MORE THAN A GYM: Athletic Wellness Offers Performance Recovery For All
owner Vince Furby has mentored many student-athletes across the valley since 2015
“If you have a body, you are an athlete.” This quote by Nike co-founder and track and field coach Bill Bowerman adorns the wall of Athletic Wellness ( 2914 London Road, Eau Claire), where owner Vince Furby created a space focused solely on athletic recovery.
“If you're human, whatever you do in life, it's athletic,” Furby said. “If you are a desk worker, a stay-at-home mom, a coach – whatever. You don't have to initially be playing a sport to be an athlete. Every human is an athlete.”
There are several highly effective and popular services at Athletic Wellness, including Normatec Compression, which allows compressed air to massage your legs and improve your circulation, lymphatic drainage, range of motion, and increase flexibility; percussive massage that uses a Theragun to help relieve pain and sore muscles; Electrical Stimulation helps contract muscles through a wire connected to an electrical stimulation machine; and the infrared sauna that helps with sleep, sore muscles, inflammation, circulation, and cardiovascular health using red light therapy.
Furby, a resident of Eau Claire since 2010, was coaching for the Eau Claire Memorial High School Football team when he realized there wasn’t enough space or the proper equipment available to help the team recover and avoid burnout. The idea for Athletic Wellness was struck then and became a reality when he got the keys for the space this February.
“I tried to use the athletic trainer room for ice baths and stuff, and it was gonna make a mess and we didn’t have enough space to work on 10 to 15 athletes at a time,” Furby explained. “So I was like, well, I want to eventually get a space big enough where I can host teams and stuff like that.”
Furby’s background in athletics is a long and impressive one, he himself being an athlete for 21 years straight and learning almost everything he knows about recovery from some of the greats; Lebron James, Steph Curry, Tom Brady, etc. He studied under Mark Ellis, the former strength and conditioning coach for the Minnesota Vikings. During that time, he was able to shadow Ellis daily and work on athletes like De’Vondre Campbell, Amari Rodgers, Romeo Doubs, and more.
Athletic Wellness has both membership and walk-in options, depending on your needs and budget. No matter your athletic level, making sure you are probably recovered is a very important step in your fitness journey.
Learn more about Athletic Wellness and see the membership options at athwellness.com.