Years of Low carb/keto left me with significant chronic pain, stiffness, and muscle fatigue. This affected my mobility for years to come. I became passionate about trigger point and myofascial release.
For less than the cost of one massage, you can own and use advanced tools for deep tissue and myofascial release.
You're about to get a condensed summary of several years worth of pursuit. What is the BEST Foam Roller? Rumble Roller + Beastie Ball Review:
Red Pill Vegan's Rumble Roller Long Term Review:
First, let me just say Do Not underestimate the power of diet! Using coffee/caffeine for energy while having depleted muscle glycogen from inadequate complex carbohydrates in your diet is THE Fastest way to a chronic pain fail. Do not get dehydrated either.
Second, if you're not familiar with myofascial trigger points and deep tissue massage, you need to know where to look and how to treat specific muscles. The single best resource is Claire Davies - Trigger Point Therapy Workbook
Personal Tip: You must breathe deeply and relax.
At the time of the first and second edition of Claire Davies book, I do not believe the rumble roller and Beastie ball products had come to market yet. He recommends tools like tennis balls and lacrosse balls. Several years worth of effort have led me to conclude that tennis balls and lacrosse balls are significantly inferior products to what is currently available in the marketplace.
Overall BEST Foam roller EVER - Suitable for beginners
Original Rumble Roller
31" (recommended, ideal for full body and home use)
12" (compact, better if you want to take with you to the gym or if you're tiny)
They also make a black extra firm rumble roller. I consider myself advanced and I would not recommend this as a first product. Blue is the best overall.
Gator Roller (best product for Cross friction myofascial release)
For self deep tissue work, the most serious products on the market are the Beastie Ball and Beastie Bar. Quite honestly the Beastie bar is more of a niche tool, a bit more expensive, and has less of a wide range of use compared to the Beastie Ball + Base. For that reason, I think a better investment than the bar would be both the white and green Beastie ball + Base. If you are only going to buy one, I would buy the white original Beastie ball + base.
Beastie Ball + Base
The green extra firm Beastie ball and the white original are both on the same Amazon page as options. The green extra firm Beastie ball is a very serious tool. The original white one is softer, but adequate for most muscle groups and ideal for several muscle groups. For this reason I recommended the white original Beastie ball as a first choice.
Let me save you the trouble of going down 100 dead ends... There are many, many textured rollers and spiky massage balls on the market. 98% of them suck. Facts. You can buy a spiky ball at Walmart for $8 but I bet you will get near-zero results.
One of the reasons these products are so highly rated is because they are intentionally engineered for function and use. There is no comparison between these products and knockoff products. Rumble roller is the original brand, the original concept brought to market. I have owned many of these products for several years and have never had a single product wear out or fail.
The best value package they offer is a superset which contains the 12in rumble roller, the original Beastie ball + base, and the instructional DVD.
(Note, if you are new to these products I would not buy the extra firm!)
I am passionate about these products because they work. Combining the knowledge in Clair Davies book with the modern tool set provided by the rumble roller brand creates a powerful opportunity for long term low cost effective self-care and mobility improvement.
Do not waste time and effort getting minimal results using flat foam rollers and tennis balls. Step up to professional level tools.
I only wish that I had taken the leap of faith sooner on some of these products. The initial cost is immediately worth it and pays long-term dividends. I own all of these products, several of them 2x. I bought all of these products with my own money, over several years.
Disclaimer: I benefit from the qualifying sales of these linked products from Amazon.
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