I know there is no substitute for expert hands-on therapy, but has any body on the forum have any experience of “The Stick”.
Is it worth buying for self treatment in between seeing a therapist, or any other self-massage treatment for that matter
thanks
It’s the poor man’s replacement. It works well enough but is not fantastic. When budget is an issue it’s an excellent alternative for daily management.
The stick, the poor man’s replacement? NAaaw… This is what I use for self-massage.
As speedkills refered to, it’s no massage therapist, but it is a nice tool when a therapist is not around. I think it is well worth the money.
You can take the stick and shove it…
The stick robs athletes of stretching time. Use a biofoam rollar or logic ball. It sucks.
I don’t disagree, but why don’t you like the stick? Does it not work?
just curious
So would you recommend stretching instead?
Using a rolling pin for the it band is ok and maybe the quad, but good oldfashioned stretching is key. It seems everyone drops what works to try what MIGHT work. No wonder people are jumping on physioballs juggling airex pads.
but stretching doesn’t address trigger points and it’s not too beneficial to stretch a muscle in spasm (PNF maybe). I’m not saying the stick is the way to address these issues. The stick is ok, but nothing special. I do agree foam roller is much better.
Why not do both (stretch and self-massage)? I think the foam roller is kind’ve difficult to use, especially post-workout. Some of the positions just don’t agree with me.
I disagree with Clemson on this one. I use the stick along with stretching. Most people can’t afford to get therapy all the time and this can be used as a cheap replacement. It certainly isn’t worthless. Don’t sacrifice stretching though.
i used to stretch all the time before practices and used to get all these pulls, all i know is now i dont really do that much stretching, i just use the stick before, durring, and after and i have much less injuries
for a guy who posted about “sore knees” I wonder kurupt. 
The stick is ok for IT bands, quads, and hamstrings, but very little it can do. It DOES feel better, but so does unprotected sex and we all know what that can lead to. :eek:
Carl, your analogies kill me as always. The stick is also usefuly for achilles and the calfs.
I work a 9-5 and train in the evenings, I have an hours lunch break and was thinking of dedicating this to stretching/regeneration. What would you suggest as being the best thing to do, Microstretching? AIS? Static stretching? Thanks
Yes. Like the adductor SMR. Its a workout just to hold the position…
Micro and static. AIS might be a bit of a work out you dont want to get back all sweaty 
I do this sort of thing while watching TV or any down time really mostly on my quads. The tighter my quads get from training the harder knee lift gets while sprinting …
First of all if you do any research at all, static stretching prior to activity is shown to decrease power output. Using the stick and dynamic activities such as inchworm, forearm to instep lunge, reverse deep lunge and twist etc. are good.
The foam roller or ball like others stated are your best substitute for Massage.
You can stretch afterwards.
Now PNF, AIS etc are probably not going to affect power output prior to activities but I have not seen any research on this so can’t really say. Maybe one of you scientific guys could comment on this, or do a study. 
I just wanted to post in a specific question. Is Clemson stating that static Micro streaching for example ( at home may be ) Would reduce the risk of injury??? That would be great if it was true. I do regular massage but it would great if there is something else to keep me from worrying during my sprint sessions.
Therapy and stretching is allways before or after training. For example post workout threapy is preworkout preparation for the next speed session.
My therapist uses two dozen massage techniques and countless forms of stretching to improve the function of the the athlete. I find that using Microstretching 60-90 minutes after training has helped a lot, while some athletes may need therapy in order to find improvements if they have cross-linkage issues such as flash. The older the athlete the more likely to have deep issues.
Preworkout stretching is best done by using a long warm-up. Many are starting off with dynamic flexibility and are getting microtears like crazy. Just because you are moving doesn’t mean you are warm. Doing lunges “far and away” will harm an athlete due to the tissues being cold. I prefer some light traditional means followed by some core and then dynamic work.