Recently my teammates reviewed the MB1 and foot roller, I would like to add my two cents.
As a long time user of a variety of tools to help with recovery and injury prevention, I typically have opted to use non-specific tools and jury-rig them for my use. This means using a PVC pipe instead of a foam roller (it hurts!), a lacrosse or tennis ball for leg work, and a golf ball for plantar work. When I was presented with the opportunity to review some of Trigger Points gear, I took the chance on the above two items.
As someone who has logged more than 5000km of running in each of the past 2 years (and this year will end up there), I have been able to do so by grinding any tight muscles with some sort of tool.
First the foot roller. I found this to be a nice massager, though for specific tissue pressure I was hard pressed to get into the nooks and crannies of my feet. Likely not designed for this, it was a nice relaxing roll while reading or watching tv and I will continue to use. I also “lost” it to my teenage daughter who is a dancer and loved the way it made her feet feel.
Next up the MB5, which I assume is related to its size. It has the size of a medium sized grapefruit. Different from my usual ball that I use, I was pleasantly surprised with its ability to work especially my hips and glutes with good effect. The “hard” core foam provided enough resistance to effectively massage the big muscle groups but had enough give that it wasn’t unbearable. I found this sized ball to be more effective on the larger muscle groups (hips, glutes, quads, hamstrings, back) but not as effective on my calves etc which I usually have significant knotting and tightness in.
All around I found the tools to be effective in providing specific massage and tissue “loosening” as described and would recommend checking out these along with some of the other products.
