Thera-Band Flexbar Hand Exerciser - Tennis Elbow Relief Bar
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Our Price: $7.50 Category: Sports See more product details |
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Description of Thera-Band Flexbar Hand Exerciser - Tennis Elbow Relief Bar
Thera-BandŽ FlexBarŽ is a flexible, durable resistance device with a ridged surface for enhanced grip during use. It is used to improve grip strength and upper extremity stabilization by bending, twisting, or oscillation movement. It has been research-proven effective for Tennis Elbow, offering a cost-effective treatment that requires no injection or expensive equipment. Thera-Band FlexBar is 12" long and is made from dry natural rubber in 4 progressive resistance levels to match user capability. The Yellow Thera-Band FlexBar takes 6 lb. of force to bend to a u-shape, Red 10 lb., Green 15 lb., and Blue 25 lb.The Thera-Band Flexbar is the ideal exercise tool for improving grip and upper extremity strength, as well as aiding in wrist, forearm, and hand rehabilitation. The use of the Flexbar is great for performance improvement in massage therapy, martial arts, and sports that call for grip strengthening. The Flexbar is well-suited as a physical therapy aid, helping provide soft-tissue and joint mobilization and also allowing oscillation movement for neuro-muscular and balance training.
The Flexbar comes in three color-coded levels of resistance, has an easy-to-grip waffle design, and works by bending the bar into a u-shape. The red bar takes 10 pounds of force to bend, while the green bar takes 15 pounds and the blue bar takes 25 pounds, so you can personalize your strength training to meet your needs.
Sports reviews of Thera-Band Flexbar Hand Exerciser - Tennis Elbow Relief Bar
Customer Review: Reduces Tennis Elbow
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
Two years ago I got "Tennis Elbow" while hitting a golf ball in thick rough. Trying to muscle the golf head through the thick rough applied enough "torque" to have pulled or strained the muscles (micro tears) at the very upper end of the outside of my forearm - right where they attach to the elbow. Not realizing what I had, I tried to ignore the condition for the first 3-4 months, golf season was done but I was playing tennis once a week. Finally, the pain and annoyance was enough that I started to search to find a way to heal it. Through the next golf season I did a number of exercises and streches, none seemed to help. I wore an arm band with a air pouch to absorb the vibration, which reduced the pain but did not seem to cure the problem. Finally, I found the Thera-Band Flexbar after reading the article in New York Times about the eccentric exercise. I started doing the exercise and felt noticeably better within a week. But still the problem wouldn't go completely away. The only way that I finally cured the problem was by not playing tennis and golf for a 3 month period, icing the elbow, wearing a compression band, doing the strengthing and streching exercising consistently, and doing the eccentric exercise with the Flex Bar (green). All last summer I was able to play golf and tennis pain free.
Unfortunately, over this past Winter I resumed doing bicep curls with dumb bells and felt a tweak in the elbow. Then I just recently started swinging a weighted golf club hoping to loosen up some before golf season started -- and the "tennis elbow" problem returned.
So now I'm back on Amazon looking to buy another set of Flexbars since I gave my old ones away to people to whom I had recommended trying the eccentric exercises. Hopefully I caught the problem early enough so I won't have to quit playing golf and tennis for the next 3 months.
Customer Review: A Good Tool
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
Most people probably haven't ever heard of eccentric exercise, which is the type of exercise these bars provide. Eccentric, or "negatives" as bodybuilders call them, are basically the lowering portion of an exercise. For instance, if you lift a weight over your head and lower it, the lifting is the "concentric" part, and the lowering of the weight is the "eccentric" part.
Without a doubt, this is one interesting tool you can use that will provide eccentric exercise for your wrist muscles. So what's the big deal with eccentrics? Well, there have been studies showing that when people with tendonitis conditions do just the eccentric part of an exercise, they get better. Problem is, there are tennis elbow studies specifically showing that if you do just the concentric (or lifting part) only, you get better too (Martinez-Silvestrini 2005). Therefore, eccentric exercise, as this tool most surely provides, will help tendonitis, but its far from a "magic" cure, and you can achieve the same results as doing "concentrics" with a light dumbbell.
Perhaps more importantly though, people with tennis elbow need to know that resistance exercise is just ONE part of what you need to be doing to totally get rid of your tennis elbow.
Studies on tennis elbow and eccentric exercise, such as the one I quoted above, had patients ALSO do stretching exercises and I know of no studies that have had people with tennis elbow do just eccentric exercise alone and they've gotten better. Therefore, suggest people with tennis elbow check out this tool, as well as books like Treat Your Own Tennis Elbow for a well-rounded program. Good luck.
Customer Review: The best way to treat elbow tendinitis!
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
I have both golf elbow and tennis elbow in both arms, which is pretty funny considering I don't play and rarely do anything with repetitive motion. I was treated with ultrasound, localized steroids, and given the standard exercises. Only the exercises helped, but I had to do them a couple of times a day, they only provided partial relief, and if I stopped the pain came right back and it would take a week or two of exercising to get them to calm down again.
I saw the article about the Tyler Twist with Flexbar in the NY Times, ordered the red one and consider it the best money I ever spent on a health care product.
If you go to YouTube you can see better videos of the exercises than were available in 2009 when the Times article appeared. Just search for Theraband Flexbar. The Tyler Twist and Reverse Tyler Twist are really simple exercises - quick and very effective. And I never needed to go up to the next resistance (green). Every couple of months the elbows start to get sore, I whip out the red bar, do the exercises and two days later the pain is gone.
If you have either tennis elbow or golf elbow you can't do any better than to use this product. Quick, cheap and easy - can't beat that. Thank you Theraband and Tim Tyler!
Customer Review: Good product, much better than Cando Bar
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
All the Thera-Band "flexbars are quality products. I bought all three stiffness red(light) green(medium) and blue (heavy), so that I could find the correct level for me to do "tennis elbow" "eccentric contraction" exercises. The green seemed about right for me, 175lb male. I also bought 4 different Cando flexible hand bars: red (light), green(medium), blue(heavy), and black(x-heavy). All four colors felt about the same. To check my sense of feel, I measured the force required to bend the bars to 90 degrees. The forces were as follows: red- 10.2 lb, green- 8.2lb, blue- 11.2lb, black- 10.4lb. The Cando bars appear to be trying to compete with the There-Band "Flexbar". Using my measurements the force to bend these bars 90 degrees are red- 2.3lb, green- 4.3lb, blue- 6.5lb. All the Cando bars are too stiff. It is clear to me that there is no concern about quality by the makers of the Cando bar. How else could one explain that a "light" red bar having about the same stiffness as a black "x-heavy" bar.Customer Review: The Flexbar is brilliant
Sport shop rating: 5 Stars
I was getting depressed because I thought I would have to give up tennis which I have been enjoying for 15 years (45 now). Had tendonitis on both arms for 5 months. 2 weeks with the Flexbar and it's almost gone. Only hurts immediately after playing but by the next day the pain is gone. I used the red for 1 week, the green for the 2nd week and I am now starting the 3rd week with the blue. When the red arrived the pain was so bad I could barely twist it even though my 11 year old can twist it easily. Within a week, the red was too easy. The green was tough and still caused some discomfort. Now after a week of that, the green is soooo easy and no pain. Started the blue yesterday and I can do with almost negligible discomfort. The inventor of this product deserves a medal.