If you've never used a foam roller, we suggest our Gator roller. It's more beginner-friendly that our other rollers but has many advanced features. It's moderately priced and very versatile. Gator is also an excellent choice for people who want to experiment with cross-frictional massage. It's the only roller optimized for that technique.
If you have some foam roller experience, our Original RumbleRoller should be your first choice. It's as easy to use as a conventional foam roller, but will provide much more relief. This roller is available in 3 different sizes. If you plan to keep it in one location - e.g. your home - buy the largest size you can afford. You'll appreciate the extra surface area as you transition between different movements. If you plan to take it on the road with you, choose a smaller size such as our Compact, which fits easily in a gym bag or suitcase.
If you have a lot of experience with foam rollers and really want to go deep, choose the Xfirm RumbleRoller. Even deeper? Then choose an Xfirm Beastie or Beastie Bar.
Beasties are excellent for hitting your trouble spots, but are too small to conveniently massage your whole body. In other words, they're better for supplementing your roller work than replacing it. They're super portable, though, so they're also the perfect thing to pack in your bag when there isn't room for a roller.
Yes, if properly designed. RumbleRoller's bump size, shape, and placement are the result of years of development and testing. These bumps stimulate deeper layers of muscle, more completely relieve trigger points, and more effectively work around bony areas such as your spine, pelvis, and scapula.
Gator is easier for beginners to adapt to, but it's actually a very advanced roller. Its firmness (about half way between RumbleRoller's Original and Xfirm rollers) and smaller diameter create a high contact pressure, which makes it very effective. The smaller diameter also helps it conform to smaller body contours. And its patented surface provides a unique way of gripping skin and enabling new cross-frictional techniques.
RumbleRoller's products are less painful than they look because of the way they conform to your body. If you're already using a foam roller, you'll have no trouble adapting to our products. If you've never used a foam roller before, their use may be painful at first but will become more tolerable, or even pleasurable, over time.
A tennis ball makes an economical massage tool, but it has its limitations. RumbleRoller's bumps are considerably smaller than a tennis ball, which helps them work into tighter areas and dig more deeply into your muscles.
The problem with PVC pipe is that its hard surface doesn't conform to many areas of your body, such as around spinal processes and near muscle attachments. It gets high-centered on bony areas, and doesn't put enough pressure on the low spots. You'll get much better results with a RumbleRoller.
RumbleRoller uses a solid core made from a very resilient grade of high-density EVA foam. The core and outer shell were both carefully engineered to give the RumbleRoller maximum durability and optimal feel. Other manufacturers use hollow cores to reduce costs, but this has a negative effect on the roller's performance and long-term durability. RumbleRoller builds the most effective products that it can, and refuses to cut corners.
No, the bumps permanently retain their shape and resiliency. If you look closely at the surface of a used RumbleRoller, you may see tiny little wrinkles on the bumps, but they won't affect its performance.
Because of their higher quality materials and construction. This results in massage tools that don't break down and need frequent replacement like conventional products. That makes RumbleRoller a smarter long-term investment.
For most people, including professional athletes, the Original (blue) RumbleRoller is more effective. Its bumps are more flexible and more actively grip and manipulate soft tissue. The bumps on the Xfirm (black) RumbleRoller are considerably stiffer, and give it a "spikier" feel.
The jeopardy of going too firm is that it may be too painful - not too painful to use, but too painful to use correctly. For best results, you want to keep the muscle you're massaging relaxed and pause long enough on each trigger point to allow it to release.
You may prefer the black RumbleRoller if you're primarily using it on thicker muscles like glutes or hamstrings, are trying to dig deeply in around the hip capsule, are working on scar tissue from prior surgeries, or are accustom to rolling on PVC pipe. Otherwise, we strongly recommend the blue.
Not necessarily. With regular foam rollers, the conventional advice has been to transition to progressively firmer rollers. The RumbleRoller is different. The blue one is pretty firm on its own, and going firmer may not be an advantage for you. If you do buy both, consider a Full-size blue plus a Compact black or a Full-size blue plus a Beastie. These are popular combinations for those who like the blue for most body parts but occasionally want to dig hard into a problem spot.
If you're using your RumbleRoller regularly, your tissue quality should improve over time and require less stimulus to maintain its condition. With more experience on your blue RumbleRoller, you'll also learn to get more out of it. For example, most simple rolling movements distribute your weight fairly evenly across multiple RumbleRoller bumps. But by subtly turning or twisting your body, you'll be able to focus most of the pressure on a single bump and go deeper into the muscle.
Most people get better results doing SMR or mobility work after their workout. That makes it easier to slow down, spend more time on the movements, and relax the muscles more completely. If done at night, it may also help you sleep more deeply.
You may also benefit from rolling before your workout, but these sessions should be brief and have a different focus. Roll just long enough to "awaken" your muscles and prepare them for movement.
Go by feel rather than time. A couple minutes per body part is generally enough to ensure progress, but your needs may differ. For best results, focus on the techniques that provide you with the most relief and do them consistently.
Slower is almost always better. Rolling quickly back and forth will stimulate your nervous system and increase blood flow, but it won't do much to release trigger points. Instead, roll slowly and stop completely whenever you feel a tender area. Keep pressure on the spot and let the bumps sink in as deeply as possible. Gradually the muscle will begin to loosen and the pain will begin to dissipate.
Some individuals are more susceptible to bruising than others, and it's not unusual to experience bruising after any type of deep-tissue massage. Age, nutritional deficiencies, dehydration, and use of blood thinning medications or corticosteroids all increase the likeliness of bruising. The amount of bruising, though, should decrease considerably with regular use of the roller. To minimize bruising, use shorter rolling sessions, drink extra water, and get plenty of rest. And if you've been using one of our X-Firm products, consider switching to the Original version; it's much less likely to cause bruising.
Hold your RumbleRoller against a wall with one hand, take a step back from the wall, and angle your body into the RumbleRoller. Adjust your positioning as needed to best hit the desired spot. This technique works with other body parts as well, and allows you to get into positions that would be difficult to assume on the floor.
Upper traps are even easier to hit with the Beastie Hook or the Beastie Bar plus Beastie Wall System. Consider investing in one of these tools if your upper traps are a chronic problem.
Yes! This movement, in case you're not familiar with it, is used to mobilize the thoracic vertebra and is a favorite of many physical therapists. Start by sitting on the floor with the roller behind you and perpendicular to your body. Lean back until the roller contacts your back, then arch back further on the roller by fully extending your thoracic spine. Pause for several seconds at full extension. During this movement, your hips should stay on the ground and the roller should remain stationary.
The RumbleRoller is perfect for thoracic extensions because its bumps partially grip the vertebra they're in contact with, which better encourages motion in the adjacent (higher) vertebra. At the same time, the bumps on the bottom of the RumbleRoller help hold its position on the floor. Smooth rollers tend to slip out from under people doing thoracic extensions on smooth floors, but that's not likely to happen with the RumbleRoller.
There's a simple trick that makes this easy to do. First of all, note that each bump on the Beastie is encircled by either 5 or 6 other bumps. To properly secure the Beastie in its Base or the Beastie Hook, align any encircled-by-6 bump with the opening, then press it in with a slight twist. When done properly, the Beastie snaps into place and is held firmly.
Yes, definitely. The four corner holes on the Beastie Base (and also on the Beastie Bar Stands) are made to accept standard #10 screws, which are available from any hardware store. This is a very economical way to use a Beastie on the wall. However, it does lack some of the versatility of the Wall System, which allows you to quickly reposition the Base and/or easily remove it for separate use.
Other potential solutions include using a Beastie Hook or putting a Beastie in the end of a sock and dangling it over your shoulder. Neither of these methods is quite as versatile as the Wall System, but may still meet your needs.
Yes, although we primarily recommend using the X-Firm Beastie with the Beastie Hook. Because the X-Firm Beastie digs deeper into the muscle, you won't have to press as hard when using it. That makes it a little easier to relax your entire body, which adds to the effectiveness of this tool.
Yes, it's designed to fit within any airline-standard 14" roller bag. We recommend checking with your local TSA agents, however, before including it in your carry-on luggage. TSA agents have allowed it onboard many previous flights but could, at their discretion, disallow it on future flights.
The elastomer used in the Beastie isn't a great conductor of thermal energy, but it can provide a subtle amount of heating and cooling. For cold therapy, simply store your Beastie in the freezer. For heat, place your Beastie in a container of hot or boiling water for a few minutes prior to use. Never heat the Beastie over a flame, on a stove, or in an oven of any type.
No. Our testing indicates that vibration produces an analgesic effect (i.e. temporary numbing due to neural overload) but little long-term improvement in tissue quality, and may worsen certain neuromuscular problems. Our current opinion on vibration is that it unnecessarily increases the cost of a massage tool, while decreasing its expected life and providing negligible benefit.
All RumbleRoller products are latex-free and safe for use by latex-sensitive individuals. We also make sure that every product we produce is free of lead, phthalates, and other chemicals known to negatively impact your health.
Our rollers are manufactured in Taiwan. Our Beastie products are manufactured in the USA.
Simply because we can't produce them at the same level of quality here. For enhanced durability, we use a particular EVA/polyolefin compound that can't be molded on conventional injection molding equipment. There are only a few factories in the world that have the capability and expertise to manufacture our rollers properly, and none of them are in the USA.
Yes, where possible. Much of the paperboard used in our packaging and user guides is recycled, and we use up to 15% recycled post-industrial plastics in certain Beastie products and accessories.
FYI, at higher percentages of recycled material, molded products begin to lose strength, which increases their chance of failure. We believe that the most socially responsible approach is to build products that don't end up in the landfill in the first place. Consequently, we build our products to last.