How to Use a Rolling Pin for Exercise

While I was younger, my dad would get Charley horses in his legs. Anyone that has had a Charley horse knows that these are very painful. His doctor told him to use a glass pop bottle under his feet rolling them back and forth to help relieve the Charley horse or even to help prevent them. He would get them once he would get home after sitting long periods of being a tester for telephone parts at the local phone company factory.

My dad also had back surgery and his surgeon also told him this same type of exercise would help with the recovery of his surgery at home. The reason being that the movement of his feet back and forth on the bottle would help strengthen his leg and lower back muscles after the surgery. It also would help with any muscle spasms he may have during any walking that was required to help with the muscle strengthening during his recovery time.

Nowadays, it is hard to find these one liter pop bottle to use for this type of muscle strengthening or relaxing exercise for the legs. I thought rolling pins, since they are still plentiful, would work in the same manner as the glass pop bottles.

With so many people sitting at their computer desks working in small cubicles, in offices around the world, and even at home, using a rolling pin for exercise in such a small area can help. Using a rolling pin for exercise can help with leg fatigue, achy lower backs, and achy knees, hips, and ankles from sitting for long periods of time.

Rolling Pin Foot Exercise

A regular sized wooden or plastic rolling pin found in any store will work for this foot exercise at your desk. Place a rolling pin on the floor under your desk where your feet go while working. Take off your shoes. Place your feet on the rolling pin. Roll the pin back and forth under your feet. You can do this in short, medium, or long strides. The strides of the rolling pin motion will help keep your feet and legs active.

This type of rolling pin exercise can cut back on Charley horses and restless leg syndrome when a person has sit to long in one area. Those who work on computers at a job out of the home or at home know that most often you forget to take the time to move around when you are working on a deadline.

Rolling Pin Arm Exercise

Look in the toy department for the small, children's rolling pins for the rolling pin hand exercises. The smaller children's rolling pins will work best with the top of your desk or on the arm rest of your computer chair. By placing the rolling pin flat on the top of the desk, you can roll the small rolling pin back and forth with the palm of your hand on the area of your desk for long strides. Using the arm rest of your chair, you can do the hand exercise in shorter intervals.

This will help with the muscles in your hands, arms, shoulders, and neck areas. By moving your arms in different directions across your desk with the smaller rolling pins, this can help keep your muscles relaxed while working on a project, reading your emails, or other jobs at your desk.

Rolling Pin Hand Exercise

Using the same small children's rolling pin, you can roll the rolling pin in between your hands to help relieve the muscle and joint aches in your fingers and some in your wrists. If you have two of the small children's toy rolling pins, make circular motions with your hands to give your wrists a break from the keyboard and mouse. You can also do a walking motion with the small rolling pins in your hands to help keep wrists from becoming stiff.

All of three of these rolling pin exercises can help you become a little more active exercise wise while you are either working at your computer or just plain surfing on the internet for fun. A little leg, foot, arm, and hand exercises will go along way with preventing blood clots in the arms and legs, restless leg syndrome, and tunnel carpal syndrome. I am by no means saying that these exercises should be used as a sole purpose for avoiding any of these health issues, but as a part of a regime that your doctor or physical fitness trainer has you on.