body balls and foam rollers

[JulieM]

My DD gave me a body ball and foam roller for Christmas, but I haven't used them because I'm just not sure what to do with them. I just did a search and I see several books and videos on the subject, but thought I'd check with all of you to see if any of you use these tools for workout and what you think about them. Also, I wanted to see if you have any of the instructional books or DVDs that you would recommend.

The foam roller she gave me is about 3' long, and not terribly practical on the boat we live on, but I see they also sell an 18" roller so I'm thinking about cutting the one I have in half, and then cutting on piece in half again long ways so that I also have a half-roller that will sit flat on the floor, since I see they sell them that way too.

Your experiences and advice would be much appreciated!

[JulieM]

I'm resurrecting this thread from over a year ago to see if any of you are using foam rollers or balls in your workouts these days.

[Robyn1007]

I use a foam roller in my gym. I use the longer one as when you're rolling around you don't want to worry about rolling off of it but if you really must I can't see why you couldn't cut it down. I use the roller on my calves, hamstrings, and IT band. It hurts, but in a good way and really helps loosen things up.

[TKay]

I have the shorter version of the foam roller (18 inches or so). It's really great for loosening things up, like Robyn said. I don't think you really need a book to figure out how to use one, but if that makes you more comfortable, go for it.

What I do is simply put the thing on the ground and then put whatever part of my body I want to stretch on top of if. Say I need to stretch my hamstrings and hip flexors. I lay face down on the floor (supported with my arms) and put my quad on the roller. Then I SLOWLY roll forward or backward on the thing, letting my weight rest on the roller. The amount of massage you get in intense, and it's really important that you go at a snail's pace. The trainer I bought my roller from stressed that slow, slow, slow is key. I eventually work my way up to my hip flexor and do the same thing. Then I switch legs. You can also use it for your arms, back, calves, whatever. I do think the longer roller is better for your torso though.

Just experiment with it. It takes a while to get the roller in the right place and feel like you know what you're doing.

As for the workout ball, I used to have one. You can use it to stretch (either lay face down over it to stretch your back or lay on your back to stretch your abs, etc.), to do ab work, leg lifts, so many things. You can probably find instruction videos online if you want to save yourself the price of a workout book. Again, trial and error will help you get comfortable with the ball.

I hope that helped. Good luck. I feel like I could use my roller today, now that you mention it. :D

[SusanMac]

I'm thinking of getting a foam roller, but what you described, Tkay, just sounds soooo awkward to me! But, how it feels (the intense massage) sounds totally worth it.

I also have a body ball (the full kind, not the bosu ball). I often use it as a desk chair to help with core/balance/posture. There are literally a million exercises you can do with it!

[Natasha]

I've got the smaller roller as well and quite like it. I usually use it for the same body parts as TKay, so this size works well for me (plus I'm small). I second the recommendations to go slow and be careful about the pressure.

Good luck!