Why is getting caught in a back roller

Wait, what does your posture have to do with foam rolling? A lot. If you don't pay attention to your form or posture, you may exacerbate pre-existing postural deviations and cause more harm. The fix: Work with an experienced personal trainer, physical therapist or coach who can show you proper form and technique. Or, consider setting up your smartphone to videotape yourself while foam rolling, suggests Howard.

That way, you can see what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong, like sagging in the hips or contorting the spine. Mistake 5: You use the foam roller on your lower back. You should never ever do that," say Vazquez. Hitzmann agrees. The fix: According to Vazquez, you can use the foam roller on your upper back because the shoulder blades and muscles protect the spine.

Most importantly, understand what the origin of your pain is before you start. Know what you are trying to achieve through foam rolling and how to do it properly. And don't forget to stick with it. Instead of a long row of rounded beads, it has three balls on a spindle covered in sharp rubber spikes.

Rolling these spiky balls over yourself is certainly very stimulating and is sure to get the blood flowing. It also seems to be so effective at breaking up superficial tissues that countless online reviewers report problems with bruising. We found this device to be too painful to enjoy, and despite being ultra-runners ourselves with what we thought were pretty high pain tolerances, we couldn't hang with this masochistic device.

Using it on bare skin caused pain initially and left red marks and burning sensations that lasted up to an hour after use. There was no way we could push hard enough with this thing to reach deep tissues, and we couldn't target pressure on sore spots either. Overall, we find this device to be pretty ineffective as a self-massage tool, but we can assure you that it enhances blood flow, and we're positive some unique folks will actually love using this medieval torture device.

Tackling this review for us is Andy Wellman , a dedicated trail, mountain, and ultra-runner who has been our point man for all things trail running since He has competed in trail races around the world, from the famous Transvulcania Ultra on the Canary Islands to the nine-day long Mustang Trail Race in the Himalayas of Nepal.

He's landed on the podium, or even won, trail and mountain races of every distance between 10k and 50 miles. Racing and training for years has, of course, led to many common running injuries, including shin splints, bunions, a torn meniscus, IT band syndrome, and a whole stack of wipeout-related contusions.

Andy is also an avid climber, backcountry skier, and yoga practitioner and lives in the mountains of Ouray, Colorado. Adding to our lineup is Hannah Marshall , an avid trail runner, climber, and backcountry skier based in Bozeman, Montana. When she's not testing products for OutdoorGearLab, Hannah works as an avalanche educator and mountain guide. Cross-training through trail running, weight lifting, and stability workouts are all regular parts of her injury-prevention and mountain fitness routine, and with those come lots of recovery work.

Similar to Andy, Hannah typically uses a combination of stretching, foam rolling, lacrosse ball, and massage rolling stick to help with warming up and recovering from workouts and injuries. She, too, was delighted to find while working on this review that some massage sticks in our lineup competed with the lacrosse ball and foam roller, especially for glutes and IT band relief, which are her most common problem spots.

Testing took place over a period of weeks in the spring and was conducted at all times of the day, both pre- and post-runs. We used these roller sticks first thing upon waking to loosen up the body, before running to help warm up muscles and connective tissues, immediately after runs to aid with recovery and flushing out accumulated waste products, and later in the evenings to relieve sore and tight muscles.

Other athletes, including professional runners, climbers, and yogis, were recruited to aid in testing and offer their opinions. We also conducted side-by-side tests, comparing each product one after the other, and graded them on four critical metrics of performance: texture on the skin, friction over clothing, the ability to apply targeted pressure, and rolling smoothness.

Rest assured that the opinions and recommendations offered in this review are qualified advice from trusted experts. We intensively tested each product and graded them based upon four critical metrics for their performance. The performance in each is discussed below. During our test period, we found ourselves most frequently using the roller sticks on bare skin. If you are rolling out pre- or post-workout, you're most likely wearing shorts and a light shirt, so this makes sense.

Furthermore, while it is possible to use these sticks over clothing, it feels sub-optimal to us, so we generally preferred bare skin anyway. The best roller sticks create almost no friction with your skin and roll comfortably and smoothly without catching or yanking on hairs, bunching up and pulling on the skin, pinching, or creating other painful sensations.

Smooth beads were the best for this function, while deeply grooved beads tended to be far less comfortable. Without a doubt, the product that rolls over the skin the easiest is The Stick. It features small, smooth beads that roll with very little friction and aren't prone to pinching together.

Testers also loved the foam-covered roller of the Tiger Tail , which doesn't pinch because there are no separate beads. While it features large, knobby beads, the Ameri Fitness also rolled comfortably and smoothly over the skin. Whether you are rolling out in cold weather when wearing shorts or a t-shirt isn't an option, have to access parts of your body that are going to be covered in clothes no matter what, or simply want a little relief after you've already put your pajamas on at night, how much friction your roller stick creates with your clothing is important.

For comparison's sake, we tested each stick on the same clothing, but we noticed that baggier, thicker clothing is harder to use in conjunction with a roller than thinner, tighter clothing. The most egregious offenders were difficult to use at all over the top of clothing because they would grip and pull on the cloth, causing it to bunch up and interfere with a smooth roll. On the other hand, some devices that we couldn't enjoy on bare skin actually felt significantly better with clothes as a buffer, such as the Gaiam Restore Stick.

We also found that the large knobs on the Kamileo Muscle Roller were more comfortable over clothing. Once again, the smooth, texture-less beads found on The Stick meant that it rolled over clothing better than any other.

The MZDXJ roller also worked surprisingly well over clothing, likely because the clamshell shape and large handles make it easy to control and adjust. The Supremus Sports , our top budget option, has large smooth beads and also rolled over clothes relatively well. If all you want to do is quickly warm up cool muscles or flush out some of the accumulated toxins after a workout, then a light, smooth-rolling session to increase blood flow is the ticket. However, if you want to work out persistent knots or loosen up overly tight tissue, you will need to go deeper and slower.

For this, you need to apply targeted pressure on just the spot you want, which is easier to do with some roller sticks than others. For applying targeted pressure, smooth beads work better than textured ones, and it really helps to have a rigid spindle that doesn't bend when you push down as hard as you desire.

Depending on where you're massaging, we found that it can even perform as well as a traditional foam roller. The economical Supremus Sports is another good choice for applying pressure to the legs, but it didn't work as well for us on other parts of the body. For those seeking to get precision similar to a lacrosse or golf ball, the rounded handles of the STK Handheld Foam Roller do the trick. For optimal usage, it's nice to be able to roll your stick smoothly and quickly back and forth.

It's OK to get close, but don't roll over your knees or elbows. Trading Intensity for Consistency It's not how many minutes you spend a month foam rolling that matters, it's how many minutes you spend every week… or even every day. So instead of going all-out for a super-long and intense foam-rolling session once in a blue moon, Garcia suggests trying to fit in short sessions on the regular. Investing in your own foam roller is a good way to up your consistency.

That way, even if you skip the gym or a fellow gym-goer is hogging it, you can still get in your recovery. Weight Loss. United States. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Log in. Add an answer. Want this question answered?

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