Chantel Nienaber

 

We sit down with trail runner and fitness fanatic Chantel Nienaber. She tells us how Compex helps her to attack those tricky South African trails.

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. We 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. I moved over to the fitness industry when my son was born as we realised that my fine arts was not going to help pay the bills.

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. I just had to be part of something like that, there was such a vibe at the event.

 

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. 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. Since then, I have since made use of my Compex probably 4/5 times weekly. I tend to alternate between the strength and 'reduce muscle soreness' settings. 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!