Meet Mike Mallory of RAD in Jefferson Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Mallory.

Mike, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started my career in corrective exercise, helping people with low back pain, etc. When you work in that world, it becomes really clear that the time spent outside the clinic is really where people set the foundation for healthy habits, injury prevention, etc……Most injuries are lifestyle-based, i.e., you sit at a desk all day, then go out to a co-ed soccer game on the weekend and blow out an ACL. Was it the soccer game? Or the eight years at a desk without stretching your quads? It’s a story that keeps repeating itself, so making tools to help people stay limber was a no-brainer.

Anyways, we started to really hone in on this and create tools to help people improve their range of motion in all kinds of ways, starting with the original RAD Roller. Foam rollers are a 30+ years old tool that never really had any innovation applied to it up until RAD came along. For years we’ve been trying to focus on making tools that are anatomically correct, easy to use, and portable.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think our biggest obstacle has always been public knowledge of how mobility-work can really improve their quality of life and keep them injury-free.

My dad had a full-knee replacement surgery a couple of years back. A few months before the surgery, I asked him how often he was stretching his quads, calves, and other muscles around the knee. His answer; never. This is so common! It’s years and years of not doing anything to combat many easy to fix issues. It’s not necessarily his fault though, because the medical system is confusing enough, and most of us have never received even the very basic knowledge of how biomechanics affect us on a daily basis.

Most physical therapists are just teaching people the 101 of how to care for their bodies, how to keep muscles long and strong, and how to bring balance into joints. It’s pretty simple stuff that most of us have never learned, beyond a couple of stretches in gym class. RAD is here to help educate people on how to start their mobility journey and provide them with the tools and education to do so.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We make myofascial release tools and education, which is kind of a fancy way of saying massage tools. Most of the time, when people try out one of our tools, they get this ‘oh my god’ look on their face, and then respond that ‘I never knew how tight my back was!’.

We specialize in making tools that really fit the body. Like contoured for your back, or combinations of tools for hard to reach areas. We make something for every little spot on the body, be it the face, the feet, the abdomen, back, everything! Most folks have an old foam roller at home they use for their back and IT band, but there is so much more to the story!

I think we’re generally most proud of customer feedback. When you fly to Hawaii and meet someone who has kept a RAD Roller in their backpack for the last four years and say they ‘swear by it!’, it’s a good feeling.

We really set ourselves apart with our high-end consumer and professional education. For consumers, we have the RAD Mobility app, that goes through hundreds of muscle groups in an easy to use package for anyone starting out. Our professional education has helped all types of professionals, from personal trainers to surgeons, learn about some of the finer points and research behind what makes self-myofascia-release so impactful.

What were you like growing up?
From a young age, I’ve always been the lego type of kid. Making lego cars and racing them down the driveway, then going back inside and trying to make them faster. The engineering aspect of the business has always been familiar territory.

Growing up as a teenager, I skied for Team Breckenridge for many years as a mogul skier, which left me with so many injuries that I took my spare time to learn all about biomechanics, physical therapy, etc. The University of Colorado at Boulder has a massive library of 4+ million volumes, which provides plenty of opportunities for self-study! I spent years poring over physical therapy texts, anatomy books, and anything else I could get my hands on.

Pricing:

• RAD All-In Kit $140
• RAD Roller $24.99
• RAD Point Release Kit $65.00
• RAD Muscle Flushing Kit $78.00

Contact Info:

• Website: RADRoller.com
• Phone: 866-247-3241
• Email: service@radroller.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/radrollerteam
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RADroller/

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.