Self Myofascial Release [Foam Roller & Massage Stick PROS & CONS!]

Oh, that thing is powerful. This is Tom Bernanke. Today, I'm gonna show you what the studies show on vibration myofascial release devices such as this. Oh, how do I shut this off? That thing is powerful. That's a heavy duty device. So I'm gonna show you what the studies say. No, it does not build the muscle, but it does do one important thing that every young athlete should be doing, especially old athletes like me, that it has even more effect on me, or even people who go to work. So if you play sports or you go to work, this video will be very helpful for you. So keep watching. Oh, oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. This is Tom Bernanke with Michigan Foot Doctors. If you wanna save time, money, cut down injuries, get more athletic and start moving better, subscribe to the channel. Hit that little icon and hit the bell for subscriptions. Hey, I'd love to start filming some fun outdoor stuff, but this is my backyard, it's freezing. Couple more months to go. So this right here is the MyoBuddy Plus 2. I just did a bench press workout, so this thing's cooling me down. It does an unbelievable job. So here's the benefits of this thing. Myofascial release. Basically what these studies do is release the swelling and tightness from your muscles. This is what the studies show. These great devices like this. So this is massage rolling. So you could use a stick or a foam roller. The stick is a lot cheaper. You can get this for like 10 to $20 for a premium pair. The foam rollers, they're a little bit better. I find they're better for the back, the thighs, but this little device is the best for your calf muscles, your thighs, your hamstrings. So watch this. Look at that. You can't beat that. You can bring that in your backpack. You can roll out your shins. Look at that. That's a great calf roll right there. So 30 to 60 seconds is all studies show you need. So I'm rolling all my muscles. Oh, that really loosens up the calf muscle. That's working great right there. So when I go to a sports game, so I play ultimate Frisbee. When I go play ultimate Frisbee, I do that each muscle group about 60 seconds. Personally, my routine also is this guy right here. You can hear how loud and powerful that is. But watch this. 30 to 60 seconds. As you're relaxing, that's all you've got to do right there. That does an amazing job right there. Same kind of thing right there on your thigh muscle. That does a great job on your thigh muscle. So that's the Myobuddy Plus 2. It comes with a pretty long cord. This is the Myobuddy Plus 2. If you want to see the full review, it's linked. But it's basically got three buttons. This is the pro version. It's got an on switch, high power, low power. It's got about 15 settings. But basically, it's a big, thick foam pad that spins and vibrates at the same time. What's nice about this is it's an industrial type unit that really presses hard and puts a lot of force on there. So you can see there's a big, thick foam sanding disk with different types of pads of varying thicknesses that go on there. So it can work well. The links to all these are down in the description. But here's what studies show. Number one, they did an Olympic trial, or a study on Olympic athletes. So these are Olympic speed skaters. They work their thighs pretty good. So after the exercise they showed, in these speed skaters, the muscles didn't really get stronger. There was a tiny improvement in the lactic acid going away quicker in the muscles. But that's not really where these three devices help. Where they really help is before the exercise and after the exercise, increasing your flexibility and your agility. Nothing for muscle strength. So if you're doing this as a weight lifter to get stronger, stick with lifting the weights. Don't stick with doing this massage rolling for muscle growth. There's 0% chance, zero. Not even a little bit, 0% chance this will make your muscles stronger. What it does do, and here's what another study shows. When they grabbed 20 athletes, this is in 2020, and they tested this randomly five separate times, people who used the massage roller sticks, so the sticks or the vibration or the foam rollers, they used more vibration in this study. They found that these athletes were much more flexible. Another study showed, on average, 15% to 25% more flexible through your iliopsoas muscles, through your calf muscles, through your thigh muscles. For running, that is huge. Simply taking 60 seconds per muscle group. I'll tell you how this works for me. When I play Ultimate Frisbee, I play against younger college athletes. I'm coming up on 40 now. It takes me a long, long time to warm up. I can't get full speed until about an hour sometimes. Stretching does not do it, but using the Vibration MyoBuddy Plus, the massage roller stick, for just 60 seconds to each muscle, I feel like right away I'm flexible, my hamstrings are loose, I'm able to start moving and running. That's where it helps. Think of where these applications can come in useful for you. Are you a factory worker? Are you on your feet all day? Are you a nurse at work? Are you sore when you get up? If you get up, and first thing, start using the MyoBuddy Plus, or this massage roller stick, or even a foam roller. It does not have to be expensive. If you start using these devices, these great devices will loosen you up about 25% right away. They'll get the swelling, that inflammation, that initial pain out of your joints, and you'll start moving right away. What does this lead to? This is me extrapolating now, based on what we know about flexible muscles. Less achiness during the day, less pressure on your knees, less pressure on your hips, less pressure on your lower back. You start moving more fluidly, and gradually, if you can do this day after day, you become more and more loose, you get less and less inflammation, and you get through your day much easier. So if you're looking for a very effective way to save money, save time, and cut down on injuries dramatically, use myofascial release on your calf muscles, on your thighs, on your hamstrings, on your lower back. It gets you moving much more fluidly, cuts down your inflammation, your rate of injury. It does not get your muscles stronger. 0% chance of getting your muscles stronger, according to these results. But get that flexibility. Start feeling young, start moving again, in that regard. So we would love to hear from you. Has any of this stuff worked for you? Have you preferred the massage roller stick, the foam roller, or the MyoBuddy Plus? So they range from like $10 to $20 to like $30, $40, up to $200 to $400 for the MyoBuddy Plus. So let us know which one works best for you. Are these studies full of crap, or are they working well for you? Let us know. This can help advance a lot of studies, you know? It's good to know what's working for people. That's another piece of evidence we could use. So let us know in a comment. What works for you? Does myofascial release work, or is it all garbage? Let us know, we wanna know.