We've recently been trialling The Grid, a development on the traditional foam roller you would typically use for physiotherapy/massage/injury prevention.
I've used a foam roller on and off for many years, primarily to keep at bay aches and pains linked to tight IT Bands, which generally shows itself (to me anyway), as external knee pain during cycling. This seems to be a relatively common problem for triathletes, though with appropriate maintenance, it can often be kept under control without major issue. Ignore it though, and it hurts.
The Grid is a very firm and strong, hollow plastic tube of around one foot in length, and the covering 'foam' is EVA, surrounding the core and shaped into grid-like areas - hence the name - under an external covering. No bling carbon or electronics to see here. The finish however is excellent, and this does give off the feeling of a quality and hard-wearing product. The (very) solid core and reduced foam content also means that it shouldn't deform over time and will provide durability for your investment.
The 'grids' are not just for show - the three different areas of grid each give a different degree of pressure in use, described by TP Therapy (and quite accurately too I'd say), as
- Low and Flat: like a forearm or palm
- High and Firm: like finger tips
- Medium and Tubular: like fingers and thumb
As you use the roller, by choosing the area of The Grid to massage/roll against, you can adjust the feeling (pain threshold...) you want to apply to that particular body area via the amount of pressure you exert, and the are of The Grid utilised as the contact point. Or amount of pain you can (or can't) take! Trigger Point have trademarked this as Distrodensity Zones (?!).... whatever, I'll just feed back, irrespective of the scientific sounding name, they do work, and you really can feel the difference in use. I just need a few more months to build up to the tougher sectors against my calves after running...
Our testing and use of The Grid was in relation to 'typical' use of a roller for massage, though TP Therapy also provide details via literature, DVD (at extra cost) and YouTube clips (check this one for example), of how to use The Grid as part of a core stability workout.
Best thing I can say about The Grid is that is has, and will continue to be, well used during and after our testing phase. It comes along to our evening gym sessions, and inflicts the (required!) pain to help get in the massage that otherwise gets overlooked. It's very portable, and the hollow nature of it versus a standard foam roller means that I would certainly also take this away with me to a training camp for example - as you can readily pack socks and other assorted bits and bobs inside it within your travel case/bag, without materially impacting weight or space. Having used it, I would also want to take it with me because it would certainly be used.
A massage roller isn't really a 'sexy' product, but this one works, is well made and even looks quite good. Is it worth circa £40? Well, that's roughly the cost of one massage or physio session, and I'd suggest that regular use of this item is likely to save you at least one of those over the course of the year. So, a big thumbs up from me.
The Grid is one of a range of products from Trigger Point Therapy (www.tptherapy.com), available now in the UK from Live on the Edge, priced at £39.99.
