The PVC Pipe Thread

[slowjoe]

A lot of the people here will have noticed that Jim Wendler recommended getting a PVC pipe instead of foam roller in the coach's roundtable video.

Has anyone actually tried this? My instinct is that it's a Jim Wendler-sized solution, which might be looking for a Jim Wendler-sized problem. I'm squatting 1/3 and benching less than a half of what he is. And to be honest, the foam roller can make me gasp out loud. The prospect of the pipe makes my eyes water.

Has anyone with a 300-400lb squat and a 200-300lb bench tried both the PVC pipe and the foam roller? Reports would be great.

[Randle McMurphy]

yes, i have tried it. and it is fine.

It is cheaper and lasts longer too.

costs about £5 from wickes, known as a 'waste pipe'.

I'm not much of a foam roller myself, i just use the pipe to crack my upper back.

[slowjoe]

Have you used it on quads in the 11 oclock and 1 oclock positions?

Have you used it on your adductors?

Have you used it on the top of your lats?

Those are the spots I need to psyche myself up to really work on.

[NKT]

I've been using a 4" ABS pipe, a 3" diameter quartz sphere, and a rolling pin as my tissue-torture tools of choice for a while now. It hurt like hell at first but I adjusted pretty quickly. I've reached a point where it's not intensely painful but still nowhere near comfortable. The results are worth the discomfort for me.

I made it manageable at first by finding ways to take some of my weight off of the roller with the limbs not currently being worked, and slowly worked up to full body-weight rolling on the IT bands and thighs. I use the sphere to dig into the glutes and hip muscles, and I'm nowhere near full body-weight on that one yet.

[Wayne Riddle]

I got a 4" PVC pipe and took a yoga mat, cut it to size, and attached it to the pipe with spray glue. This was more to give some "grip" between the floor, the pipe, and myself. Works better then a foam roller did for me.

[Badman]

Ya I went to a building supplier the other day, they handed me a saw and a broken 4" drainage pipe and I got to work. I cut a ~1m section and have been rolling about three times a day on it for the last week. I roll my whole leg, quads, hams, adds, IT band and calf. Hurt like hell the first two days but has gotten significantly better since then. I use a field hockey ball for my feet, glutes and rotator cuff.

Improvement was almost instantaneous, man up and get on it.

[slowjoe]

Ya I went to a building supplier the other day, they handed me a saw and a broken 4" drainage pipe and I got to work. I cut a ~1m section and have been rolling about three times a day on it for the last week. I roll my whole leg, quads, hams, adds, IT band and calf. Hurt like hell the first two days but has gotten significantly better since then. I use a field hockey ball for my feet, glutes and rotator cuff.

Improvement was almost instantaneous, man up and get on it.

I use a golf ball for my feet.

Did you try a foam roller first, or jump straight to PVC? I'm interested in the difference between the two.

[Skander]

I took his advice and got a 4" or so PVC pipe - I've been rolling with it on top of a yoga mat to make it a little less ridiculous (and I have wood floors, so this keeps it from shooting out from under me). I also had used a foam roller at the gym a bit before buying the PVC. Some thoughts:

1) It works pretty well, especially on flat surfaces (legs, back) but I think the foam roller has the advantage on more curved surfaces, like the side and front of the torso, since it can conform to them better.

2) it definitely gives more resistance, which is good since a lot of the time it didn't feel like the foam roller was doing anything.

3) The surface of PVC is pretty slick, so it can be hard to keep it from slipping out from under you at times.

My feeling is that you can do one of the solution suggested above, of glueing the yoga mat to the PVC pipe, which would solve #3 definitely, and maybe #1. Personally, I think it might not be bad to have both a foam roller and the PVC pipe (and maybe a ball of some sort).

[Tom Campitelli]

The foam roller hurts really badly and the PVC pipe hurts even worse. Kelly Starrett also recommends PVC. If your foam roller is still in good shape, there's no reason to rush out and replace it. You'll get plenty of mileage out of the roller. If it starts to break down or get soft, consider something stiffer. I like that yoga mat idea as a covering to keep the PVC from sliding.

[LimieJosh]

I just use athletic tape. Works fine.