Don't be fooled by its minimalist, no-frills appearance: A foam roller is one of the most valuable, inexpensive, and versatile pieces of gym equipment out there, says Lauren Borden, a certified structural integration practitioner and founder of Mind Body Manhattan in Manhattan Beach, California.
It can help release tension in your connective tissues and work out kinks and knots in sore muscles (a good stand-in when a hands-on massage doesn't fit your schedule or budget). Plus, it can be used as a strength-training tool, helping to engage key muscles you want to tone, like your arms, abs, thighs, and butt. Because the foam roller is a curved, unstable surface, it can replace a BOSU trainer or stability ball in many exercises to improve your balance and fire up your core muscles. And the roller can even be used to mimic some of the same moves done on the Pilates Reformer to tone and stretch muscles and improve posture, giving you that long, lean look.

Try this total-body foam roller workout, created by Borden, three to five times a week.