I hate to admit this, but at 38 years old, I’m finally starting to feel, well, 38 years old.
For the last 14 years I’ve been woking for myself.
And most of that work, rather than being in my home office with an expensive ergonomic office chair, has been spent out of the house.
I always get more done when I’m not at home. Coffee shops are my office of choice, and let’s just say 14 years in coffee shop chairs at a laptop, hasn’t done my back and posture and favors.
As I’ve begun to feel the effects of this more and more, I’ve been spending more time on recovery.
I’ve tracked my fitness with a Whoop band.
I’ve used a Theragun for massage.
I’ve tried to optimize my sleep with my Eight Sleep.
But more and more these days I’m turning to the trusty foam roller.
This led me down an interesting rabbit hole to find out about Chirp.
It’s marketed itself as the ultimate roller and device for back pain. But does it live up to the claims? Or is it just another over-priced gimmick that went on Shart Tank for exposure?
Let’s find out.
What is a Chirp Back Roller?
I wanted to get the full Chirp experience, so I opted for the “Ultimate Back and Neck Bundle.”
This is a package of 4 different Chirp Wheels, a posture corrector, and a case for storage.
So what is Chirp exactly?
Essentially Chirp is a specialized roller to help with stretching and back pain.
There are different-sized rollers, that each serve a slightly different function.
But across them all, you’ll find that they’re coated in rubber around a durable plastic wheel.
There’s a unique design that allows it to sit right in between your shoulder blades, allowing you to comfortably (sometimes) roll up and down on the wheel.
The Chirp Wheel comes in 12″, 10″, 6″ and 4″ inch sizes.
The larger the wheel, the easier it is to use. The 10 and 12 inch varieties are best for more gentle stretching, and the 6 and 4 inch rollers are more for very focused pressure and deep tissue work.
I love the pitch.
A convenient set of rollers that doesn’t take up as much space as a traditional foam roller, and is even better for your back because you can customize it to what you need with a different size.
If you're looking for a suite of tools to help ease back pain and recovery, look no further than this bundle from Chirp. It's been fantastic for my back pain.
First Impressions of the Chirp Back Roller
My Chirp package showed up with the speed of Amazon Prime. It was less than 48 hours from when I ordered it on the Chirp website to when it arrived on my front porch.
It didn’t take long to fall in love with some of the branding as the box read “Natural White All-Purpose Flour.” And then in fine print says: “Surprise! It’s not flour. We just put that on the box so nobody steals it.”
I’m not sure it’d actually do anything to deter theft, but it was a cute touch.
Inside the box, there wasn’t any super special packaging or anything like that.
It was just the 4 rollers stacked like nesting dolls, the posture corrector, and the storage bag.
I immediately grabbed the largest roller, went to my living room, and proceeded to start rolling out my back.
You may have seen some of their promotional videos (see their homepage). In them, they show regular people on the street using a Chirp Wheel, while a specifically placed microphone captures the sound of their back cracking over and over again.
Within 5 seconds of using Chirp, my back was experiencing the same thing.
It felt great.
If you’re not used to using a roller or if your balance isn’t the best, it’ll take a little while to get used to using a Chirp back roller.
It requires a little bit more balance than your standard foam roller, but overall is pretty easy to use.
The included instruction manual is also very clear and well done.
The product itself feels very durable and well-built – honestly more so than I was expecting. But for the premium price, this is nice to see.
The wheels also are very attractive with a combination of teal green and black rubber that makes for a nice aesthetic.
But the most important question is: how do they perform?
Does the Chirp Back Roller Actually Work?
When it comes to a traditional foam roller, I’ve had a few issues.
The first issue happened with the last one I purchased. It had little textured dots on it, that I didn’t think anything of.
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