Are you looking for a faster way to recover after exercise? For the last few years, compression boots have massively increased in use. Specialists at Shift wellness recommend Normatec recovery in New York to help fight muscle soreness and help you get out of pain and back in the game.

How does compression help recovery?

When you exercise, your body builds up lactic acid and other metabolites as by-products of muscle contraction. Working out also creates microscopic damage in the muscles and metabolic fatigue, which leads to bigger and stronger muscles. However, these microscopic tears, along with lactic acid and inflammation, contribute to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). If you have ever had a hard leg workout and could hardly walk or sit down for a few days afterward, that is DOMS.

Compression boots help squeeze the lactic acid, inflammation, and all those metabolites out of your leg and back into your core, where they are metabolized and excreted. The boots have different compartments that compress your legs from distal to proximal (bottom-up).

How to use NormaTec compression boots

First, put your legs in the boots and zip them up to your hips, then plum each boot into the connecting hose and set the amount of pressure you want. Next, enter the duration and press start. It is that easy to use NormaTec compression boots. The boots will then start to compress the feet and ankles and then the calves, knees, middle thigh, and upper thigh. After about two minutes, the boots should be partially inflated, creating mild compression of your legs. The boots conduct dynamic compression, which is achieved by repetitive inflation and deflation of each compartment. This process repeats pumping all the inflammation, lactic acid, and metabolic wastes out of your legs and into your circulatory system so that your legs can recover faster.

Patients use NormaTec 2.0 after hard leg workouts, mountain bike trips, and sports matches. However, how well the compression boots work also depends on how long you wait to use them after your workout. If you wait until the next day after your workout, you will get less relief because the damage from all the lactic acid has already occurred. If you can get the boots on within the first few hours after a workout, they will make a huge improvement in your recovery time.  You will find that you have less muscle soreness and can perform at higher levels due to faster recovery.

NormaTec compression boots models

• The Pulse Pro 2.0

This model is designed to be used in chiropractic, physical therapy, and rehab facilities because it is more advanced than what typical athletes need. This model has some beneficial features in very specific conditions, but the majority of athletes using the compression boots for general recovery would never use the added features of the Pulse Pro 2.0.

• The Pulse 2.0

If you are not running a rehab facility, you may want to stick with the Pulse 2.0 that can be ordered in three different combinations: the leg recovery system, the leg and hip recovery system, and the full-body recovery system.

Specialists at Shift Wellness recommend adding NormaTec compression boots to your training to speed up your recovery.

Paul Petersen