Seen on a 25lb bumper plate for scale.
Recovery is everything. There’s no point in going hard, if you’re not going to recover properly. Contrary to popular belief, you can’t run three Murph’s in a row, and not at least stretch, hydrate, and roll out a bit.
Now me personally, I have a tough time keeping my thoracic mobilized. Despite staying very active and getting after it, I do find myself spending some significant time at a desk – like as I write this review. Even despite my efforts, I find myself guilty of kyphosis from time to time – that is rounding my back and hunching. This necessarily makes my throacic a bit tight when I try and hit extension.
Enter the Ultimate Back Roller. Even better?
This thing is outstanding, specifically for opening up your thoracic extension. No small feat, this supersize roller took a mold the size of a minivan! However, this does work on other parts of the body, but I found it invaluable for thoracic extension.
What’s more—when you roll your back on a basic flat roller, you are actually jamming the spinal segments and restricting motion as you roll- the exact opposite of what you are trying to accomplish. The Ultimate Back Roller targets the para spinal muscles, and it’s “Spine Gap” allows you to roll out and not jam your spine.
The bumps on the device are firm, yet soft enough to not feel like you’re rolling out on shards of glass. At 11″ tall and 7″ wide, this allows you to hit full extension while keeping your butt on the ground, really recruiting and opening up everything you need to. This works in tandem with natural spinal movement, and don’t worry if you’re a “bigger” person, this sucker holds 1000lbs!
Overall, I’ve loved rolling out on this thing. It targets the biggest problem areas in my back, and helps me regain my thoracic extension. It’s small enough to cram in a suitcase, and big enough to allow you to arch your back completely. Moreover, the website has tons of how-to videos and support. What would you expect? It was invented by a chiropractor!
Pros, what we like: Serves an underutilized and supremely important role of working on thoracic extension and spine flexion, something people on desk jobs can attest is a real issue. It’s comfortable, hits the points it needs to hit, and is like nothing else on the market.
Cons, what we don’t like: I can nitpick, but there’s nothing to nitpick…Color maybe? (Although, I personally like the lime green). Scratch that, good to go all around. Snag one.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alex Castiglione lives in Atlanta, and is an avid outdoorsman and competitive shooter.
Where-abouts include getting after it in his garage gym, practicing martial arts, hitting the trails, or running CrossFit and Strongman competitions for his non-profit, Barbells for Bullies, which holds fundraiser fitness competitions dedicated to aiding Bully breed rescues, dog rescues, or other non-profits with similar missions.
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