The Stick Review – Training Device for Jogglers

For Christmas my fabulous sister-in-law gave me a great gift. It’s a training device called The Stick. It seems like it will be pretty good and already seems to be helping keep my muscles from getting too sore. Here is a short review based on my own experience and research.

What is The Stick?

This thing is a stick, that looks a bit like a skinny rolling pin. The one I have is the Marathon Stick which is about 18 inches long, slightly flexible and made of a tough plastic. On the ends are two yellow grip handles and in the middle are 11 plastic rings that make it seem a bit like an abacus. It weighs about the same as a loaf of bread or 3 of my Gballz.

Why use The Stick?

According to the company website, the stick provides all sorts of benefits such as

• Preventing muscle injuries
• Improve strength, flexibility & endurance
• Reduce cramping and soreness
• Accelerate muscle recover

Apparently, The Stick converts non-compliant muscle to compliant muscle (whatever those are??) through the process of massage. You can read more about how it works here if you’re curious.

Basically, it’s an easier way to give yourself a massage. Massage has been proven to work for reducing pain and improving muscle performance.

I know with all the joggling I do, my muscles get sore. Heck, with all the hat balancing I’ve been doing, my neck and shoulder muscles are killing me. I should’ve thought to use The Stick sooner.

How to use The Stick

The thing doesn’t really come with instructions but I guess it’s pretty obvious. You hold it in your hands and roll it along your muscles. Fortunately, they have better use instructions here on their website. They even come with handy drawings and specific techniques for different body parts. They pretty much cover every place you would want to massage including your neck, shoulders, upper & lower back, arms and legs.

I tried the neck massage and after getting over that disorienting feeling you get when trying to pat your head while rubbing your tummy, I was finally able to do it. Of course, now that I re-read the instructions, I don’t think you are supposed to move your head when it says “scan”. Just put your head in the position, hold it and move The Stick up and down.

It feels pretty good right now.

The trick is incorporating this into your daily routine. This is the trouble I’ve always had with stretching. Sure it feels good when I remember to do it. But I usually forget. Hopefully, The Stick will show such great benefits, I won’t forget.

This actually would be a good 30-day experiment. That’s what I’ll do. For the next 30 days, I will use The Stick each day.

One other Stick benefit

Ah yes, the other thing this stick is useful for is balancing. Here’s a video which shows how you might use it. No doubt this will help improve my hat balancing skills.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwsLOHWHZq8 350 425]

Joggle on