Quality product that exceeded my expectations in every way.
Because of the industry I am in I am very sensitive to the way things feel and respond (haptics, tactile feeling, other sensations, etc.) - starting the second you pick-up the Etafor Pro it just feels great. In a world full of disposable crap bought online, the Etafor Pro feels like a substantial, well built little machine - excellent value excellent value that far exceeds the price.
I do endurance races (marathons, Ironman triathlons, 24-hour mountain bike races solo and I do endurance car races). To put things in perspective for you: I am 58 years old (a good race for me is to end up in the top 25% for my age group in marathons & long distance triathlons / top 30% - 40% in a sprint.... I have more of a diesel engine and do really good / win 24-hour mountain bike races solo. Where I notice my age is that it takes me much longer to acclimate to the warm weather in the Spring. Where I live, we go from freezing temperatures in February to the mid to high 80's in March - by April we could have highs that reach the mid-90's or 3-4 days when the temp doesn't reach 60 degrees. When I was 40, after my first 1-2 long runs / long rides in the heat, I was fine and never really noticed the heat after that. Today, I still feel like I can run / ride forever when it is cool outside but when our weather becomes warmer, it takes a lot longer to acclimate, long runs / rides in the hear are much harder and the first few months exercising in the heat make my muscles hurt much more the next day than even just 5 years ago.
On top of that, 6 months ago I changed my position on the bike - as I am ramping up to 50-70 miles long rides, I am very sore the next day. 12-15 years ago, I volunteered when the regional Senior Olympic qualifier bike races were held in our area - I left with a goal to race in the time-trial in the Senior Olympics when I turned 60. 8 or so months ago, I went in to get a new UCI legal time trial bike - I left 2-months later with a new bike, a new coach and I was in what feels like a completely different position on the bike. I did everything wrong with my triathlon bikes for the past 25+ years with the way I pulled big gears with long cranks - now I am in a new position, spinning lower gears at a much higher cadence with much shorter cranks.
This is what sent me down the massage gun rabbit hole.
It wasn't easy to make the change but right now, today I am much faster on the bike than I have ever been at any time in my life. To tell you the truth, knowing what I know now, I was in a very good aerodynamic position on the bike but my breathing / air flow was so restricted that I do not know how I ever finished an Ironman triathlon.
I spent the winter mostly on the trainer doing road race spin classes. In our area we have a series of long distance charity training rides....I did the 30 mile and 50 mile rides with no problems....the 70 mile ride hurt and it hurt bad. On paper this should not be the case, but on my last long bike ride, I was very sore even before I reached the end at 70 miles and for the next 7-10 days after that.
I don't think my neck, shoulders and lower back have ever hurt that bad after a bike ride. This is what made me start thinking about a massage gun.
A few days after I received my new Etafor Pro, on Sunday night I put my 3-year-old to bed at 8:30 PM and then went for did a 22 mile training run. The following morning, my wife was kind enough to massage my calves and quads for about 10-15 minutes - what a huge difference that made. I had carved out a little extra time in my schedule around lunch to go to the gym to spend time in the steam-room and jacuzzi - I could tell that I had done a long run the day before but I did not feel very sore so I swam laps instead.
I got a little stiff sitting in the car on my way home from work. After dinner, I took a hot shower and again my wife massaged my calves and quads with the Etafor Pro for about 10-15 minutes (maybe longer?) and I felt great.
Tuesday morning....I woke up and felt great compared to day #2 after long runs. I went for an easy 1.5 hour ride on my bike....after 10 or so minutes on the bike, my legs felt great.
This might sound funny but until very recently I have never been concerned about my age in terms of recovery times and how my recovery times will possibly affect my ability to do endurance events (I was thinking about doing a few ultra-marathons and, until very recently, it never crossed my mind that there will occurred to me at all that there will probably be a day at some point in the future when I will not be able to see some type of long distance that I want to do, train for it and finish it). Only time will tell but I think that my Etafor Pro massage gun (and my wife using it) is going to make a big difference in my recovery times....I am very impressed!