Discovering the RAD Helix roller was a beautiful moment. Packing along workout or therapy gear when you are on the road isn’t the easiest. In fact, it is often impossible with size, bulk or weight. But because it is so compact, the RAD Helix has become my own portable physical therapy kit whenever traveling.
Although a wonderful thing, travel can still take its toll on your body with all of the twisting, bending, carrying, luggage-lifting and extended sitting, not to mention awkward beds, bad mattresses, and hard floors and concrete sidewalks. Getting to the big fun takes time. And there is no quicker way to take the pleasure out of travel (or a planned adventure) than with a muscle spasm, a contorted back, or tight muscles that may even clamp down on a nerve.
Stretching is a must in between it all. But rolling is what saves me. I’ve experienced plenty of past travel pain — episodes of begging my back to get better, of watching my other half – the She of HI Travel Tales – head off into the woods for fun while I was hunched over in pain, applying sundry cremes with names I couldn’t read from pharmacies in assorted countries. It got better when I packed along a basic foam roller despite its bulk.
All has changed. No more foam or other rollers for me: The RAD Helix roller ($49) weighs only one pound, and measures just three inches in diameter and a mere 12.5 inches in length, thus it is smaller, more compact and lighter than most others. The Rad Helix tucks easily into luggage or even a carry-on bag – although I’ve yet to get down on the floor of an airplane. My RAD Helix roller is a life- and travel-saver.
Made of a high-density foam polymer, the RAD Helix is soft enough for whole-muscle rolling yet firm enough for me to work out even the tightest muscle knot. It is my every-night-before-bed and sometimes every-morning routine to roll out my hamstrings, gluts, lower back and legs to keep me limber. The RAD Helix roller also works extremely well on tight calves, hips and quads and is WAY less painful to use than a hard foam roller.
The RAD Helix’s unique design with an indentation in the middle and two curved shapes on either side allows you to safely roll right up on your spine and onto your neck. She loves that part since her neck is her nemesis (although I get to carry the roller). The RAD Helix works so well (OK, you do actually have to use it, not just pack it along) that I haven’t pulled my lower back in over a year of traveling the world. And that’s many, many thousands of miles in planes, trains, buses, boats, automobiles, airport lounges and bad hotel beds, not to mention on foot.
Short trip or long trip, I now always pack the RAD Helix. Since I can’t do without it, it can’t do without earning our coveted HITT Seal of Approval for travel product excellence.
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