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A college basketball coach and sports lecturer, Tom shares his Yoback experience.
(Note: the following article is based on direct quotes from our interview)
Before
I've had back problems for years. Then during the 2018 London Marathon, my right calf tore at mile 16. The next step, my left calf went too. I did the Olympic-distance triathlon that same year and loved it, but lost all motivation in the second lockdown, and every time I've tried to get back into running since, my calves have held me back, always tight, no matter what I do. I'm six foot five and look like I train legs every day. I really don't. They're just constantly tight.
Since the marathon, I've developed Achilles tendinopathy, right where the fascia originally tore, and the odd bout of plantar fasciitis. I knew something had to change, but I'd already tried enough gimmicks to be wary of the next one.
The Turning Point: Why Yoback?
I saw it on Facebook and Instagram and was honestly a bit dubious: you see so much rubbish pop up when you work in sport and get served every fitness ad going. But a few runner friends of mine had tried it and said they felt it straight away, which counted for something. What really sealed it was mentioning it to Eilish McColgan. She told me she'd tried a couple and felt results quickly herself. When someone of that calibre says it works, you listen.
The Change: Life After Yoback
My back pain has genuinely eased since I started using it. I've started running again after losing all motivation during lockdown. I'm a college basketball coach, and it's become part of my basketball team's recovery routine too: I've taken it with us to Slovakia and Budapest. Players who once called the Myoscraper a "torture device" now go looking for it after training because it beats the foam rollers we already had.
It's spread through my own family without me pushing it: my daughter uses it for stretch breaks during revision, and my son, a goalkeeper, uses it too. The moment that really landed it for me was watching my mother-in-law try it: she went from "oh God, this is a bit weird" to genuinely surprised at how good it felt.
"Anybody who's ever worked on my calves know my calves are like an oak tree, and it helps."
As someone who lectures in sport business, I've got a view on where the whole recovery category sits on price too.
"The recovery market has grown exponentially in the last five, six years, like the Pulseroll leg stuff, but again, they're like 800, 900 pounds. Who's got that laying around?"
Used in this article
Yoback — £114.99
Now standard kit for his college basketball team's recovery routine, travelling with them to away games across Europe, alongside the Myoscraper for deeper tissue work.
See the Yoback →A Few Questions We Asked
Q: What was the trigger for you to get yours, your own injuries, or was it mainly for the coaching side?
"For me, so even though I don't look it, I quite like running, but I tore my fascia years ago... every time I've tried to get going again I've always suffered from really, really tight calves... I pulled up during the marathon bang on 16 miles, my right calf went, and then the next step my left calf went. I bought it primarily for myself and then my wife started using it as well."
Q: Did you find us on Facebook or Instagram?
"Facebook or Instagram, yeah, one of them. I was a little bit dubious because again, you know, the amount of ads and stuff that pop up... but I asked around a bit and I've got some friends who run and they're like, 'oh no, we've seen those', it's like you feel it straight away."
Q: How do you recommend it to someone, what do you say?
"I think I've probably described it as a unilateral kind of recovery tool rather than 'this is for running'... I think I just described it as a recovery device, really useful, so quick to use, because it's literally slide on it, go."
What Changed Over Several Months
- Long-standing chronic back pain significantly eased
- Returned to running after losing motivation during lockdown
- Adopted by his entire college basketball team, including on away trips across Europe
- Became a household tool used by his wife, daughter and son
