Make your own foam roller

Have you heard about foam rolling and its benefits? It is basically a way for you to be able to massage your muscles on your own.  It is a great way to save some money, and take care of yourself between massage appointments.  The use of foam rollers has become widely popular to athletes and workout enthusiasts, but you don't need to have an intense workout routine to get the benefits of self massage through foam rolling.

Foam rollers come in different sizes, and vary in density.  There are ways to make your own by covering pvc pipe with layers of foam, but I have found an even cheaper way to make one.  You know those pool noodles that keep you afloat?  they make monster size ones, and that is what I used.  To give it a bit of support, insert a broom stick, or a skinny pipe, or you can even cut the noodle in half and use one half cut to size to fit inside the other.

Here is a picture of the homemade foam roller that I created.  It works great and better yet it cost less than $5 to make.  I cut the noodle in half, and took a plastic broom handle to add support.

Here it is!  My DIY foam roller.

That's it.  How simple is that? 

Now you want to know how to use it?  A quick search on youtube will get you many results, but we found this very well put together video.  http://life.gaiam.com/video/roll-it-out-myofascial-release
I would just suggest going a bit slower to really feel out the areas that need extra attention, and when you find one, sit there for a while with your foam roller pressed into that area and breath into that spot until it relaxes a bit.