What is the Best Foam Roller?

Before I even knew what to do with them, I had a foam roller sitting in my workout area.  I didn't really start to use them until I did P90X2 about a year ago. Tony provides some good guidance for people like myself who had never really done much with a foam roller.

I have had good results from foam rolling.  Having had many areas of my body worked on by a massage therapist I was already familiar with the pain experienced when my therapist found "that" knot that needed to be worked out.  I think that experience makes it easier to know what to look for when I am using the foam roller, or what a knot feels like when I am rolling.  Typical areas I find I need to focus on from time to time include my calfs, IT band, glutes, lower back, neck, lats and wrists.

My first foam roller that I really used was a small one, 13 inches.  It had black foam around a PVC core.  It looks like a Trigger Point foam roller but it is not.  This was a good little foam roller but after using it for a few months the PVC core started to crack.  I tried many times to repair that first crack using PVC cement I had around the house from use on the pool.  Unfortunately the results of doing that were not great.  I repaired that first crack many times.  Eventually cracks started to develop in other spots as well.  Eventually I came to the realization that this roller was no longer usable ...

My First Roller

Beyond Repair ...

So began my odyssey to find a suitable replacement.  I went to the store I originally bought it from and all they had in stock were the large blue foam rollers.  I bought one as they were fairly inexpensive but quickly realized that for me they do not provide enough rigidity.

Within a few weeks I knew I needed something better.  At the time I was in considerable discomfort, I honestly can't even remember what was sore but it was bad and I knew I could fix it with a good foam roller and I wanted relief right away.  I had done some research and was leaning towards the TriggerPoint but I could not find a local retailer that was convenient for me to get to.  One store nearby had a RumbleRoller so I wound up getting a RumbleRoller (blue).  This was a big step up from the blue foam roller.  However there are some things I do not like about the Rumble Roller.  Often I found that the knobs were not quite where I needed them to be when trying to hit "that" spot  Yes, you could kind of hit that spot but it was hard to really fine tune where you were applying pressure.  In addition, for some things, inner thigh for example, the RumbleRoller was just too much for me.  Sometimes it left you feeling like a piece of hamburger ...

The Search for a Successor

Last year my wife says to me that the kids want to know what I wanted for Christmas.  I can't even remember what I said first but she said something like "No, what do you really want?"  My reply was "A Trigger Point foam roller."  So guess what I got for Christmas!  Best gift ever!!

Best Gift Ever!!!

Attempting to Show the Inner Core Reinforcement

Really, 90% or more of my foam rolling I use the Trigger Point.  I find that it has a good density that allows good fine tuning to hit "that" spot with the right amount of pressure.  Reminiscent of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, this one is not too hard, nor is it too soft.  Yes, sometimes I will resort to the blue foam roller or the RumbleRoller but if I had to give up all but one of my rollers, I would keep the Trigger Point, HANDS DOWN.