Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Evening Standard

Lifestyle

Ellie Davis

Therabody RecoveryAir Prime review: does the pneumatic compression device live up to the hype?

rabody

Here’s something I recently found out: when you have muscle pain after a workout, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you worked harder or it was a more strenuous activity. Instead it has to do with the build-up of lactic acid.

DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) is a hot topic in the fitness industry and can be avoided by stretching or through percussive therapy.

I must admit, I am hugely lazy when it comes to stretching. When the class has finished in my eyes, I want to get out of there as quickly as possible. I did my time. This is, of course, not the right attitude, nor is it conducive to preventing DOMS from occurring. Enter Therabody.

A pioneer in the muscle recovery space, the wellness tech brand is a game-changer. I don’t have time to do downwards dog but I can sit for hours with a Theragun massage gun in hand, treating my body to the pleasurably painful delights of the vibrations. The devices that the brand is best known for targets soft tissue and encourages blood circulation and lymphatic flow. Not content on resting on its laurels, Therabody is constantly innovating to make recovery even more effortless for lazy types like me.

RecoveryAir offers as passive recovery experience. In other words, you slip the boots onto your legs and sit watching TV, reading a book or simply taking a moment of stillness and relaxation, while your lower body experiences pneumatic compression.

The science-backed technology is designed to accelerate the body’s natural ability to do what it needs to do – AKA pump blood around the body, increasing circulation and recharging. If you don’t have the time, energy or inclination to foam roll, the RecoveryAir boots will be a godsend.

What does it do?

You don’t have to be a science swot to know that blood circulation is crucial to the health and proper functioning of the body. It begins at the heart, a crucial pump that pushes blood (carrying oxygen, nutrients and more) to the organs, muscles and tissue. As per gravity, it flows freely in a downwards motion but has a harder job travelling back to the lungs and heart, particularly if you sit still for hours on end. This could lead to a decrease in performance, soreness and lethargy.

Compression garments can ease this process and that’s the premise behind Therabody’s RecoveryAir. It is made up of four chambers at the ankles, calves and thighs that go through a process of intermittent sequential pneumatic compression AKA cycles of inflations/deflations or squeezing/releasing to encourage the body’s natural process of circulation.

This technology is not novel. In fact, it is often found in hospitals, physios, and urgent care centres but Therabody has made it more accessible and approachable to an everyday consumer to be used in the comfort of our own homes.

The brand has also made it so the boots fill with air in a specific and scientific way that sends blood in the right direction – from the toes up the legs – and with attention paid to the frequency so as not to create a vacuum effect in the arteries and cause muscle weakness.

What are the benefits?

By saturating your lower body with fresh, nutrient-rich blood, it counteracts DOMS by encouraging your body to recover properly and flush the toxins in your muscles out. It is designed to improve flexibility, soft tissue and bone healing, and prevent stiffness and swelling.

How does it work?

While there have been previous generations and models of similar ilk in the past, Therabody has redesigned the RecoveryAir to include trademarked technology to step performance up a few notches.

The brand’s TruGrade Technology ensures that no matter what position your legs are in, the blood will always travel in the right direction. So you can sit on a chair, lie on the sofa and the consecutive inflating/deflation will always go towards your heart.

It’s a myth that the tighter the squeeze, the better the technology. It’s actually more about the cycles of in and out. Fast Flush Technology allows the boots to complete one full cycle in just 60 seconds (two to three times faster than its competitors) for a faster, more efficient and more effective recovery time.

There’s better and more precise pressure control where they automatically adjust to the size of your limb and customise your experience to be safer no matter who is using the device.

The chambers overlap to prevent back flow that could damage the integrity of the veins and cause bruising. They’re also hidden. One single sheet of material makes up the product with no seams or sheets and so prevents bacteria from building up. You can have multiple users without risking infection with the hygienic non-porous medical grade material.

Who should use it?

Its already got the seal of approval by athletes around the world, from Peloton instructors Cody Rigsby and Ally Love, to dancers like Julianne Hough and even Winter Olympics gold medal winning skier Eileen Gu – but you need not be a competitive sportsperson or professional to maximise what it has to offer. While they may use it many times a day – before exercise on a low pressure to get ready, after training for recovery or at night – the cycles give you a chance to calm the parasympathetic nervous system. Before you go to sleep, put your phone away for the night, put on the boots and embrace the state of relaxation.

“Everybody can benefit from improved circulation,” reveals Dr. Jason Wersland, Founder and Chief Wellness Officer of Therabody. “I’ve witnessed RecoveryAir have immediate positive effects on many people, from weekend warriors to parents carrying young children all day, to medical workers getting off a 12-hour shift. RecoveryAir helps recharge the legs with accelerated recovery while on a video conference or just watching TV”.

What different models are available?

There are three models at varying price points.

The RecoveryAir Prime (£599) is the most cost friendly available and the one that we trailed. There are four time intervals; 20,40,60 and continuous, two customisable programs, the option for a 60 second full flush and 180 minutes of battery life.

The Pro (£1,129) is more tech savvy with guided treatment programs and the ability to entirely customise each individual chamber pressure as well as how much it inflates and deflates. You can also save and share treatments so you can use one programmed by a professional trainer.

The JetBoots (£779) is the wireless model that integrates the pump in the base of the boots rather than externally. For every pair sold, the brand is donating a RecoveryAir system to hospital break rooms across the globe.

Our verdict

The RecoveryAir Prime is so simple to use. As someone who prides themselves on reading the manual, this was not necessary at all. After you have put the various plugs in the various sockets, you begin the pneumatic compression quickly by opting for one of the timed cycles.

The boots themselves are quite long for my petite 5”5 frame, but were also trailed by my 6”2 partner and we appreciated that we could both use them.

The compression starts immediately. It travels from the ankles slowly up your legs, loosens and then starts again. It’s a strange sensation at first, especially as it gets progressively tighter and tighter to the point where it almost feels like it will cut off circulation all together. This feeling is over in a flash though so no need to worry.

The entire process was hugely relaxing. I opted to watch TV at the same time on one occasion, while on the other, I solely focused on the compressions at hand which lulled me into a welcomed pre-sleep daze, particularly with the noise of the cycle. This was not loud in the slightest but oddly comforting.

I was also impressed by just how compact the giant boots folded down. On first impression, the box looked huge but in reality, the bag is about A4 size which is handy for on-the-go, taking to gyms or travelling.

I am currently training for the marathon and these will certainly become part of my post-run ritual.