Product Review - The Stick

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So I got one of the "Stiff" sticks for Christmas from my darling wife and have mentioned it in many posts - yet I have never done a "formal" product review.  In case you are not a daily reader of my Blog  and found this site through googling "the stick product review,"  let me start out by saying - I LOVE THE STICK!!!  It is one of the greatest inventions in my humble opinion. (By the way, if you are not a daily reader of my blog, this is easy to remedy, just click the "Sign me up! button over there --->  )

I was first introduced to it at the Marine Corps Marathon Expo.  My family and I were walking around like tourists in NY city for the first time, when we went by the booth for "the stick."  The clever salesman asked me if I had any muscle issues - which those who have read my blog know my trouble spots are my calves. - and had me sit down.  He started on my hamstring, as the muscle groups AROUND the trouble spot all contribute - since muscles work together.  He then hit my calves.

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It. Was. Heaven.

The only way I can describe it, is that it was like a personal masseuse had appeared out of nowhere and decided to massage my tight, sore, and all-too-often-pulled calf muscles.  The video below shows how to use this wonderful item.  I have one that is longer and stiffer than the one in the video (no sexual innuendo intended,) as I ordered the one used on me at the expo.  He demonstrates wonderfully how to use it on your calf muscles - but doesn't show the hamstrings.  Luckily it is pretty much the same thing - just higher up your leg!

Injury free Running seminar at Binghamton University

I find it difficult to believe that there are many runners out there that wouldn't like to run "injury free.". I especially think that any runner who pulled their calf muscle five times last year AND got shin splints that hurt enough that even the doctor thought it was a stress fracture REALLY needed to attend a seminar called "Injury Free Running," by Mathew Nark of Plaza Fitness in Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany NY.   The evening of the St. Patrick's 4 mile run I had the opportunity to go to just such a seminar that the Triple Cities Runner's Club sponsored.  I was bound and determined to walk out of there with at least three big things I could change, and I was not disappointed.

Probably the most fascinating piece of information I got out of it was the idea of muscle activation.   Mathew stated something along the lines of (I don't have an photographic memory) "About half of the people I see come in for injuries - aren't injured.  They have muscles that simply aren't firing properly.  Think of an army with 100,000 people. If only 20,000 are working - then it isn't going to be doing its job well.  This is also true with Muscles - if only 20,000 of 100,000 muscle fibers are working - the muscle isn't going to work as well."  Muscle activation is the idea of increasing the number of "working" or activated muscles fibers.  Even if you only get it up to 60,000/100,000 fibers - you are going to be able to do MUCH more than if you were at 20,000/100,000.  He then demonstrated with someone who had a recurring IT Band problem (and stressed that this is not guaranteed to be someone's issue just because they have IT Band pain, but that it WAS worth looking into if you did) come up as a "volunteer."  With this person, he