Our current lifestyle has ensured that most of us spend a lot of time in our office, hunched over our computers at office desks. This has led to a lot of lifestyle issues. The problems of severe back pain and neck pain have become extremely common amongst working professionals. The yoga wheel is one recent innovation which has shown promising results in overcoming this problem. So here is a list of our picks for the best yoga wheel in the market today.
You can also refer to our posts on yoga wheel for back and neck pain, best yoga headstand bench and best yoga chair.
We have also written a post on how you can use yoga wheel for back pain relief and for overcoming neck pain that you can refer.
Table of Contents
Best yoga wheel- Our top picks
Here are our top picks for the best yoga wheel available in the market today.
Pete’s choice dharma
The Pete’s choice dharma yoga wheel is extremely popular. It fulfills all the criteria like strength, durability and comfort that are required in a good yoga wheel. The wheel also boasts of high quality ABS material that ensures its sturdiness and safety for the practitioner.
UpCircleSeven
The UpCircleSeven wheel is one of the most popular yoga wheels. It is highly recommended for back pain relief. The wheel has a high load bearing capacity. This means that you don’t have to worry about your safety while you are trying to get into the more difficult yoga poses due to extra sturdiness that it provides.
The wheel provides high durability and is completely capable of taking the complete load of your body during the deeper back bends.
There is a very thick padding that the wheel comes with. It comes in direct contact with your back or neck. This allows sufficient comfort along with impeccable support to your body and ensures that it gets the required cushioning.
The material used for padding cover here is also sweat resistant. This enables you to use it without any fear of moisture accumulation even during the more intense yoga sessions.
There are three different sizes of wheels which are available. You can choose the one according to your own stretching requirements.
Urbanft
The Urbanft yoga wheel is made of very high quality material. It also has a thick padding which provides added comfort to do the yoga practitioner.
At the same time, this padding ensures sufficient protection for your spine and neck. This reduces the chances of any accidental injury while getting into the deeper stretches.
ATIVAFIT Sports Yoga Wheel
The Ativafit Sports Yoga wheel is made of eco-friendly TPE material. This is very different from PVC which is usually used for manufacturing yoga wheels. In addition, TPE is also considered as a more durable material which provides higher stability to the yoga practitioners.
At the same time, it has an inner core of ABS material which has very high load bearing capacity.
The thick padding at top combined with its moisture resistant properties ensures proper comfort for people without worrying about cleanliness.
Shogun sports yoga wheel
Shogun Sports Yoga wheel is also a very useful yoga accessory which can help in stretching your abdomen, chest and back.
It helps you to massage your spine in a safe manner. There are three different sizes of yoga wheels available in the market which can be used for different bands. They can also be used to apply different levels of pressure on different parts of your body.
This wheel is supposed to be extremely sturdy, bacteria free and moisture resistant..
Gaiam Yoga Wheel
Best yoga wheel to buy: Factors to consider
The yoga wheel is one of the more costly yoga accessories which are available in the market. So the decision to choose the best one for you is a very critical one which should be taken seriously.
In addition, you are going to use the yoga wheel for the difficult poses like back bends and for correcting your posture. These are relatively tricky exercises and so getting them right is very important.
Here are the most important factors that you should consider before you choose the right yoga wheel for yourself:
Yoga wheel size
Most of the yoga wheel brands are available in multiple sizes. Depending on how deep you are planning to stretch, you can choose the right yoga wheel size for you. When you are just kick starting your yoga practice, it is better to start with the bigger wheel since chances of getting injured unwittingly will be much lower.
As you improve in your practice you can graduate to wheels which allow the deeper stretches. However, you can use smaller wheels for neck stretches to start with as well.
Weight bearing capacity of the yoga wheel
As a yoga practitioner you will be putting the whole weight of your body on the yoga wheel while doing a back bend. It will also come in direct contact with your spine and back.
That is why you should always take into account the weight bearing capacity of the yoga wheel that you are considering. This is critical because it is a support prop and it needs to ensure that it is sturdy and strong.
Most of the manufacturers give a maximum load bearing capacity of the wheel which you need to take into account. Any carelessness on this factor can lead to untoward injuries.
Padding thickness
Just like weight bearing capacity, padding thickness is also very important for you to get the maximum benefit of your yoga wheel. Usually these wheels come with a hard core covered with a softer material. This softer material comes in direct contact with your body and helps you to practice your stretches safely.
The thickness of this padding and the material used for it is directly correlated to your comfort during usage of the wheel.
Durability
Yoga is one of the more costlier yoga accessories which are there in the market. That is why you need to ensure that you are buying something which will last you for a very long time. Don’t forget to check the reviews from current users before you finalize the product for yourself.
Why have you yoga wheels become so important?
Yoga wheels have become very important with the current lifestyle issues of back shoulder and neck pain that a lot of working professional suffer from. This problem is getting aggravated by consistent issues with the wrong posture.
This is because we are not sitting up straight and a lot of us have got into the habit of rolling our shoulders while sitting hunched on our work desks. This puts a lot of additional pressure on our spines.
Yoga wheel is a yoga accessory which can be used for relief from nagging pain and for posture correction.
Since this problem is lifestyle based, the long-term solution cannot be based on treatment. Although, the best solution here can be regular workouts or joining a yoga class that you attend regularly. But it is very difficult for most of us to consistently commit to a yoga class.
That is where doing daily stretches on yoga wheel can be extremely beneficial for relief from lower back, upper back and neck pain.
Just some basic poses and stretches practiced regularly can make huge difference in these lifestyle issues that a lot of us are facing today.
Once you master these extremely beneficial yoga stretches, you can graduate into the more advanced stage with yoga asanas as like Dhanurasan and Shirshasan.
What are the benefits of a yoga wheel?
- Yoga wheel is one of the more recent innovations in yoga which help you with stretches. It enables you in opening up tight shoulders and stretching your body. As a result you are able to release the stress in your back and neck. This helps you in getting long-term relief from nagging pain due to lifestyle issues.
- A lot of us have a tendency to sit on our desk which leads to rounded shoulders and bad posture. Using a wheel regularly helps in improving your posture immensely. You can use the yoga wheel for a short time after coming back from office to overcome the impact of bad posture of sitting hunched in your office all day.
- As a discipline, yoga puts a lot of focus on an integrated self and overall fitness. By use of a wheel you will experience improved flexibility in your body. You will also see a reduced pressure on your back which will really improve your quality of life.
- A lot of yoga poses like Dhanurasan, Bhujangasan or Surya Namaskar need immense flexibility from the side of yoga practitioner. That is why novice yoga practitioners take a long time to master these yoga asanas. Yoga will can help you in accelerating the learning curve for these yoga poses. It is an easier and faster way to reap the benefits of this yoga asanas without risking injuries at the initial stage of your yoga practice.
- Even people who are intermediate practitioners have to be extra careful and use support devices for practicing deeper yoga stretches. For such practitioners, yoga wheels are a great place to start since they will help you to practice these deeper stretches in a safe manner.
- Usually new practitioners end up putting a pressure or completely discontinue their yoga practice when they encounter problems like back pain or neck pain, after trying a difficult yoga stretch.
- Relying on medication for treatment for relief from lifestyle issues is not really a good long term solution and a yoga wheel is a godsend for issues like this. With this you will be able to practice back stretches with a more assured mind.
- It will help you to overcome the initial apprehensions while starting your yoga journey. This will definitely lead to a more long-term and sustained yoga practice. It will not only strengthen your core but also improve your overall well being and quality of life.
How to use a yoga wheel for stretching?
Yoga wheel is a more evolved version of the foam ruler that was used by yogis to practice deeper stretches. It helps in opening up your chest and massaging of muscles around your spine.
To use a wheel you have to position the center of your back above the wheel between your shoulder blades.
The second step is to bring your arms to the side and get into a deep back stretch by extending your body. Practicing these stretches regularly will help in in a lot of relief from back pain over a long period of time. This will enable you to realign your spine and bring it back to its natural curve.
In addition to the back bends and neck stretches there are a lot of other yoga poses that can be practiced with a yoga wheel.
Conclusion
Although use of yoga wheel might not come naturally to initial users and there will be some apprehensions when you are starting. It is still better to start with initial stretches and practice it for a month. It is important to choose only the best yoga wheel available in the market since it is a long term investment and would yield immense benefits in terms of freedom from incessant problems like back pain and neck pain.
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