day.
I’ve hurt myself on a foam roller before. Exacerbated a pinched nerve. Be careful, kids. If you experience intense and/or chronic pain, see not one, but several professionals of various stripes for their opinions, and then get into a regimen that may or may not involve self-massage techniques.
And for the record, I feel a little saddened to know that we live in a world in which Xeni doesn’t have a flock of personal professional massage therapists camped out 24-7 at her beck and call. 
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looks a bit like the LED butt plug someone linked around here one time.
@Xeni and the funny gif kids, it may seem like a joke but self massage with an orbital car buffer is catching on.
I don’t think it is a roller replacement as you cant get the same deep or focused pressure, but it may also be a self massage tool worth looking into. $30 or so delivered from amazon.
For rolling - I’m with Hugh, I went triggerpoint from a durability prospective as the PVC core won’t break down. You can find them on sale now and then.
Pretty sure that is the bad guy/alien from Star Trek IV: Space Whale
A physical therapist taught me to use a golf ball to loosen knots in the soles of my feet. It works great.
If you have hardwood floors, don’t do it directly on the floor, it creates grooves. You need a rug or something, and it keeps the golf ball from rolling away too.
thanks so much for posting this, xeni, and other internet people for the videos and advice! i have had chronic mild lower back pain for years and i’m pretty sure these glute-massages and stretch-massaging in general is going to help. just ordered the roller, tennis balls and lacrosse ball- so excited to try this (carefully)!
http://www.themaroller.com/about.html
My partner, who has scoliosis, uses a Ma roller and swears by it. I have tried it when various muscle groups get tight, but it takes some… forbearance or getting used to or minor countermeasures. I often end up putting a folded towel between me and that hard bumpy solid maple. It does definitely loosen glutes once the agony of those trigger points is gone. (breathe… breathe… ok scream and then breathe…)
Am too lazy to tape tennis balls together… just put two of them in an old tube sock, tie off the top. Good for travel since the Ma roller is heavy.
Good luck Xeni. So glad you’re able to find what works for you, and that your valuable insights are still available to us. Happy New Year of the Horse (4712). Wishing you abundant health and prosperity. Am impressed with your daily mileage at your walking desk!
Just ordered this for our kludged treadmill desk:
http://www.ergodirect.com/16143-ergotron-45-246-026-lx-wall-mount-keyboard-arm.html
but am seriously considering ergonomic hand/wrist neutral “vertical mouse”… it’s pricey but it sure beats surgery, and I’ve never been able to use a trackball mouse well.
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