Trail Running

The Compex team are delighted to welcome Pau Capell to our roster of athletes. Pau is a 2x Ultra Trail World Champion and will now have an army of Compex training and recovery products to help him #FeelNextLevel.

We sat down with Pau to discuss his life, career and new affiliation with the Compex brand.

Compex: Welcome to the Compex Team, Pau! Please could you explain to the Compex audience something about yourself? What is your background? 

Pau: I am a professional Trail Running athlete and also an engineer, but I never got to work on it. After recovering from a cruciate ligament and meniscus injury at the age of 20, I discovered Trail Running and from then on I discovered a parallel reality. I have always been very athletic, loving both football and tennis. This quote chases me: "Fight for your goals and love what you have”. I think it is essential to have a strong balance between the dreams that you have and the people with whom you want to achieve them. For me, family and friends are the most important things, so if they can they always accompany me to the races.

Compex: How did you get into doing sports?

Pau: It all started because of my parents. I remember being a kid and practicing sports with them. I have always played football and tennis, always at the amateur level, but the best thing was practicing them with my parents and brothers and being able to share this passion with them. In addition, I am passionate about the sea and I have also competed in sailing.

Compex: Which Compex products do you normally use?

Pau: I use muscle stimulation to recover from intense training sessions, but I hope to use all the products that Compex has recently released on the market.

Compex: How does Compex help you find the competitive edge?

Pau: In recovery, a lot!

Compex: Tell us a quote that describes your way of life

Pau: Fight for your goals and love what you have.

Instagram: @paucapell
Facebook: Pau Capell

We met up with Compex athlete, Tom Evans, a rising star in the ultrarunning world to find out how he is getting on and how Compex is helping to take him to a new level.

Compex: Tom, please tell us a little bit about yourself and what you're currently in training for.

Tom: Sure, so I've been running for the last year professionally, both ultrarunning and trail running. Currently I'm in training for the trail running World Championships representing Team GB (Tom would finish a fantastic 3rd place at the 2018 edition). 

Compex: That sounds great and best of luck for it - how did you get into the world of ultra/trail running?

Tom: I had a couple of friends who did Marathon Des Sables in 2016 and I bet them that I could finish in a higher position than they did. One thing led to another and I ended up finishing 3rd! Subsequently I've raced all over the world, most recently in Costa Rica. After that, I decided to turn full time to try and put British ultrarunning back on the map.

Tom Evans using his Compex device to fight off lactic acid.

Compex: Wow, that's quite a story and it sounds like your improving with each race. How does your Compex device help you reach a new level, and when do you use it?

Tom: After a hard day's running, the build up of lactic acid stays in the muscles. I use Compex to flush my muscles with fresh blood and oxygen that then allows me to recover faster, so that I can train harder (using the Training Recovery programme). I use Compex a lot when I'm travelling, I can use it on flights so I can keep training at my limits in order to improve and be the best athlete that I can be. 

Compex: Great, thanks for chatting to us Tom, and best of luck with the training and racing!

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.

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!

Compex: Hi Florian, great to meet you! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Florian: Hi Compex! Sure, I belong to the Compex Austria team, although I live in Germany. I come from the "flat land" around Hanover and went to study in Göttingen on the south Lower Saxony Region. There, I have worked as a teacher for English, Spanish and Sport for almost 10 years.

Compex: Great to know! What sport do you do and how did you get into it?

Florian: I'm a trail runner, where I'm originally from the classic track and field. Currently , I am only on trails and prefer to run the distances between 30 and 60 km, where I have already started several times at world championships.

Compex: Which Compex program/s do you use? 

Florian: I use the recovery and strengthening programs of Compex SP 8.0, mostly for the trunk and leg muscles. Due to the large selection of programs, I change the ones I do very frequently.

Compex: Awesome, thanks so much for sitting down with us Florian, viel glück!

Florian: Danke!

Compex: Hey there, Spiros - can you let our readers know a little bit about you?

Spiros: Hello Compex, I am from a small island in Greece called Angistri. I have studied in the UK and I have a degree in Sports and Exercise Science as well as a Masters in Sports Nutrition. For the past two years I have been working as a professional trail ultra runner. I am part of the Compex Greece team. 

Compex: What sport do you do and how did you get into it?

Spiros: The sport I am involved in is ultra running, and in particular trail ultra running which means running distances that exceed that of 42.2km in mountains and deserts. I have taken part in many 100 mile races including the toughest race in the world which is the Marathon Des Sables (256km in the Sahara desert in 7 days). I got into running as I found it’s a good way of solving life’s problems as well as getting inspiration and getting a better quality of life. My biggest achievement of my short 2 year running career is that I managed to raise £8000 for the charity "Hope for Children". 

Compex: Wow that's amazing and well done on raising that money! How does Compex Muscle Stim help you to find a competitive edge?

Spiros: Compex is my favorite gadget as I can carry it with me anywhere I want without making life hard as well as using it on the go. I mainly use it to recover after long running days in the mountains and after hard strength training sessions. Compex has the ability to shorten the recovery length which is another positive fact about Compex.  Last but not least, Compex is a great tool for increasing aerobic capacity. 

Compex: Which programme/s do you use?

Spiros: Depending on how hard my training sessions are I use the "training recovery" or "competition recovery" programs to get rid of the fatigue and relax my muscles faster and more efficiently. Another program I use is the "capilarization" which is a great alternative way to train your body. Additionally, Compex is with me at the end of a hard day with the program "Reviving & Relaxing Massage" offering me the relaxation I need. 

https://www.instagram.com/logothetis_trail_running/

https://www.facebook.com/spiros.logothetis.5

Compex: Hey George, great to meet with you - please give our readers a snapshot of you and your background?

George: Hello Compex! I am from Greece, and have mostly lived in Athens. I am affiliated to Compex Greece Team. Since I was 12 years old, I have been training in the track & field sport.

Along with my athlete career, I am coaching other athletes who want to improve their level, or be competitive athletes. I lead a crew of multi-sport athletes, providing them with the programming and guidance needed. 

Compex: Wow, sounds like you're a busy guy, George? What sport do you do and how did you get into it?

George: Two years ago, I decided to challenge myself again and I started trail running, road running and Duathlon.

I've been fortunate enough to collect many achievements in my career, and have been ranked among the best athletes in road, stadium and mountain races. It is a fact that these different running fields are difficult to be combined in such a competitive level.

I would definitely highlight my presence for more than 10 times, among the 6 best athletes of the National Track & Field Championship, including certain Duathlon championships.

Recently I was nominated for the 2nd place at the ‘National Mountain Race Championship’. This podium place, gave me the ticket to the ‘European Mountain Championship’ in Switzerland on July 2019.

During the last 5 years, I have won a podium place in literally all races I have been competing (more than 15 races per year).

I enjoy challenging myself in running in every field, in any way. Just name the race.

Compex: Your consistency over the years has been admirable! How does Compex Muscle Stim help you to find a competitive edge?

George: Along with the super effective recovery, one the biggest benefits of Compex is that you can improve your muscle strength in a short time period, avoiding the skeletal strain that can come with lifting weights.

You can also workout all muscle groups separately, which is very important as Trail Running requires very strong legs, as well as core stabilization.

Personally, I am using a different strengthening program for every muscle group, depending on the needs of the upcoming race or target each time.

Compex: Which program/s do you use?

George: I certainly use the most widespread recovery programs, which are Competition Recovery and Reduce Muscle Soreness. Recently, I have been a great fan of Cramp Prevention.

After demanding trainings, races and muscle pain in specific muscle groups, I always use TENS – Pain Management. Especially in trail running, while running downhill, the leg tendons are highly stressed. In such cases, Compex has great results.

While training with Compex, I use different programs for all muscle groups, depending on the needs of the upcoming race. In terms of a high level training, I would propose 2 strengthening programs, which will work out different type of muscles, in one training. E.g Explosive Strength & Endurance. Last but not least, I love Capillarisation.