Chantel Nienaber

 

Compex: Hi Chantel! Great to meet up with you - please let our audience know a little bit about you and how you into your sport?

Chantel: Hi there! I was born in Pretoria and met my husband while I was still studying at Wikts Technikon and got married when I was 21. After falling pregnant, I realized I would have to do something active, so I joined the local gym and started aqua aerobics. That is where my journey started, resulting in me becoming a personal trainer, owning my own fitness company and partaking in trail running.

Compex: That's so interesting - please tell us a bit more about your entry into Trail Running?

Chantel: So my path to becoming a competitive athlete was rather different.

Until I fell pregnant, I was a full time fine artist. When my son was born we realised that my fine arts was not going to help pay the bills, resulting in a move over to the fitness industry.

My first trail race was ?the five-day, 250km Cape Odyssey run in 2007. My sister and brother-in-law inspired my entry for this race they participated in the Cape Epic mountain bike race earlier that year. There was such a vibe at the event - I just had to be part of something like that.

 

Chantel Nienaber

 

Compex: A five day race on your debut, geez - well done! How has Compex Muscle Stim helped you to find a competitive edge?

Chantel: I was first introduced to the Compex by the EPT recovery team when going for a Sports massage. I had also been visiting my Physio regularly for rehab on my hamstring and she was using a Compex device to treat me.

One of the owners from EPT lent me a unit leading up to the Africa X trail race. I used it daily and started finding that the heavy, inflamed sensation that I had been experiencing in my hamstring was subsiding. After that success with the device, I decided to invest in having my own and have since made use of my Compex probably 4/5 times weekly. I tend to alternate between the strength and 'reduce muscle soreness' settings, with the latter helping to flush out any lactic acid build up after strenuous training sessions. 

Compex: We're glad to hear that you've had such success with your device, thanks so much for chatting to us!

Chantel: No problem guys, thank you!