Home General Training Discussions

anyone ever tried a compex or marc pro for recovery?

just curious if anyone had any personal experience using either a compex or marc pro for recovery. Seems like an interesting idea. I just dont want to be the first one to try it...

Comments

  • Funny you should ask, because I'm using my Marc Pro right now as I sit at my desk at work as I read your post.

    I cannot tell you whether or not my Marc Pro Works. What I can tell you is that I really like it. The guys I work with are all athletes and they each bought their own set of the pads and they all use it and like it. I primarily use mine on my quads (2 or 3 slightly different spots) or calves (outside, inside, middle) or shins (the small muscle that runs right along your shin), but right this second I'm using it on my lower back. I use it as a recovery tool. It's kind of a short "pulsing" type of shock that you can visibly see your muscle contract, but then like a millisecond later it releases. After 15-30 mins of this, the area just feels a little warmer and looser. Almost like you had a warm hot pad on or something. I "think" it does promote blood-flow to your tight muscles after hard workouts, which theoretically should cause better recovery.

    I have never used a Compex, but understand that it can actually be used as a workout as well. I've heard of people putting it on the muscle and keeping it contracted for a wile in sort of an Isometric exercise. This might be helpful if say you hurt your foot, but wanted to still give your calve or quad some training stimulus. I think you can also use it in a recovery mode as well.

    The Marc Pro is not cheap, but I certainly do not regret buying it.
  • Thanks john. I'd be curious to see how you felt the next day if you only used it on one leg. Any willingness to try that?
  • Don't know how scientific that would be, but happy to give it a shot after next week's long run.

    My only hesitation is that often, one leg happens to be a little more sore than the other for one niggle reason on another... would be hard to pick which one to do if that happens, but I'll see what happens.

    For the record, I'm never looking for a recovery from an 8 on the pain scale to a 2. This is more like if I started as a 6 it might be down to a 2.5 the next day if I use it and a 4.0 if I don't. Can I really tell this fine of a detail or is it all in my head? Who knows...? I also do a lot of other recovery things (or at least did more last yr in heavy training). But I'll stand by what I said earlier, I have no regrets in buying my Marc Pro...
  • gotcha. Good enough for me. No need to test if you don't think it would be conclusive anyway.
  • I have a compex but don't know exactly how to best use it. There are so many options it's hard to know which programs are best.
  • @Robert: Just got a Compex also but looking for advice oh how best to use...
  • Jimmy- I have a Compex Performance (the mid-level compex) that I'm looking to sell. I bought it for my wife for therapeutic reasons when she tore the meniscus in her knee and her quads were atrophying while in the knee brace and on crutches. She's squeamish and couldn't get used to the feel or look of the involuntary muscle contractions, so she only used it once. I probably used it 5 more times in different capacities. I used it therapeutically on my lower back, for strengthening sessions on my quads, and for active recovery on my quads and calves. I noticed the biggest impact when using it for recovery on my quads and calves after a hard ride or run. Can't quantify anything, but had a nice tingly, loose feeling when the cycle was done. I don't have any plans on incorporating it into my workouts, so it just sits in a closet. Bought it new 6 months ago for $579+tax, and used less than 10 cycles. Was going to list it local for $400, but an En'er can have it for $350. Let me know if you're interested.
  • thx michael. PM'd you.
  • I have a globus estim if you're furry then it's kinda of a pain because the pads gunk up with ur hair real quick. I also had to buy different plugs for the estim to allow multiple connections which allows you to get multiple muscles at once. As part of or rehab they use estim with heat that works pretty well. I used to use estim fairly often until I got a foam roller and/or tennis ball easier to use as the wires can get messy/tangled and ur stuck sitting until the session is over.
Sign In or Register to comment.