Expert Bio – Dick Hartzell “The Rubber Band Man”

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Dick Hartzell, known as the “Rubber Band Man”, invented Flex Band® exercise equipment and founded his company, Jump Stretch, Inc., in 1980. He held numerous place-kicking records at his alma mater, Youngstown State University, that remained intact from the early ‘60s to the mid- ‘90s. He began his coaching career in 1964 and has coached at the high school, college, and professional levels.

Hartzell has developed innovative ways of training athletes of all ages, in all sports. He uses the bands to help athletes improve their speed, flexibility, foot quickness, vertical jump, and coordination skills. A front-runner in the area of therapeutic exercise, Hartzell is able to reduce downtime from sprains and strains from weeks and months to literally hours or days. He is even working with individuals who have had spinal cord injuries, and has helped them to make dramatic improvements.

Coach Hartzell has set up strength training programs (utilizing Flex Band® equipment) for pro teams in all major sports. The Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Anaheim Angels, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, and Miami Heat all purchase bands on a regular basis; many of their trainers consult with Hartzell throughout the season, especially when injuries occur.

In the fall of 2002, Hartzell had the privilege of introducing his program to the Navy SEALS in Virginia Beach, VA, and the SWAT team in San Antonio, TX. Both have since made the bands an integral part of their training regimens. Coach Hartzell operates the Jump Stretch Fitness Center in Youngstown, Ohio, a facility that specializes in rubber band strength training for all sports. Since opening in January of 1998, hundreds of athletes, junior high through professional levels, have come there to train. At the gym, a typical workout begins with a stretching and flexibility warm-up that focuses on strengthening the ankles, hamstrings, and shoulders. The athletes then perform resisted running drills to improve speed and foot quickness, and explosive squats and resisted toe raises to improve their vertical jump.

Numerous high schools and colleges across the country have set up their own “Rubber Band Rooms” – smaller versions of the Youngstown Fitness Center – to facilitate cross training. Youngstown State University was the first to add this type of facility, with others, such as Liberty University, University of Kansas, and West Virginia University, following suit.

With more than 24 years in the rubber band strength training arena, no one knows more about band training that the Rubber Band Man himself!

In addition to his athletic training, Coach Hartzell has been perfecting techniques to aid the healing of various musculo-skeletal injuries. He has worked in conjunction with doctors such as Joseph Masternick, DO, and Thomas A. Thomas, DC, performing therapeutic exercise. Louis Brine, Jr., MD currently refers his patients to Coach Hartzell, especially when ankles and shoulders are a concern.

He has done seminars at medical facilities across the country and around the world, including Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Wheeling Hospital, Akron Children’s Hospital, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Fabrizio Chiropractic, and Stow-Kent Chiropractic, and in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Hartzell has worked with patients who have suffered everything from a sprained ankle to a heart transplant. Hartzell’s innovative methods can help people with pain in their backs, knees, hips, and necks. He even helped a dentist who had carpal tunnel syndrome. Many people have avoided surgery by employing Hartzell’s techniques, and others have recuperated faster after surgeries based on his suggestions.

Hartzell is the foremost recognized speaker in the country on alternate strength training methods. At age 67, he often does a full split during his motivational presentations to prove that his ballistic stretching program really works.

An expert in the area of sprained ankles, Coach Hartzell has written a book on his techniques in conjunction with Dr. Michael Shimmel of Stow-Kent Chiropractic. The book, “Don’t Ice That Ankle Sprain”, details their methods for fast recuperation and explains the flaws in the customary “RICE” technique (Rest and Ice), which actually extend the length of the healing process.