Homemade Foam Roller

Have you used a foam roller before? It's almost like having a personal massage therapist. My IT (iliotibial) band, a muscle that runs down the outside of the leg, gets really tight all the time, so I use a foam roller at the gym quite a bit.

This morning I wanted to use one, but I'm not at the gym and didn't want to run to the store for a foam roller. So I made up my own version.

I pulled my yoga mat out of my closet and three cans of green beans out of my pantry. Then I rolled the cans up in the yoga mat and secured it closed with the band that came with my yoga mat. It worked like the real thing!

Tips:

• If you want to buy one, the cheapest I found online was through Amazon.com for $6 (+ shipping).
• The nice thing about having your own is that you don't have to share sweat and body fluids with others at the gym.