Gear Review: RAD Roller
I would like to think that I am no different than most ultra runners; I too am always trying to find the best way to deal with those little aches and pains that come with pushing your body to the limit. Yoga works great for stretching and the occasional massage is great if I can afford it, but most days I tend to rely on my foam roller and “The Stick” to get the job done. The problem I have always had with these though is in my ability to really get to the most troublesome spots. I seem to never feel totally rejuvenated after using them. I have always thought of the foam roller as an idea that someone in a manufacturing plant came up with when they were trying to figure out what to do with scrap packaging foam. Sure, it fulfills a basic purpose, but I tend to get more frustrated than not while I am rolling around on the floor looking for the best way to use it. The Stick, for all of its usefulness, has it’s shortcomings too. For one, I actually don’t like that it flexes, which prevents me from getting deep into the muscle. Second, I am tired of getting my leg hair stuck in between the small rollers…ouch! It just seems to me that we athletes have become complacent when it comes to self massage and myofascial release. We love how it aides recovery and helps with the sore spots, but seem to have really low expectations in what they are able to do for us.
While I was cruising around Outdoor Retailer, I ran across the team at the RAD Roller (www.radroller.com) booth (probably my best discovery at OR this year). It seems we no longer have to settle for rudimentary tools. This is a company that definitely took an innovative, problem-solving approach by looking at the frustrations we athletes have with everything else on the market in order to develop products that focus on the best ways to deal with our various ailments. After watching a demo, I left with their full kit so that I could see just how well it worked.
DISCLAIMER: RAD Roller provided me with their whole kit for the purposes of this review. As always, I will do my best to remain unbiased in order to provide YOU with an informative review and THEM with honest product feedback.
Overview
The RAD Roller kit consists of a number of tools, including:
- RAD Roller
- RAD Rounds
- RAD Block
- RAD Rod
- RAD Helix
Price: $140 for everything listed above as a kit
You can purchase these pieces separately, but get the most bang for the buck my buying the kit. They also have different kit configurations if you don’t want to get everything. Together, this replaces a number of tools in the typical athletes’ self-massage/myofascial release tool box. For me, I was able to ditch my foam roller, Stick, and plantar fasciitis ball. What’s more, I felt that I was not only replacing these previous tools, but upgrading in most cases.
Product Details
Each of the tools comes with extensive how-to documentation that covers using them to target different areas of the body and their website is also helpful, so I won’t get into too much of that here. Instead, I will go over each tool and what I liked best about it. I will then wrap up my review with some overall pro’s and con’s.
RAD Roller
The Roller is their flagship product, which consists of two balls fused in the middle. These are great for trigger point and working out tense spots in general. They are also pretty flexible in that you can use them on just about any part of your body. The best way to use these is to settle on a spot and roll back and forth no more than an inch in either direction. My favorite part of the body for the Roller was on the neck (using the block) and anywhere on the legs.
RAD Rounds
The Rounds come in two different sizes and are great for trigger point therapy and reaching the small spaces. I liked these mostly for my feet (like a golf ball to roll out the plantar fascia) and for knots in general.
RAD Block
The Block, in my mind, is a key accessory. Some muscles are hard to work unless you can position your body a certain way. While it does nothing by itself, when paired with the Roller/Rounds, it allows you to lift off the floor slightly so that you can get the right angle and maximum leverage to work certain muscles. I found this to work especially well on the arms, hip flexors, and quads.
RAD Rod
As a Product Manager by profession, I always found The Stick to be a bit over-engineered. In the case of the Rod, simplicity is not only key, but twice as effective. The core of the Rod is an unyielding steel bar, which allows you to get really deep into the muscle. I LOVE this on my quads and upper shoulders.
RAD Helix
The Helix is genius, especially on the back. I have been looking for something like a foam roller for my back and this is it! It perfectly hits the support muscles along my entire spine, which are always the tightest, without aggravating my spine thanks to the groove in the middle. For me personally, this may have been worth the price alone. Other areas where I found the Helix to be most valuable were the neck, IT band, and calves. One tip that is useful: although the instructions seem to imply you can use the Helix on its own, I found it to be more stable with the RAD Rod in it.
Final Impressions
Overall, this kit is exactly as advertised. It gives you access to complete self-service massage and myofascial release that, in my opinion, meets and exceeds the needs of most people. For me, I found that it provides enough added benefits over existing tools that I know longer feel like FREQUENT trips to a masseuse are mandatory (in fact, I cancelled a planned massage because I didn’t feel like it was worth spending the money). That is not to say that it can replace an experts’ touch when it is REALLY needed, but I think it is a great kit for the daily maintenance stuff we should all do and definitely better than other self-service products on the market.
Pros
- An all-in-one kit that prevents you from having to piece a kit together.
- Travels well. Everything is compact and fits in a suitcase with ease.
- Kit is price comparable to anything else on the market when factoring in everything that it replaces.
- Only time will tell, but everything seems very durable. You probably still shouldn’t let your dog chew on them, but they are able to bear weight with no issues.
Cons
- More expensive when priced individually, so it is in your best interest to commit up front. If you are interested, I would definitely buy the kit together and save yourself the extra $20 or so.
- This may be personal, but the one thing I still preferred my foam roller for was the glutes. As a large muscle, the Roller/Rounds/Helix just didn’t seem to work the whole muscle as well as the foam roller. I may discover that I am doing it wrong and change my mind, but this is where I am at right now.
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