I had podium legs (a prevair relax, but same exact system) for 10yr or so until tonight when they gave out.
What’s best these days?
Normatec? Ar4 from. Air relax? Something from therabody?
Personal Opinion. Normatec 100%
I believe the new normatec 3 is essentially the 2 pulse pro at the lower price point fyi. I have a pair and like them, did a bit of research before buying but everything seems to be outdated. Would be interested in hearing others feedback.
None.
Signed, Gustav and Blu.
I have Air Relax and like them. But I tried a pair of Normatec 2’s at an expo this past Summer. I’d go for them if I were doing it again. I think the end result is pretty much the same, but the Normatecs I found easier to put on and easier to connect. Also you can charge the unit and not have to plug it in to use.
Also, I -think- relative to the competition, they have come down a bit in price over the past few years.
I had podium legs (a prevair relax, but same exact system) for 10yr or so until tonight when they gave out.
What’s best these days?
Normatec? Ar4 from. Air relax? Something from therabody?
Given the price of Normatec these days it is hard to beat it. Fwiw, when I first covered boots the price of Air Relax was $360 and Normatec was $1995 and that was quite a different decision IMHO. Air Relax did come out with a pro version last year, which are actually very nice and have a deflate option which is nice for travel.
Still will always plug Sam and SpeedHound. Sam has supported a lot of the smaller names in triathlon this year and is a ST lurker. He really is a great guy and a triathlete himself & truly wants to make it right on the customer. Still very affordable at $650 with coupon.
Fwiw, although it was a little bigger, I really preferred the original Normatec Pulse. Coming from podium legs, where you hit one button and they are on you would be surprised how nice simple button are versus buttons embedded into a LCD touch screen. I’ve never been a fancy bluetooth user and that feature wasn’t a value-add for me. And I did have some issues with Rapid Reboots and Normatec first on display buttons and the lag in the system powering on powering off. Both the original Air Relax / Speed Hound are similar to the Normatec Pulse with tactile buttons. At least with the Normatec Pulse 2, it was the quietest out of the bunch. Again, never tested the Pulse 3.
We have the current version of the Normatecs and they’re fantastic. My wife is an avid marathoner and uses them after long training runs and races, and I mostly use them after long rides. Yes, they are expensive, but they’ve come a long way since their introduction (friends purchased Gen 1 or whatever it’s called when they came out).
I borrowed some Normatec 2’s this summer from a friend & while I’ve used this model in the past at expos & other places…the same thing occurred…one of the zippers on one leg, would always just dig into my shins. All of them. Almost like they manufactured them goofy. Personally, they should redesign this with a fabric “cushion” between the zipper and leg -shin bone area for better comfort. For that, I’m going to have to save my $ and say “no sale”…on Normatec.
Has there been any scientific research showing that these help recovery, or is this something akin to the TheraGun?
Wondering how much pressure is needed to be effective.
Normatec 3’s seem to top out at 100mmhg
The Classic Air Relax boots go to 230 mmhg, but their newer models only go to 170.
I’ve used the 230 air relax’s, as well as the Normatec 3’s, and I can def say the air relax at 230 is a much tighter squeeze than the normatec 3’s at 100…
Has there been any scientific research showing that these help recovery, or is this something akin to the TheraGun?
They make you sit on your butt for a while - that has to be good for recovery, right? (Owner of the Air Relax Classics - they feel good and are a good opportunity to rehydrate and have some downtime if nothing else).
There are a few articles out there, but the positive evidence is minimal. At best, it sounds like they’re better that only sitting and roughly comparable to an active recovery routine.
For what it’s worth… I had a maci (knee surgery) and have found they dramatically reduce the swelling around my knee
I grabbed a set of normatec
Yeah, most of the research is medical oriented and does show real results for those cases. The more general - do you recover faster - ones are where the evidence is a lot lighter (if there at all).
I have old Air Relax and they do indeed squeeze more then my Normatec Pulse pro Ver1. I just end up using the normatecs because they are easy to use. I have really bad knees and when they hurt the only machine for me is a GameReady.2.1.
I have old Air Relax and they do indeed squeeze more then my Normatec Pulse pro Ver1. I just end up using the normatecs because they are easy to use. I have really bad knees and when they hurt the only machine for me is a GameReady.2.1.
Yeah now that I’ve had the normatecs a little longer, I have to say its a little disappointing that they do not squeeze as much as the original air relax system. Normatec seems like a more polished product by a little bit, and the ability to use it unplugged is nice, but I miss the tighter squeeze of my air relax system…