Having the right equipment is essential to helping athletes recover from an injury. Whether you’re looking to restock the fundamentals or to expand your inventory at your athletic training facility, here are the top 15 rehabilitation products to keep athletes performing at their best.
Key Takeaways
- Strength and stability training products are important for keeping athletes injury-free.
- Heat and cold therapy are common injury recovery methods every athletic training facility should incorporate.
- Resistance training products are helpful tools for regaining athletes’ strength, flexibility, and range of motion.
THERABAND® Non-Latex Resistance Band
THERABAND® CLX® Loop Bands
Cramer Rapid Form Vacuum Splints
THERABAND Pro Foam Rollers
Biomechanical Ankle Platform System (BAPS) Board
THERABAND Rocker and Wobble Boards
THERABAND Stability Trainer
THERABAND Stability Disc
Exercise Balls
Medicine Balls
Hot/Cold Packs
Instant Cold Packs
Ice Bags
Hydrocollator Heating Units
HIVAMAT
Top Products in This Article
1. THERABAND® Non-Latex Resistance Band
Resistance bands are one of the most versatile tools you can have as an athletic trainer. They exert both positive and negative force on muscles and joints to help stretch, tone, and condition all major muscle groups. Resistance bands are a great alternative to weightlifting1 and can help improve range of motion and flexibility in athletes.
THERABAND resistance bands follow the Trusted Progression System®, coming in seven different color-coded resistance levels ranging from super light to elite. With the dispenser packs, you can cut each band to the correct length for an individual athlete’s needs, and the non-latex option is a great alternative for athletes with latex sensitivities. Plus, they’re easy to store and transport in a gym bag or backpack for on-the-go use.
2. THERABAND® CLX® Loop Bands
With all the same benefits of the traditional resistance band, THERABAND CLX loop bands have the added advantage of built-in loops. This feature eliminates the need to tie knots and acts as a band, loop, tubing with handles, and anchor all in one. CLX allows athletes to simultaneously perform upper and lower body exercises and even to hold sport-specific objects as they perform rehabilitative exercises. The loops also allow for open hand, closed hand, object-holding, and no grip exercises. Overall, CLX bands allow for a more dynamic and multi-faceted recovery regimen.
3. Cramer Rapid Form Vacuum Splints
The Cramer Rapid Form Vacuum Splint delivers unparalleled value for athletic trainers and athletes. Stabilizing fractures and dislocations without circumferential pressure, reducing pain and risk of further injury. Its rapid vacuum-driven molding conforms precisely to anatomy, from foot to thigh, offering custom support and immobilization in seconds.
Lightweight and durable, it’s easy to carry and deploy on the field ensuring quick, professional-grade care in high‑pressure situations.
By enhancing immobilization efficiency and comfort, it empowers athletic trainers to improve injury management and return-to-play outcomes, benefiting both clinical workflow and athlete recovery.
4. THERABAND® Pro Foam Rollers
Foam rollers are a common recovery tool in athletic training facilities. Used both before and after exercise, they help massage and stretch muscles, break up knots, improve circulation, and combat inflammation.2
The THERABAND Pro Foam Rollers are made from highly durable closed-cell foam, a material that helps the rollers maintain their shape after repeated use. They have a wipe-clean surface for easy sanitation between uses, and they come in various shapes and diameters to meet various rolling needs.
5. Biomechanical Ankle Platform System (BAPS) Board
With knee, foot, and ankle injuries among the most common sports injuries,3 having something like a BAPS board is essential for your athletic training facility. These boards help strengthen the ankles by providing an unstable surface on which athletes can practice different ankle flexions. Weight plates can be placed on the board to increase difficulty, and different sized pivot balls can change the ROM height as the athlete progresses through recovery. BAPS boards can also help with gait, balance, and lower back strengthening.
6. THERABAND® Rocker and Wobble Boards
Rocker and wobble boards are great tools that work similarly to BAPS boards, but they work the core, legs, and upper body to improve balance and coordination. Rocker boards have a single, controlled plane of motion, while wobble boards provide 360º of instability. Both can also help improve sensory perception, response, and overall posture control.
Compared to traditional wooden rocker and wobble boards, THERABAND has lightweight boards made with durable, black molded plastic. They’re easier to move and store, and the molded plastic holds weight efficiently while in use. THERABAND rocker and wobble boards also have a specially designed tactile surface on the top and an anti-skid surface on the bottom to keep athletes safe while training.
7. THERABAND® Stability Trainer
Another great balance training tool for your facility is a stability trainer, an oval-shaped foam pad used for more than just balance training, including proprioception training, core, upper and lower extremity strength and stability training, ankle range of motion and flexibility training, sensorimotor training, and more!
THERABAND Stability Trainers are molded in closed-cell foam, with one side of the trainer having rounded points for sensorimotor training, and the other side with anti-skid bars that resist slipping for single-leg balance training. Each trainer has a wipe-clean surface, making it easy to keep them sanitized between uses.
8. THERABAND® Stability Disc
Stability discs are similar to stability trainers in quite a few ways, but they are designed to offer more intensity and instability than stability trainers. THERABAND stability discs are inflatable discs made of PVC and, like the trainers, have a dual surface design. They’re a great tool for activating the core muscles and improving posture, strength, range of motion, and flexibility.
9. THERABAND® Standard Exercise Balls
Another simple but versatile tool for your facility is an exercise ball, which can be used for core strengthening, increasing flexibility, and maintaining balance and posture. Exercise balls are great for recovery from lower body injuries or surgery, since many exercise ball drills target muscles in the legs and lower back.
THERABAND once again offers a great option for exercise balls, with five different sizes to accommodate different athlete heights. THERABAND exercise balls are strong and durable, tested with up to 600 lbs. of static weight to ensure user safety. THERABAND also offers a Pro Series, which you can find here.
10. Medicine Balls
A basic strengthening tool every athletic training facility should have is a set of medicine balls. They can be incorporated into many different rehabilitation exercises, including drills for total body, core, and upper and lower body extremities to help strengthen weakened muscles. Get them in a set or individually!
11. Cramer Flex-i-Cold Reusable Cold/Hot Packs
To help relieve pain or inflammation, hot/cold packs are an easy and affordable way to keep pain at bay after an injury. With the ability to be heated or cooled, hot/cold packs are an essential pain prevention or treatment tool.
The Cramer Flex-i-Cold reusable packs can stay flexible up to –4°F, making them easily conformable to any area causing pain. They’re also puncture-resistant, so they last longer and keep you from having to restock often.
12. Instant Cold Packs
While hot/cold packs are great for pain relief, instant cold packs are good to have on hand when quick relief is needed on the sidelines. These packs get cold within seconds – simply squeeze and shake the pack to activate. Each pack stays cold for up to 20 minutes and is single-use only.
Remember to place a barrier like a paper towel or terry cloth between the instant cold pack and the skin when using instant cold packs.
13. Cramer Heavy Duty Ice Bags
Icing is an important part of recovery for athletes, and if it’s not with cold packs, it’s with actual ice. Because ice is used so much in athletic training facilities, ice bags are a necessity. For durable, leak-proof bags, we recommend the Cramer Heavy Duty Ice Bags – they are made from strong polyethylene material, so they don’t need to be double-bagged and you use less per roll.
14. Chattanooga Hydrocollator Heating Units
When it comes to heat therapy for athletes, heat units are a must – they keep multiple hot packs warm at once and maintain the warmth as long as they are powered on, saving you time when treating athletes.
We recommend the Chattanooga Hydrocollator Heating Units, which keep a consistent temperature of 160° to 165°F (71°–74°C), maintaining optimal warmth for hot packs. Each unit features a low-water sensor that shuts the unit off if the water level gets too low, as well as a drain valve for when the water needs to be replaced.
15. HIVAMAT
If you’re going to have any modality in your athletic training facility, you should have HIVAMAT. It’s a modality that helps relieve pain, reduce swelling, and quicken recovery through deep oscillation therapy. This kind of therapy uses electrostatic attraction and friction to relax muscles, clear interstitial areas, and activate the lymphatic system to facilitate healing from all types of muscular micro-trauma injuries. The HIVAMAT can be used by itself or with vinyl gloves to enhance manual massage.
Recap
Having the right tools and equipment is important in athletes’ recovery. With these recommended products for your athletic training facility, you can stay prepared for any injury that may come your way. Find it all at Medco!
All Products in This Article
References
- Page, Phil. TheraBand resistance or dumbbells? New research supports both in the clinic. Performance Health Academy. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3Cd5VtS.
- Colba, Chris. (2019, March 11). Does foam rolling muscles work? The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3rEbqww.
- (2021, November 5). Top 5 Most Common Sports Injuries. University of Utah Health. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3RIM0bC.
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