Foam Roller or The Stick

foam roller<br>
zombierunner.com $7 i think.<br><br>
works like a charm for the ol ITB <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Smile">

I use both. For my ITB, I feel like the foam roller does a better job, but I can take the stick with me when I travel which is a plus.

I just picked up the Stick at the AF Marathon expo. Had it about 2 - 3 weeks now, and so far so good. Like Nettie said, I decided on this one, because I do a lot of training runs when I travel for work. I'm leaving tomorrow and taking it with me for the first time. I used it about 20 mins last night while watching Chicago marathon stories on the news. I have a bit of a tight quad from a 20+ miler on Saturday and I think it's helping.

Sierra - buy the stick. Easier to use for your calves than the foam roller. Plus you can make a close approximation to a foam roller at home. All of the cross counrty/distance kids I work with take a two liter bottle and fill it up with water and use it at home when they don't have access to us in the athletic training room.

For the ITB, the foam roller is very easy to use. The stick, good for calves, but not so much the ITB

Thanks for all the responses! My issue seems to be more "calf" than "quad" but both seem to be an issue. Maybe I just need to get both.<br><br>
The foam rollers are cheap, so thats easy! I did see the stick at the tahoe expo last week, but didnt pick it up. It was $20 there, I will have to hope that I can find it someplace cheap online!<br><br>
Thanks! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Smile">

I prefer the foam roller, but if I travelled alot and wanted portability, then I'd probably go with the stick. The reason I like the foam roller is because you are able to use your entire body weight to real press in deep when you are rolling out your IT Band for example. With the stick you are more limited in using the amount (or lack thereof) of arm strength to roll the stick across a body part. I also like using the foam roller to roll my entire back across and with the stick that is just not possible. I use the foam roller for my calves too and that works real well. Plus, the foam roller to me is just easy. I can use it while watching TV in the evening.

Ive had sucess with the foam roller but am thinking about picking up a Stick at the expo in Philly. Would be nice to have here at work for those lunch time runs and such.

Here's another plus with The Stick. It's great to warmup your legs <i>before</i> you run. In fact, that's what it was created for, and that's how I primarily use mine. I also stick my legs before I go to bed.<br><br>
I don't think The Stick is that great as a massage tool. But I'm also not impressed with ART either. I do self-massage on my calves and it works as good or better than the other two.<br><br>
But for ITBS, I think the foam roller cannot be beat.

I've never used a foam roller, but using the stick on my calves really helped my PF- especially between ART sessions. So far the stick and the ART are the only things that have helped (and I've tried a lot of things in the past few years).

I bought a foam roller today! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_cheers.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="cheers">

One other thing you can do is just spend a couple of bucks on a 1" hardwood dowel. It's not quite the same as the stick - not flexible but you can move it around in other ways. It's very good for putting a lot of pressure on.<br><br>
And a very good price.

I think being able to use your body weight for myofascial release on the foam roller is an advantage. But I agree it can be harder to use on the calves. I use it on my quads, glutes, hamstrings, ITBs, and I lie on top it lengthwise to open my chest.

Side question here... when you lie on the roller, how do you place it under your body... just under the upper body, or also extending to be under the pelvis a bit?

You mean why I lie supine on it (lie on my back)? I pretty much place the top end somewhere between my shoulder blades and scoot around until it feels right. It probably does end under my pelvis.<br><br>
I'm 5'8" with a pretty long torso so I think it would depend on individual proportions and also the length of the roller.

That's what I meant, thanks.<br><br>
I'm short so the roller is either under my neck and head, or under my pelvis, so I didn't know which way was best! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.kickrunners.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Smile">

Just be sure your neck isn't over-arched to the point where it's uncomfortable. You can put a towel or pillow under your neck/head.