Hartzell promotes bands to doctors

By Greg Gulas

The FlexBand inventor is speaking in Florida.

Two things Dick Hartzell has never been short of are belief and enthusiasm.

The Mahoning Valley’s inventor of rubber band training and owner/CEO of Jump Stretch, Inc., since 1980, his FlexBand training technique has exploded nationally and can now be found in nearly every training room.

Another use for his bands is in the expedition of the healing process for sprains and other sports injuries, a technique that now has those in related sports medicine fields abuzz.

Serving as the guest speaker at this weekend’s American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians in Weston, Fla., Hartzell was asked by the ACBSP Board of Governors to inform the group of his findings while shedding light on his unique healing technique.

“[Friday’s] portion of the program was unique in that I worked on seven doctors in front of the group,” Hartzell said. “Their aches ranged from knee, ankle, shoulder, neck and back pain to elbow tendonitis. After working on them in front of the entire group, all walked away pain-free and believing.”

Dr. Mike Shimmel, a chiropractor from Stow, said, “I met Dick in 1996 and I’ve been using his bands ever since. I must tell you that the results are nothing short of amazing.

“I’ve used other bands but Dick’s FlexBand is the absolute best. Originally we used them for athletes who wanted to get faster, but we soon found out that our everyday patients were able to keep their flexibility and balance when used on a daily basis.”

Co-author with Hartzell on the book, “Don’t Ice That Ankle Sprain,” Shimmel has been a bands distributor for more than 15 years.

“The medical community waits until you are pain free, but we’re a little more aggressive in our approach,” Shimmel said.

“Kids come in on crutches and walk out of the office without them. What we need, however, is more research to substantiate our claims,” Shimmel said.

Hartzell was the conference headliner and one of 10 instructors who addressed the assembly.

He spoke for two hours on Friday, four hours on Saturday and will conclude with a two-hour presentation at the close of the program today.