Clients ask me often “Who massages YOU?”. I tell ’em my golf balls do (of course) but ALSO my good ‘ol foam roller! No joke! Between the golf balls and the foam roller I get that deep compression my poor old body needs when I can’t get a GOOD professional massage.

The foam roller can be pretty dang uncomfortable sometimes, but don’t let that stop you!
It’s worth it. Suck it up, cupcake.

These are my favorite areas to work. And thank you, model Jen Hixson, for the sweet demo!

1: My butt muscles! Especially my piriformis. This has FIXED me many times. Tight hips and glutes give you pain in your lower back so I gotta do this a lot.

2: IT bands. Okay … this can hurt. If it hurts too much use a rolled up hand towel at first, then graduate to the foam roller. IT bands are hard to stretch and also contribute to lower back pain so it’s worth your while to do it.

3: Lord have mercy! Infraspinatus, come to mama! Since I’m a massage therapist I need to do this all the time. I’m very active and at risk for injury. I don’t want to slow down and I KNOW it helps. Does it hurt? YEAH! But then I feel better. STRONG LIKE BULL!

4: Working my quads, right up to my hips, makes a remarkable difference when I’ve been standing all day. I don’t like how it feels when I’m doing it, though. Blaaa!

5: CRACK, CRACK, CRACK. When I roll up and down my upper back on the foam roller I ALWAYS wonder if everyone know how good this feels.

6: My calves don’t hurt most of the time but using the foam roller here when they DO hurt does the trick.

7: Deltoids! OMG, I wish you could see my face when I do my deltoids. Massage therapists need to do this a LOT. It hurts but feels good at the same time.

There ya go. Foam rollers are sold in many places but they tend to be about $25 – $30. I’ve tried to make homemade substitutions but so far have had no luck. It’s worth the money for a good, firm foam roller.

Please feel free to email to me your discoveries and successes!

Heather Karr, LMT