Training Articles
July 29th, 2009 TP Therapy Massage Products Review Over the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to test out the full range of TP Therapy products for self massage and trigger point therapy.These products are for self massage and treatment of sore muscles and tendons, but unlike products like "the stick" pressure is applied using body weight.
The two products I used the most were the quadballer and the massage ball. So the first thing I'll say is while nothing beats a great 90 minute massage every day, very few of us can afford such a luxury. These products allow you to get a nice recovery and injury prevention benefit with something that is easy to travel with and can be used every day, anywhere.
You can easily get carried away and spend a lot of time hitting various body parts. I focused on three for the most part. I wanted to hit my quads and my glutes and lower back muscles. They are the tightest and I seem to carry the most fatigue there - my calves and hamstrings never seem to hurt much so I didn't bother doing much work on them.
What I found that worked best for me was to use the massage ball and quadballer post workout. My routine looks like this: finish ride, stretch, then hit the ball and quadballer. I'd spend 5 to 8 minutes using the massage ball on my lower back and glutes and that worked quite well. Then I'd hit the quads with the quadballer. You can control the level of pressure with your body weight. I prefer a very aggressive deep massage and since you can control the level of pressure with your body weight I was able to get all the pressure I could handle - so about another 5 minutes hitting the quads. Lastly I'd use the quadballer on the bottoms of my feet, standing on it and rolling back and forth. That feels awesome and really loosens up the tendons in the foot. That was usually all the time I'd spend.
TP Therapy also recommends using the tools pre-workout, though I've found post workout works best for me.
You can also use a foam block and hit the calves, hamstrings, etc - there are a number of videos on their website with the different ways to use these things, but I kept it simple.
As you may know, peak performance comes down to doing a number of little things right. One aspect of performance that cannot be overlooked is recovery and massage is a key aspect of that. Spending 10 minutes/day with these products will aid in recovery, keep muscles loose and allow you to work tight areas to prevent injury. It's a little bit of work, but in my mind the time is well spent.
I still try to get a massage once/week when I can, and if I'm lucky enough to have my wife use the stick on me, that's great two - but neither can be done daily with any regularity, so these are great products to use and very cost effective.
Email me for a coupon code you can use on their website.
Cheers, Peter
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