Recovery Tools Rated
I have been thinking a lot recently about the amount of cash I have thrown at recovery aids. It has made me think about all the various torture devices I have lying around the house.
I thought it might be fun to go through and itemise them and then review the effectiveness of them.
In no particular order ...
The pokey - proddy selection
Calf roller - put your foot on and it allows you to roll into a calf stretch. £9.99. Slips on everything. Complete waste of money, doesn't do anything dropping your heel off a step would achieve. God knows why I thought this would magically heal my perennially tight and sore calfs.
Long roller stick - because Ange got fed up with me rolling my calfs with our rolling pin. £15.99. Does roll the back of your calf but doesn't do anything, actually scrub that it does slightly less than a normal roller because you can go easy on yourself.
Lacrosse Ball - or just a hard maybe ball. £4.99. Gets into your arse muscles pretty well and works ok on your back and balls of feet. Probably most decent value for money you can spend on this junk.
Star pointy thing - £3.99 Decathlon. Waste of time, looks good but basically just a hard plastic proddy thing.
Platar roller - £4.99. Again, no real use except wasting space and becoming landfill.
Rolly hand held massager - £7.99. Again, doesn't really get anywhere a foam roller wont but allows you to be more of a lightweight.
This stuff lives at the bottom of our blanket box and comes out in times of total desperation only to be tossed back in disgust at the waste of money. Only ever needed because you haven't warmed up properly and hurt something!
Powerdot Portable Muscle Stimulator
Tens machine basically. You stick these sticky pads on your body parts that ache or hurt and zap them with electricity. 100% you feel something happening and 100% things feel better afterwards but I wouldn't say they have contributed to recovery in any meaningful way. £219 from Amazon. Will be back on eBay by next week at about £85. Seem to promote blood flow as it does have a positive effect straight afterwards, so my revoew may seem harsh but can't help feeling these belong in the 'why did i buy this shit category' ?
Back Stretcher
On the rack! This little device stretches your back and hip flexors by arching you backwards and stretching the spine and pulling up the hip flexors. £14.99. Yeah, I'd say this one is pretty good. Hip flexors are very easy to get into bad shape from sitting too much. This has 3 adjustments and you basically just lay on it for 3-5 minutes at a time. I have to admit I do like this. I use it if my back is tight and needs mobilising. Plus, I'm all for doing stuff that involves me not actually doing stuff.
Foam Roller (Various)
The classic roller, or circle of agony. If you let yourself get into a shit state then these things are your worst nightmare. I have several but these are the only 2 worth having. Plain foam roller for glutes and calf and the hard plastic nobbly bobbly one for hamstrings and IT band. Prices vary. I've seen ones with flashing lights and ones that vibrate for £100 but these are about £20 for the pair. Absolutely 100% worth the money and you definitely need one. Rolling is the new stretching (so science says) and worth doing pre and post run to stop your legs getting into bad state. Most important to use afterwards to flush out the bad stuff and keep the muscles smooth and stop you getting knots.
R8 Roll Recovery
This is basically a foam roller that clamps on to your legs. Was about £125 shipped from the states with taxes and all that junk. I love my R8 because it's rolling for particularly lazy people. You can't really 'back out' of the roll either. I basically use this before runs and do 50 rolls on the bottom of my legs and 50 on the top (each). For me it's money well spent and I've had about 3 years solid use out of it but it's definitely on the luxury list.
Percussion Gun
Basically a power tool that hammers your legs. In theory it's using vibrations to break down the shite and lumps but reality it's hammering away. Comes with lots of attachments for different things but in real terms everyone grabs the more firm round one and never bother changing it.
£99 on sale at Amazon. They came down from silly money when they were first launched.
Squarely in the 'make you feel better but do not fix you' category. Like having a light massage done, 100% you feel better after use but it's not going to repair pulled muscles.
Voodoo Tape
This was a new one to me (so I bought it anyway). Basically it's a long piece of rubber that you wrap around your tight muscle (for me calf). You wrap it and then do some eccentric exercises like toe drops to get a pump. It basically cuts of circulation so after 5 minutes when you un-wrap it pumps blood to the affected area.
Was £9.99 for a snidey Amazon one. Jury is out but it does make it feel much better immediately afterwards and I would say I can see why it possibly works (increase blood flow). Will keep testing this but there is a possibility I may be a fan.
Back Massager
Nearly forgot this little beaut! This one sits on a chair and massages and heats your back. £39.99. OK this one is in the luxury category. I actually like this when my back it sore if I have tweaked it. Reality - nah it's not going to fix anything but it does give a nice massage. Bit of horrible mesh over the rollers though so need to massage with a tee shirt on or it's like a cheese grater!
OK, so this (I think) is all the crap I have laying around the house. Really, and this is with the benefit of hindsight, you really need to put time into warming up and cooling down. You also need to manage your training load and not push too hard when you have niggles appearing. If you do all that, these things are mainly never needed.
I would say using a foam roller (or R8) both pre and post run will certainly be beneficial for pretty much anyone.
If you do get niggled, I would say stumping up for a thera gun is a pretty solid investment, even if it's just to have a cool toy. It will make things feel better and prolong your activity but you're probably better off looking at the root cause of what's going on - most likely a lack of strength in certain areas of your body.
The back stretcher is a good investment for me. I've had hip problems for years. I'm finally addressing the root problem BUT whilst I am doing that this is helping. Hopefully it joins the other obsolete pile soon enough.
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