Dupe for Yamuna foot wakers?

August 23, 2019 9:57 AM

I've been occasionally going to some Yamuna mobility classes at a local fitness practice (thanks, Classpass!) and the benefit of using foot wakers has been particularly noticeable. These spiky things. You stand on them with each section of your foot and drop your heels or rise onto your toes to get intensely into the fascia. I want to get a set to use at home that will do the thing while I do the exercises I've learned. Without breaking the bank. Because capitalism is failing me here.

Guys, did you click that link? They cost $65. Sixty-five. Dollars. Is. Too. Much. (And I don't need an instructional DVD at all.) The current sale price on Amazon without the DVD is $55. Yeah, no, that's still too much.

Surely there are knockoffs! There are, like these and these and these. I combed through the reviews (sprinkled across each color of each brand!) and there are two dealbreaker issues that crop up among the more informed/relevant comments:
1) These are all a good two inches larger than the Yamuna ones. That's not going to stretch the foot the same way at all.
2) If you inflate them firmly enough for them to do the job as intended, the flat bottom gets rounded.

C'mon, surely Yamuna can't patent a specific size of spiky half-domes? Where's my alternative?

I do not want a foot roller and spiked balls like this.

posted by desuetude to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

Maybe you could buy some of those plastic dryer balls and saw them in half? I don't know if they'd have the right amount of give, but they're cheap.
posted by purple_bird at 10:11 AM on August 23, 2019 [2 favorites]

Something else you might be able to saw in half: this foot massage ball marketed to soccer players.
posted by box at 10:17 AM on August 23, 2019

Petsmart?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 10:40 AM on August 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I think these ones are the closest (in one direction, anyway). They're still $33 though.

That said... I haven't tried the foot wakers but I finally caved and bought the Yamuna body ball at some point and it's like... different & better than all the alternatives. I don't know why there aren't more good knock-offs.
posted by brainmouse at 10:51 AM on August 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Register at the Yamuna site, if you haven't already, and wait a few days for an invitation to a 'flash sale' or an emailed coupon code? (I just tested this by registering, and within two minutes got a Welcome message and then a separate "Nice work! You signed up and earned 200 Yamuna® Points!" email.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:19 PM on August 23, 2019

Best answer: Koreans use similar items for the exact same purpose (there's a whole thing of having textured, nubbly surfaces to walk on barefoot at Korean public parks and in the public saunas, OW ow ow wow). I assume that Chinese would too, since the Chinese foot massage places I have visited in Beijing and in the U.S. really go all in for pressing poky objects into the sole of the foot. Try and check out a Chinese or Korean supermarket or homegoods store if such things exist near you?
posted by spamandkimchi at 1:31 PM on August 24, 2019 [1 favorite]