Foam rollers are easy-to-use, self-care products that can help you regain muscular flexibility and expand your range of motion. Self-administered myofascial release (SMR) is best achieved with foam rollers.

The procedure allows you to stimulate and relax your muscles by using your body weight. Using foam rollers can be a pain, but if you're consistent, you'll see results in your movement and flexibility.

Now that you have probably decided to invest in a foam roller, here's the next question: Which foam roller should you opt for? 

If you take a look at FitRecoveryClub, you can find some of the best foam rollers on the market already listed down for you.

Here we discuss the best size for a foam roller.

Main Features of Foam Rollers

Choosing a foam roller seems like an easy enough task, right? That is unless you start a survey which can then get a bit overwhelming. Several things need to be taken into consideration when choosing the best and most effective foam roller.

Choosing the right type of roller ensures its effectiveness and results. The shape, size, and density all play an important role in how the roller will work on your muscles. With all that being said, let’s take a look into all these factors:

Size

Foam rollers come in 3 standard sizes (12 inches, 18 inches, and 36 inches)

Twelve inches is the smallest size foam rollers have to offer. They are not the most common, but this is the best size for traveling, although it does take up quite a bit of luggage space.

Eighteen inches is the most commonly used size throughout. These size rollers are used in homes and exercise classes and are best for beginners. They are also easy to store since they don’t take up that much space.

Thirty-six inches is the biggest available size for foam rollers in the market and the priciest ones as well. These aren’t suitable for beginners and aren’t that common either. These rollers are mostly seen in physical therapy, hospitals, and gyms.

Shape

Foam rollers come in a range of shapes as well. While some rollers are plain and smooth, some rollers come with ridges or bumps. The purpose of having ridges, bumps, or points on a roller is to have more concentrated pressure on your muscles. These types of rollers can ease even the stiffest muscles.

There are small round foam rollers available as well. Those are typically used for more focused areas such as legs or thighs etc. These types of rollers provide concentrated pressure on focused areas.

Density

The density of the foam roller is perhaps the most important factor to consider while making the purchase. It directly relates to how the roller will affect your body.

If the roller is too soft, it won’t provide adequate pressure and be of no use. However, if the roller is too hard, it can cause injuries or trauma. You must pay attention to long-term safety and avoid hazards before making an investment.

Hard rollers are better for long-term usage since they’re more durable. Soft rollers can become deformed after longer periods of usage, indicating that it’s time to replace it. The best option is to get a soft roller at first, then move on to a comparatively denser or harder roller after advancement.

What Are the Benefits of Foam Rolling?

Surprisingly, foam rolling has much more benefits than you would have imagined. If you know how to use foam rollers, it can make life much better. 

Foam rollers help relax any tight and sensitive trigger points that may have developed over the fascia (a layer of tissue that lies on top of muscles and connects the muscle groups).

Foam rollers are best paired with stretching or exercising. They can be used before and after exercising to help ease muscles before a workout as well as relax sore muscles after the workout.

If you use them with stretches, you can result in opening up unrestricted tissues, which would result in finding yourself moving around a lot more freely. This would increase flexibility effectively.

Other benefits include:

• Foam rolling can even balance out muscle imbalances that might be causing pain to some extent.

• Foam rolling visibly reduces any inflammation that often occurs during the muscle repairing process.

• It also helps prevent injuries by maintaining muscle length and reducing tightness.

Foam rolling even helps to improve blood flow, elasticity, and mobility overall. It also gives a smoother appearance of fats under the skin.

So the bottom line is that foam rollers have a lot of benefits and are quite useful if used with consistency. It can solve a bunch of your problems and improve your body’s overall performance. Foam rollers are definitely worth investing in, so get your hands on one and roll away your worries!