Aletha Health The Set Review

Who this set is for

You know that move in the morning when you're getting a little older, your back's stiff, and it takes you a couple of steps to straighten up? I have that. If you do too, this is the set I'd point you to.

I'll use two of these tools for a few minutes in my gym, and for me that low back pain is gone. For that alone, the whole set is worth it.

I'm not a doctor and this is just my experience. If something is really wrong, go get it looked at.

Aletha Health sent me this set for free to review. No strings attached, and they didn't get a say in what I said.

Why I went looking for it

I've been a pro wrestler for over 20 years, and I've taken a few bumps. I also spent a lot of years as an on-the-road salesman, sitting in a car for long stretches. The next day I can always tell how tight my hips and my back are.

I'd tried a foam roller, a massage gun, a PowerDot, lacrosse balls. None of them really got rid of it for me.

Aletha Health had tools I'd never seen before, so I wanted to give them a try.

What's in the set

There's the Mark, which is a hip hook. There's the Orbit, which is a ball. There's a neck and trap tool with three widths. There's a fabric hip resistance band. And there's a book, Tight Hip, Twisted Core, by Christine Koth.

She's a physical therapist, and she's the one who invented the tools. That mattered to me. The way they explain it, you release everything with the tools, then you use the band to strengthen it back up so it stays where it should.

The Mark and my low back

The Mark has been a godsend for me. You put it right inside your hip bone and lay on it. Then you breathe into it for 60 to 90 seconds.

After that you push down on the handle, and it rotates in deeper. That's the part that makes the difference. You do two or three spots on each hip.

I do it first thing in the morning. I'm hurting when I lay down on it, I use it for a few minutes, and then I'm not.

It hurts at first

My first time, I wasn't sure I had it positioned right. Then I found the spot and put all my weight on it, and holy smokes, that hurt. A good hurt, but you'll feel it. It was like a burning sensation, and Aletha's videos tell you to expect that.

They say if you're new to this and really tight, you should start with the Orbit. I went straight for the Mark anyway. Then I tried the Orbit and thought, I probably should have started with this.

You can also ease into the Mark by setting it up on a flat surface and leaning forward into it, so you're not putting your full weight on it right away. My right side was a lot tighter than my left. When I'm in the car I lean to the right, and that hip always locks up more.

The Orbit

After the Mark, I take the Orbit and put it on the back side, up at the top of my glute, and roll back and forth on it. That gets the tightness back there.

The front with the Mark and the back with the Orbit is my whole morning routine. By the time I'm done, my back pain is pretty much gone.

The Orbit feels good on the front of the hip too, but it doesn't get in there the way the Mark does once you push down on the handle. My wife used the Orbit a little on her back and liked it.

The neck and trap tool

This is where I felt the most relief. It has three widths, a narrow one, a medium and a wider one. You put it at your neck, lay on it, and rotate your head back and forth and up and down. The different widths hit different spots.

It makes a world of difference in the tightness in my neck. I'm not even kidding.

I've had knots in my traps ever since college, when I threw the hammer, and it's great for that too. You can lay on it, or you can put it against a squat rack or a wall and lean into it. I liked leaning into it better, because it's easier to adjust the pressure. You can also dig it into your pec, right under the collarbone. I didn't know that was a thing that needed to be released.

The hip band

It's a fabric band with a non-slip grip on the inside, and it's sewn really well. I only went up and down the gym twice with it the first time, and my hips were burning.

Honestly, it feels a lot like other hip bands on the market. Where it earns its spot is after the release work. Any time I'm on a road trip, my hips get out of whack, and the band helps me keep them strong and feeling good.

Learn it from their how-to videos

There's a learning curve, and I'd be lying if I said there wasn't. What fixed it for me was the how-to section on Aletha's website. You pick your tool and it walks you through where to put it and what it's doing, step by step. That was super helpful when I got started.

They also have a quiz to help you figure out what's going on with your pain, a section on the thinking behind it all, and an app they recently launched.

Would I buy it again?

Yep. The Mark, the Orbit and the neck tool have taken away a ton of pain for me. If your low back or your neck is what's bugging you, I'd pick these up.

Skip it if you want relief without learning any technique, or if you can't handle a few minutes of a good kind of hurt. And if you're really tight, start with the Orbit. Don't be like me.