Roll Recovery R8 Plus Review

Tired, sore legs can be a buzzkill. But what if you had a way to massage them like a pro with a personal deep tissue massage at any time? That’s just what the Roll Recovery R8 Plus is for — to break down sore tissue and also warm muscles up ahead of your next activity.

Roll Recovery R8 Plus Massager Features:

• Includes standard rollers (softer or aggressive rollers available)
• Integrated, patented mechanism
• Adjustable massage force
• FDA Registered Medical Device
• Targets IT-bands, quads, hamstrings, calves, shins, glutes, arms and more
• MSRP: $169

Oh yeah… roll it out!

Roam rollers, massage guns and more are all staples these days. After a long ride or run, those muscles can be pretty sore and the best way to recover is to break up those tissues and allow for better blood flow to allow your body to heal. You’ve seen professional athletes get their “sports massage” after a game or a race, but we don’t have that luxury. Instead, we have a variety of tools at our disposal to improve our performance and to stay in tip-top shape.

Roll Recovery focuses on recovery tools for athletes to soothe and massage their own bodies to reduce soreness and the common aches and pains associated with training. As a cyclist and trail runner, primarily, my body can succumb to overuse stress — particularly those IT-bands, which get tight and wreak havoc if unchecked. Outside of that, my lower back calves and quads can also remind me that I’m no spring chicken anymore. Aside from the massage gun and a back roller, the Rock Recovery R8 Plus has been a great tool.

This contraption may seem funky, but it’s pretty straightforward. The dual parallelogram design allows the rollers to adapt to and apply pressure on your extremities. The primary use is for hamstrings, quads and IT-Bands, but calves and arms are also on the table.

My primary experience has been using the R8 Plus on my legs. Rolling it onto my thighs, it’s like having a masseuse apply deep pressure around my muscles and tendons. Tightening the knob increases pressure and allows me to dig even deeper. The unit can be rotated around the leg and I really appreciated focusing on the IT-band as it approaches my knee. Using this regularly has provided needed relief after activities and prepped my muscles before leaving for hard efforts.

If your legs are particularly sore, dialing it back will help. My daughter is a competitive dancer and the first time she tried it, she was grimacing in a good way as it broke up those sore muscles. For me, I like putting my foot on a step and rolling my thighs with constant, hard pressure. The beauty of the design is it can be stretched out to also roll the lower glutes.

Personally, I haven’t found it to be particularly useful for rolling out my calves. A massage gun or a softball is better at targeting that area. You can use the R8 Plus to squish your calves from the outside, but placing the roller on the front/back of your calf/shin is a painful endeavor as it really hurts my shins. In addition, you can use it on your forearm and biceps if you’ve spent too much time at the gym.

The Good

• A great way to get a leg massage
• Can focus on those tight IT-bands
• Adjustable pressure
• Parallelogram design adapts to your body and stretches to reach areas
• Perfect for those FSA dollars

The Bad

• Only really useful for thighs
• Can be clunky (not easy to travel with)

The Bottom Line: Roll Recovery R8 Plus

We’re all looking for ways to recover after hard efforts to return the next day for more. Without tools like rollers, massage guns and the Roll Recovery R8 Plus, our bodies will never perform as well as we would like. With the R8 Plus, I’ve been able to roll my thighs out to reduce soreness and fatigue, and help break down those tight IT-bands. It’s a specialty tool, but a great one for cyclists and runners.

Buy Now: Available from Roll Recovery on Amazon