Review of a Foam Roller For Sore Muscles: Bro, Do You Even Roll?

I started doing foam rolling when I started training for my half marathon. As the weekly miles piled up and the strength training increased, I would often end up with extremely sore muscles. I absolutely hate ice baths and I'm not convinced those are the best way to go anyway as the ice bath reduces the inflammation and the inflammation is what makes your muscles break down and rebuild stronger. 

Anyway, I used the foam roller after my long runs and my hardest strength training days. I started by standing on the roller in just my socks or bare feet. This helped my plantar fasciitis. Then I sat on it and gently rocked back and forth over my gluteus muscles. It was actually kind of fun. I started slowly moving down my legs, targeting my hamstrings and calf muscles. The best way to do that is to sort of do a reverse forearm plank (facing the ceiling) and support yourself with your forearms while putting most of your weight on the foam roller. Slowly move around and make sure to spend time to isolate each part of each muscle. After doing my legs, I stretched out on it to stretch out my back a little. I put the roller in the middle of my back. Then I rested my neck on it. It is not recommended to roll your lower back as your vertebrae are sensitive and you could really injure them.

After doing my back, I flipped over to my hands and knees. I knelt on the foam roller to alleviate any shin splints (make sure to breathe through the pain if you do this!). Then I got in plank position, resting my thighs on the roller to roll on my quads. I angled the foam roller and leaned slightly to the side to target my hip flexors. These always seemed to need the roller the most. 
Personally, I did not use the foam roller on my arms, but it is easy enough to roll out your arm muscles too.

Wow. I am impressed with this foam roller. It is strong. It is sturdy. It is durable. It is definitely extra firm. If it is your first time with a foam roller and using myofacial release, I would highly recommend starting with a foam roller that is much less firm as it does hurt and it is probably best to work up to the extra firm. I started with this one:

This one was a great one to start with. It hurt, but in a good way. I started slow and worked my way up to 30-60 seconds per spot. Once I got the worst knots out, and didn't have pain afterward anymore, I knew it was time to upgrade to a denser roller. 

Be sure to gently stretch afterward, breathe through the pain, and drink a LOT of water. Eating a high protein snack helps rebuild muscle tissue too. I find that taking 15 minutes to roll out my muscles makes them feel a lot better and reduces the DOMS effect.
Foam rolling can and DOES hurt, especially when you first start doing it. Go slow. Spend a few seconds on each section. Breathe! Try to get enough sleep, too!

Where could you use a roll right now?