Review: Yoga Tune-Up Alpha Ball

Also available in a twin pack.

The Alpha Ball is a self-care, self-massage tool. It's meant to be paired with Jill Miller's book The Roll Model, but even without it, it's an excellent tool.

The ball measures 3.5" and is made of rubber. It is both soft and firm - just soft enough for some give but firm enough to get a real massaging effect.

It's hard to describe how useful this ball is. At 3.5", it's small enough to get into tight spots, but large enough to hit a big area even on larger muscle groups. The surface of the ball is just grippy enough to let you twist and grip skin. This allows you to pin and isolate the areas underneath you want to work on. Unlike a smoother ball, it won't easily "squirt" out from its position between your limbs, between you and the wall, between you and the floor, etc. Unless a harder ball, it won't so easily bruise tender tissues.

It's not cheap, but it's so useful it only seems expensive. It's quite durable, although they will wear out. That said, my original ball has seen daily use for eight months by many people and hasn't shown any signs of ill use.

Overall: This is one of the best equipment purchases I have ever made. I bought one for myself, one for my gym to use with clients, and I've purchased one for almost every one of my clients and several of my friends. It's just the right size for so many movements. Several clients of other coaches who have used my ball at the gym purchased their own. Highly recommended.