The Hypervolt Is Great for Some People, but a Punisher for Others
Every few years, technology gifts us a praise-worthy upgrade in the electronic massage-tool department. This year my most coveted self-massage tool, the Brookstone (double headed) Thumper, is being demoted to my guest room bedside table. To replace it, I have chosen the uber-quiet, super-sexy Hyperice Hypervolt.
I took this veritable “jack hammer” for a spin this holiday and tried it on some close relatives and I will warn you, right up front, that most everyone I used it on absolutely hated it and said it made them sore immediately. One reason, I am guessing, is because I haven’t learned how to finesse it yet; I always avoid boney prominences, of course, but I still may have pushed too hard and used it too long on their tight, weak, dehydrated muscles… But, I also think that it’s because not everyone can take the intensity of its super power. Depth like this is something that one has to titrate into. Personally, I have been rolling on hardcore fascia rollers and therapy balls for years now. And, since I actually teach a form of self-induced vibration therapy called Therapeutic Tremoring, vibration is something I am highly acclimated to and enamored of.
In contrast to my family’s (see Mary’s profile here) unpleasant experience with my new toy, when I used the Hypervolt on myself for the first time and targeted some of my more stubborn trigger points and ancient fascial adhesions, it worked like a magic wand. A couple of glides over the problem areas and my pain was deleted like a misplaced phrase in a Word doc. This tool is so intense and works so well, that I actually have to adjust to using it less for a change.
In the future, I am hoping to learn to use the Hypervolt on clients — to effect the kinds of changes I have achieved on myself — but, I will first need to find some willing guinea pigs to extract the secret to finding the Goldilocks zones on others.
In a nutshell: I highly recommend this tool for the seasoned and the skilled… but I also highly caution against it for the precious or untrained.
