As听every race I signed up for听in 2020听got canceled, I thought my daily running routine might disappear. But I own two Lab puppies, I value the state of my chew-mark-free home, and听I鈥檝e learned my lesson: a tired dog is a good dog. So I run most days鈥攕ometimes a few miles, sometimes much more鈥攖hrough the sandy arroyos of my backyard in northern听New Mexico. This occasionally听leads to cramps, but while a weird kink in my hamstring once may have earned me a rest day, try explaining an exercise-free morning to a puppy.
Now听every time I feel a tight IT band coming on, the听听($9)听saves my life鈥攁nd the longevity of my chair legs.
My partner, Will, and I听are both long-distance runners, and听we own four to six听foam rollers between us. We have soft ones, firm ones, and ones with ridges. Our fanciest roller features 鈥減ressure points,鈥 lime green ribs, and costs around $35. But the real beauty of the LuxFit is听its simplicity. This thing has no bells or whistles, not even an intricate color scheme鈥攊t鈥檚 plain black. But it鈥檚听the roller we reach for most.
The cylinder听measures听in at a foot long and six inches wide, and it weighs next to nothing. Its dense EPP听foam was made to smooth away aches and pains, and that鈥檚 exactly what it does. The roller is hard enough to apply some serious pressure to your problem spots, but not so hard that a rolling session becomes unbearable. (Don鈥檛 be fooled by the 鈥渆xtra firm鈥 in the name; I鈥檇 rate this a medium softness on the scale of a fluffy pillow to a rock.)听It also comes with a three-year warranty, but even after two and a half听years of near daily rolls, ours is almost as good听as new.
The LuxFit is also helpful听for relieving back pain that crops up in the course of daily life. I find it鈥檚听the perfect way to undo the hours I spend slouched over my keyboard during the workday. Sometimes I don鈥檛 even roll it around: I just place it horizontally on the yoga mat beneath听my upper spine听and let it stretch out my tense shoulders and neck. Will, who鈥檚 a small-scale farmer, uses it before bed to massage his muscles after long days hunched over weeds and seeds.听On more than one occasion, we鈥檝e bickered about who gets to use it first in the evening听or听snapped at each other to hurry up and hand it over.
This humble foam roller has become a household favorite,听transported听from the living room to the bedroom to the kitchen throughout the week to be听put to work.听We pick it up as soon as we get back from the trails,听and it slowly smooths听out any knots and tightness we picked up along the way.