I’m booked in to hike the Larapinta Trail this August, but my body is far from ready.
As I’ve mentioned before, work and life with kids have drastically decreased the amount of hiking I do these days. My fitness has suffered massively. So when I sent off that booking form, I decided it was time to do something about it.
I’m still not finding the time to hike as much as I’d like to, so I’ve started the Couch to 5K interval training program (again). It’s much easier to fit in half an hour of exercise here and there, than travelling somewhere to do a longer hike.
The only problem is that my legs, ankles, and feet have other ideas.
The day after every run, everything just seizes up. It doesn’t seem to matter how much I stretch, I still need days of recovery before even just the walk from the car to my office isn’t painful.
This pain is worse than I’ve ever endured after a long day-hike, so when Natural Vitality e-mailed asking if I’d try out a product called Pete’s Lotion, it seemed like perfect timing. If this stuff can help my post-run legs, then it must also be good for after a hike.
Pete’s Lotion was developed by a bloke called Peter O’Gorman who, after serving in the army for 35 years, emerged with his body in a pretty terrible state. Several knee operations later, and with the prospect of continuous surgery for the rest of his life, he decided to research and experiment for a natural alternative himself. This was when Peter became a believer in the Chinese traditional concept of ‘Chi’ – the body’s natural electrical circuit.
He’s created Pete’s Lotion from ingredients said to stimulate and relax the body, the theory being that this would help mend broken connections in the user’s ‘Chi’.
Now, honestly, I don’t know much about Chinese medicine. I do try to always remain open to new ideas though, so I was more than willing to be open to this concept, and to try something new.
I was also very happy to read that none of the ingredients are synthetic, or are known to have any negative side-effects with long-term use. I won’t list them all here, but if you’re interested to know what’s in it you can go ahead and check out the ingredient list on their website.
After my first run this week I pretty much covered myself, from the thighs down, in Pete’s Lotion. Unquestionably, the first notable thing is the smell of this stuff. It’s absolutely divine. Kind of like a Deep Heat or Voltaren Gel, but less toxic and more fragrant. It gives a similar cold, slightly burny feeling to the aforementioned alternatives too.
While Pete’s Lotion is available in bottles, I was sent the roll-on version, which makes applying it very easy and doesn’t result in sticky hands. I’d definitely recommend going for this option. It left my legs feeling quite sticky but, having used other similar products, I know that they all do that to some extent. Pete’s Lotion was certainly no worse.
As soon as it hit my skin, it felt like it went straight to work relaxing my muscles and reducing the inflammation. I awoke the next morning feeling better than I had after any of my previous training sessions. The day after that, I was back on the running track.
Whether it’s mended my ‘Chi’ or just soothed the inflammation in my muscles isn’t really the concern here. The main thing is that it worked.
So could this just be all in my head? Possibly, I guess.
Does it matter? Well, no. Not to me.
I’m obviously no scientist, and this is about as far as it gets from a scientific test. It’s the best I can do, though. I haven’t personally seen results like this from other similar products, so I’d happily purchase Pete’s Lotion again instead of those. That’s enough to tell you that I believe. I put it on Lori’s sore neck last night too, and now I’m not the only convert in the family.
Pete’s Lotion is available for purchase online, and ranges in price from $19.35 to $39.45 (depending on the size of the bottle). They also offer three sample sized packets for $3.50. If you’re not an online shopper, it’s available in selected stores across Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland.
If it doesn’t meet your expectations, Peter invites you to return your lotion within 30 days for a full refund (conditions apply).
- For the chance to win, scroll down to the comments section below and tell us about the worst hiking injury you’ve ever had.
- The competition closes at 2pm on Wednesday the 18th of March. Any entries submitted after this time will not be considered.
- Entry is only open to Australian residents.
- The draw will take place as soon as possible after the closing time.
- The 3 answers that I like most will be chosen as the winners. I won’t be entering into any discussions about my choices because, well, that would just be silly.
- The winner will be contacted by e-mail and once contacted, will be announced on Twitter and Facebook.
- If I’m unable to contact a winner within 72 hours, their prize will go to whoever submits the next best answer.
This review is brought to you by Bushwalking Blog and Natural Vitality Australia. They have provided me with a Pete’s Lotion roll-on to test out, and three to give away. As I made very clear to them when they first got in touch, this has no influence on the opinions I put forward in my review. I maintain impartiality and any negatives I found while using the product have been mentioned here.
If there’s anything I’ve missed that you want to know, or if you’ve got anything at all to say about the Pete’s Lotion, please do so in the comments section below.
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