Runners! Help me buy or make a foam roller!

September 30, 2010 1:01 PM

I have a tight IT band and a weak medial (?) glute which is allowing my knee to move inward, moving from tweaking towards injury. I have seen the physio. Have 4 key exercises. Don't need more at the moment (thank you!). One involves rolling up and down a foam roller. I would rather cry in pain over this in the privacy of my own home. I have to do the exercises every day for 3.5 weeks so I can manage the half marathon I have planned (again, don't need advice on that, thanks - am being careful / will walk if have to etc etc) So - where in the UK Midlands in a physical shop can I buy a foam roller to roll my leg muscles with?

I have tried, with no luck: JB Sports, JJB, Up&Running, TKMaxx, Argos.

OR can you suggest a way I can make this item for myself (not by buying foam, I mean wrapping a rolling pin in a yoga mat or something). BTW I feel physically sick at the idea of rolling around on a golf ball. OWWW!

So - please:
- where to get one (not online).
- how to make one if I can't get one.

Not at the moment, thank you:
- stuff about what the injury is/isn't - I have seen a physio.
- stuff about whether I can run the half - physio says I can.


If it matters, female, 38, 5'2", 10 stone, fairly fit these days. Thank you!

posted by LyzzyBee to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (23 answers total)

I don't have any suggestions on where you could buy one, I bought mine in a specialized running store in the US. However, if it makes you feel any better, the pain gets a lot better the more you use the roller. I would literally cry tears the first several times I had to roll my IT band out but I've developed a love-hate relationship with it and find it only mildly uncomfortable now.
posted by shornco at 1:07 PM on September 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

Buy a length of PVC pipe (6" OD) and use that. You can cut and glue a yoga mat to it if using straight PVC is too much.

Also, pick up a lacrosse ball to help with problem spots. It hurts, but in a good way.
posted by Loto at 1:10 PM on September 30, 2010

I agree with Loto. I've found a tennis ball useful in the past as well.
posted by JohnMarston at 1:14 PM on September 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: *tears in my eyes*!!

Thanks first of all for the back-up on it being painful - I don't see myself as being that bad with physical pain but when I was rolling on that thing with the physio guy, in my normal gym, tears were just popping out!!! I don't have proper ITB syndrome even, just tight ITBs!!

I will look at the tennis ball and the pipe - I can see they would be less horrific than a golf ball. I think. Eeps!
posted by LyzzyBee at 1:17 PM on September 30, 2010

Definitely try a tennis ball. Alternately, instructions on making your own are here, although they don't fit with your puzzling reluctance to purchase foam.

Honestly I believe that the "foam" component is more for friction than for comfort (because your body would just slide off a PVC pipe). I used a cylindrical cat-scratching post for a while.

Really, honestly, they are SO easily available online and so unlikely to be stocked in stores (combination of low demand, low price, and large size) that you're best off figuring out a way to purchase them online or by phone. UK sites here, here and many more. If you insist on a physical store I suggest trying yoga, pilates, and physical therapy stores.
posted by acidic at 1:29 PM on September 30, 2010

I just got one from Amazon (in the US, but I see them on the Amazon UK site as well http://www.amazon.co.uk/66FIT-ELITE-FOAM-ROLLER-BLUE/dp/B002IKO2YU/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285878744&sr=8-1), though I know that doesn't help you if you don't want to order online. I've also seen them in running stores/sporting good shops in the US, so that type of store in the UK might carry it as well.
posted by Caz721 at 1:35 PM on September 30, 2010

Have you asked the physio for sources?
posted by Carol Anne at 2:02 PM on September 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seconding the PVC pipe -- I ditched my foam roller in favor of PVC, the foam roller was too soft. I've got IT band problems as well, so spend a lot of time rolling out for that. Here is a video of a PT describing/demonstrating how to roll out your IT band. Good luck with rehab and the half marathon.
posted by kovacs at 2:05 PM on September 30, 2010

Nthing everyone that says the foam roller exercises are exceedingly painful at first, but it gets better very rapidly. For me, now it feels like a good massage working out knots in my muscles.

The only substitute for a foam roller that I've used is a Nalgene bottle when I've been traveling, and it hurts more than an actual foam roller.

I know you're having trouble finding it, but it's worth it to just buy the foam roller somehow, especially if plan to continue running long distances after this half marathon. If you keep running, you'll probably continue needing it for various muscle aches and things that need stretching. There's a whole host of sore-runner-body-parts that will appreciate it for other exercises.
posted by soleiluna at 2:06 PM on September 30, 2010

I've used a Nalgene bottle too. I've also seen someone use a rolling pin.
posted by backwards guitar at 2:29 PM on September 30, 2010

We have a foam roller, but I still roll my husband's IT band with a rolling pin when it's particularly bad. Not sure you could do it to yourself, but maybe you have a helpful friend?
posted by lemonade at 2:43 PM on September 30, 2010

I bought mine from my PT, actually. May be worth a call to see if they stock them - it wasn't any more expensive than anywhere else.
posted by restless_nomad at 2:50 PM on September 30, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks all posters since my last comment.

Just to clarify:

- "puzzling reluctance to buy foam" - not sure how puzzling it is to not want to buy a block of foam and somehow carve it into a roller! Obviously if I can buy the thing itself that my PT used, then yes, I'll do that

- not wanting online cos I need to be doing it every day like from now, not waiting a week for it to try to arrive, get a card through, go to the depot to collect etc. But I think I might have to go that way.

- asked PT at the time, he said oh "[shops I have already tried and failed with]" - I have emailed him. The stores I list as having tried include the big running range we have in the city, plus general sports stores, just seems to be something they don't stock.

- been running for 5 years, don't usually *have* too many aches and pains to get rid of, and it's only cos I've done this particular half mara twice before (and it's on home ground and goes within a couple of miles of my house) that I'm even contemplating it.

Cheers all. Oh, and I tried my rolled up yoga mat and that is actually too soft, not that I thought anything could be!
posted by LyzzyBee at 4:44 PM on September 30, 2010

It's online and probably US only, but my PT suggested I get one from here: PerformBetter. They supposedly ship quickly at least.

And if your PT thinks you are going to be running soon, your knee is much better than mine (which delightfully sounds like gravel when I bend it)! But yes, hurts hurts hurts hurts, but gets better quickly. And is significantly better than the "soft" tissue massage mine gave my IT band when I hurt my hand and couldn't bear weight on it to do the foam roller. That hurt worse than giving birth without any drugs (ok, not quite, but pretty darn close)!
posted by katers890 at 5:19 PM on September 30, 2010

You're not supposed to carve a block of foam, you're supposed to buy a thin layer of foam (like a sleeping pad for hikers) and wrap it around a tube. Then cut off the excess and duct tape it closed.
posted by acidic at 9:51 PM on September 30, 2010

Response by poster: Acidic - oh, I SEE! That makes perfect sense, sorry. I am used to seeing Foam Cut To Size For Cushions Etc and thought I'd be carving away! Will look into that, thank you!
posted by LyzzyBee at 10:01 PM on September 30, 2010

Directions on how to make a home made foam roller, though it can be difficult to hear over the kids.
posted by loriginedumonde at 11:49 PM on September 30, 2010

Response by poster: Katers890 I managed to catch it before it turned into an injury, thank goodness - so I can keep running. I appreciate the link but I'm in the UK and I only have 3.5 weeks so I can't wait a week for shipping...

All - going to the DIY and camping shops tomorrow to create my own (rolling (around with pain) in the gym tonight) - want an update on how i do?
posted by LyzzyBee at 11:57 PM on September 30, 2010

I've found another option to tennis balls are Pinky Rubber Balls - they actually have the -perfect- level of give vs. firmness for working on your own muscles. (I use them for my back).
posted by yeloson at 8:15 AM on October 1, 2010

I've known high-performance bicycle shops (the kind which cater to people who do triathlons or other serious biking) to have foam rollers, might be worth giving them a call if you know of such a place nearby.
posted by illenion at 8:22 AM on October 1, 2010

Probably too late, but for any future readers, I bought mine online from these guys and they had very fast delivery.
posted by penguin pie at 1:55 PM on October 4, 2010

Response by poster: What I've done in the end is ordered a roller from Amazon which has shipped so should be with me soon, and got a tennis ball for the days I don't go to the gym.

It *is* getting easier though, on the roller, so thanks for reassuring me on that one!
posted by LyzzyBee at 2:03 AM on October 5, 2010

Response by poster: By the way, I rolled and rolled and did all my other physio exercises and I ran my half marathon and my knee didn't hurt at all! THanks all for your support!
posted by LyzzyBee at 10:06 AM on December 18, 2010 [1 favorite]