← Back to: We Rang 8 Customers Hoping for 8 Different Stories
Hadley, an NHS worker and first-time marathon finisher shares his Yoback experience.
(Note: the following article is based on direct quotes from our interview)
Before
An X-ray meant to check for a stress fracture came back clear. Instead, they told me I had a heel spur. I'd already had undiagnosed plantar fasciitis for months by that point. I've had massages before, been through deep tissue massage training myself, so I knew exactly what I was dealing with: massage guns, local sports therapists, nothing was really working.
I even tried to build something myself before I found Yoback. I've got guttering strapped to a wooden block, and I tried angled wedge blocks off Amazon too. Neither came close.
The Turning Point: Why Yoback?
I'd landed a ballot place, not a charity place, for my first ever marathon, London, and I wasn't giving that up. I needed to do everything I could to get myself in a position to run it. I saw Yoback at the National Running Show and thought: if I can feel this working here and now, I'm buying it and taking it home with me.
"Nothing hits home like your product"
I tried it on the spot. Compared to my homemade guttering, the difference was significant: more support under the foot, a much better angle.
The Change: Life After Yoback
I started using it three times a day at first, just to get the stretch in. Now I'm down to once a day on rest days, twice on run days: a stretch in the morning, one in the evening, five minutes each, then it goes back in its bag. It lives in what my wife calls "the junk room," always packed and ready.
The biggest change: I can walk barefoot around my own house again. After finishing physio treatment, I had to wear cushioned sliders just to get around at home. I haven't needed them since. I can't remember the last time I reached for the massage gun either. I completed my first ever marathon off the back of that training block, and I've since had two colleagues, buy their own after seeing what it did for me.
Used in this article
Yoback — £114.99
Used twice daily on run days for plantar fasciitis, the difference-maker after months of massage guns and a homemade guttering contraption fell short.
See the Yoback →A Few Questions We Asked
Q: Do you think it's the curve itself, or the compliance side of it, or a bit of both?
"I think it's both. I don't use it as regularly as I was, but I'm still using it regularly... I'm now using it once a day if I'm not running, or twice a day if I'm doing a run that day."
Q: So was the trigger the stress fracture that turned out to be a heel spur?
"I think the trigger was more, yes, there was a heel spare, but I knew that I had London coming, and I wanted to do London. I got a ballot place, it wasn't a charity place... so with the training blocks running, at this point, I'll give anything a go, kind of thing."
Q: How do you explain it to someone who isn't deep in the weeds like us?
"So it started because of where I have my heel pain. The lady is actually an admin for our group... I said, well, I had these insoles and they work well in my work boots, but actually what's really worked is this yo back, let's Google it up on the computer."
What Changed Over Several Months
- Completed his first ever marathon (London) after months of struggling with a heel spur
- No longer needs cushioned sliders, walks barefoot at home again
- Stopped using his massage gun entirely
- Two colleagues bought their own Yoback on his recommendation
