Perhaps the most relatable Tiger Woods has ever been to the average golfer is revealing his daily dealings with pain after all his body has been through. Most people, however, don’t have a team to help them recover each day to compete in the Masters.
Compex, a Swiss brand with more than 30 years in physiotherapy, pain treatment and sports training, offers a muscle-stimulation device that puts warmup, recovery, injury prevention, strength training and pain management in the palm of your hand. Its wired 3.0 muscle stimulator technology paired with an improved user experience assists in relieving pain, increasing strength and faster recovery, with three kits to suit different levels of athlete capabilities: Sport Elite, Performance and Edge.
"Electrostimulation can be a very effective way to help improve different muscular qualities without cardiovascular or mental fatigue and limited stress on joints and tendons,” said Michael Mechling, U.S. senior sales and marketing manager at Compex. “In some ways, muscle stimulation is a ‘best-kept secret’ and we hope to change that by educating more people of all athletic levels about how to improve their training experiences by feeling stronger and better.”
Each stimulator comes with a noninvasive TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) kit, which connects the electrostimulation device to the user via thin wires and adhesive pads to help stimulate nerve fibers by means of electrical impulses transmitted by electrodes. The various Compex Sport Elite 3.0 programs (number of impulses per second, contraction time, rest time, total program time) subject the muscles to different types of work via a comfortable frequency.
The compact, portable stimulator features a water-resistant silicone sleeve to improve grip and protect against sweat and spills. It has an improved and easier-to-use LCD display, center navigation button and integrated pad-placement suggestions and operates up to eight hours with a lithium-ion battery that easily can be recharged with the USB cable provided. Setup and operation is simple: insert the color-coordinated cords, power up the device, place the electrodes and choose a program.
The Sport Elite 3.0 ($349.99) – designed for the high-performance competitive athlete – offers 10 programs covering endurance, resistance, strength, explosive strength, pre-warmup, training and active recovery, competition recovery, muscle relaxation/massaging, potentiation and pain relief.
The Performance 3.0 model ($249.99) has six programs, including one warmup, three strength, one recovery and pain relief. It’s for athletes who frequently compete or consistently participate in activities.
The Edge 3.0 kit ($149.99) has four programs – endurance, resistance, training/active recovery and pain relief – for those just getting started.