INTRODUCTION

   If you enjoy working out or you happen to lift weights at work chances are that over the years you've had your fair share of muscle injuries. Personally, even though I’ve never experienced any muscle injuries while working out due to the fact that there's no elevator installed in the building, I’ve had quite a few while having to move heavy samples (such as chairs, desks and cases) from my storage area (ground level/floor) to the lab (1st floor). So, because of that I’ve always kept an eye out for things that could help me out with muscle recovery and even though massage guns have helped a lot I’ve always hoped for more. Well, it seems that the electronics industry has taken the traditional cupping therapy to a whole new level and today with me i have one of the most popular such devices currently, the Cupper Pair by Achedaway.

   Unlocking Your Body Performance is what drives our team at Achedaway. Your health goals are our goals, we don’t take those words so lightly that is why we develop tools that are value-centric to our core values and culture at Achedaway. We want you to think of Achedaway whenever you need to relieve or recover your muscles as we stay true to that achievement.

   Companies like Achedaway that specialize in muscle recovery may be relatively unknown to regular consumers but the exact opposite applies to professionals like physical therapists, fitness specialists and athletes since they provide them with valuable and highly advanced tools. In regards to traditional cupping therapy (glass cup placed over a single point - static) this is a practise that has been used for hundreds of years in some countries around the world, most notably China, Greece and Egypt and being from Greece myself I’ve seen it performed numerous times in the past (never had it done to me however). There's also the more modern dynamic cupping therapy (cup is moved around on the patient) which is not something I’ve witnessed up close but according to professionals it does work (whether it's better or worse than traditional cupping that i don't know). The Cupper by Achedaway can be used for both the above practises (static - dynamic) and comes with 5 pre-loaded intensity modes for a wide range of muscle injuries but what really makes it unique is that it features a single red light therapy LED (for muscle pain and inflammation relieve) and a dynamic cupping suction (4 steps) which further helps reduce muscle pain (and in turn help with muscle recovery). Achedaway has also equipped the Cupper with a rechargeable 1800mAh lithium-ion battery (can power it for up to 3 hours) and bluetooth connectivity for use with their Android/iOS app. So, let's see what the Achedaway Cupper is all about.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The front of the box has pictures of the two cuppers, the available cups and the company logo.

On both sides of the box Achedaway has printed the main product features.

3 drawings at the rear of the box are used to showcase the various parts of each cupper and how you can use the cuppers via the Achedaway smart app.

Once you open the box, you'll see a carrying/storage case (the entire bundle is placed inside).

Along with the carrying/storage case and the two cuppers inside the box you'll also find 3 cup pairs (1 pair is already mounted), two lanyards, two USB charging cables, 6 cup filters and the user manual.

THE CUPPER PAIR

The carrying/storage case is quite sturdy and obviously has enough room inside for the entire bundle (unfortunately it's only bundled with the Cupper Pair and not the single version).

For the exterior of the cupper Achedaway has used good quality plastic, mate for the surrounding area and glossy for the top and bottom (each cupper weighs just over 200g).

On a small rubber area at the top, we find 4 buttons and a grand total of 41 small LEDs surrounding them (31 of which are used to showcase suction movement/intensity).

The USB-C charging port is placed at the rear of the device.

Changing suction cups is easy, just rotate counter clock wise to remove them.

Achedaway bundles 3 different shapes and sizes to cover all possible muscle regions.

These are made of smoked plastic, have removable filters at the top and are quite thick (should be quite hard to break).

Turning the main device over we find a total of 10 LEDs (these turn blue on start-up) and the red light therapy LED at the center.

To ensure that you'll not be dropping your cupper Achedaway has attached a keychain ring which you can also connect with the bundled lanyard.

ACHEDAWAY SMART APP

The Achedaway smart app allows you to pair both cuppers via bluetooth and even rename them (i paired just one for my tests).

From the main app tab, you can adjust the suction intensity, choose one of the 5 available modes and turn the red light therapy LED on/off (there's also a battery indicator on the lower end).

There's also a timer you can use from within the app and especially for professionals this should be quite useful.

From the contact tab you can reach out to Achedaway either via email, their website or their social media pages.

CONCLUSION

   Even though to date I’ve used quite a few massage guns to relieve muscle pain the Cupper Pair by Achedaway seemed more complicated to me so I reached out to a massage therapy professional friend of mine and even after using it on herself for 20 minutes she was genuinely impressed (to the point that she ordered a pair for her own massage parlour the very next day). On the other hand, since I had no muscle injuries at the time, I couldn’t form an opinion, sure it’s a different take of the traditional cupping therapy (which again was never performed on me) but if you’re not a professional and you have no way of testing such a device there’s not much you can say about it. Well, in the month following that I pulled muscles both while working out with heavier weights than usual and moving my washing machine and only then did I understand what my friend was going on about before. Now I don’t know for sure whether it was the suction or the heat coming from the red LED (or both) but muscle pain was going away really fast every time I was using the cuppers. Of course, they are not miracle workers so I needed to repeat the whole process many times over (and the massage gun I’m currently using also helped considerably) but what matters is the end result and more specifically that I was good to go inside 3-4 days. So, in conclusion the cuppers work well, they do need however a bit of getting used to first, especially in regards to suction levels (some might be too strong/intense for certain people).

   Currently the cupper pair bundle retails for USD299 directly from Achedaway (Achedaway.com) whereas the single cupper retails for USD169 (Achedaway.com) so it’s priced significantly higher compared to other similar products by the competition. Still unlike other similar models which just have the suction function (and not nearly as strong or with any pre-loaded modes) the Achedaway Cupper has a dynamic mode, massage mode and a red light therapy mode (not to mention a battery life of around 3 hours). That being said such a device might be too much for regular consumers but if you’re a gym buff, professional with use for such a device or for whatever reason you get muscle injuries then the Achedaway Cupper will certainly come in handy and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- 5 Suction Modes
- Dynamic Suction
- Red Light Therapy
- Battery Life (3 Hours)
- Bundle Contents (Hard Case / Cups / Filters / Lanyards)
- Available in Single And Dual Kits
- Android / iOS App

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Overall Availability