Okay, that thing you posted
Okay, that thing you posted looks SO cool, TJ.
I like Jimmy's idea to put a towel or something around the PVC. My Grid foam roller (posted a pic in my foam roller thread a couple of weeks ago) has a hard, hollow core, similar to PVC. (It may even BE PVC, not sure.) But if it was JUST PVC, I'm afraid it would be so painful on the really tight spots that I'd have a hard time using it. Having some sort of softer layer means I can put a LOT of weight on it, and even when it's painful on a really tight spot, it's usable.
I love the nubs on my Grid roller. Reminds me of the nubs on that ball thing that TJ has. Mine is supposed to mimic various ways that hands are used to massage, with the pressure of fingers and such. But freezable? That is awesome. My roller isn't freezable.
I know you all saw that my roller was $40 and balked. I will tell you my roller is my most important piece of running equipment because my muscles just get really tight. Hopefully that will be less of an issue as I become a more experienced runner. But right now I've been running a little over 11 months, and I started without a lot of muscle tone. I'm one of those people that is naturally skinny--but also naturally very un-muscular. I think my small muscles just get really tight when I use them so much by running so often. Just this last week I had ANOTHER IT band issue because there were some areas that I wasn't rolling that I didn't realize were getting super-tight. I found them and have been rolling them a ton, and once again I'm getting past this issue with only a little training time lost.
So for me, I have NO problem spending $40 on a roller that I love that is going to hopefully give me years of use because it's designed with foam that doesn't break down. And the foam won't come off the PVC like a homemade one might do. But if I was only using my roller occasionally, heck yeah, I'd want to do an inexpensive homemade version. (For instance, I'm not going to pay for the cool ball TJ uses, because a golf ball works fine for my feet. But my foot issues aren't severe; if they were, I'd spring for the more expensive equipment that offers extra benefit.)
saypay45 said:
Yikes! Doesn't anyone just run...and then sit down and watch TV? That's what I do after a run. Maybe a couple seconds of stretching.
Oh, I totally wish this was me, saypay. I just get so tight--this is my biggest weakness as a runner. If I stay on top of it with lots and lots of foam rolling, it helps me tremendously. Hopefully my muscles will eventually have that balance of strength and relaxation that will allow me to only occasionally use my roller!