If you’re a professional athlete or someone who takes their exercise very seriously, you’ve likely heard of compression recovery boots. Made to be worn on the feet and legs after a heavy workout, training or an event like a triathlon, compression recovery boots help speed the recovery process by increasing circulation of the blood. This, in turn, helps your body to get rid of the waste products that can cause inflammation and pain, including lactate (lactic acid), pyruvate, bicarbonate and ammonia. By doing this your muscles heal faster and allow you to start working out again sooner.
In fact, research shows that using compression reduces inflammation from micro-tears to the muscles and also increases oxygen flow, helping to reduce the risk of future injury due to heavy or excessive training and, for that reason, they’ve become very popular among athletes and weekend warriors alike. In this article, we’ll take a look at The Top 5 Best Compression Recovery Boots so that, if you’re considering a pair for yourself, you’ll have the information you need to make the best choice.
TOP 4 COMPRESSION BOOTS
Air Relax Recovery Boots / Best for Beginners on a Budget
One of the leading at-home compression therapy companies on the market, Air Relax offers a lower-priced option to dip your toe, if you will, into the recovery compression boots arena. Their Air Relax Recovery Boots come in 3 compression sleeve sizes and are designed to help do everything a good compression boot should do, including helping problems with water retention.
Relatively hi-tech, Air Relax’s Recovery Boots are controlled digitally and offer 5 Recovery modes. They also offer 4 different and increasingly higher pressure ranges, starting at 0 and reaching 230 mmHg. You can easily increase the pressure using the screen on the provided pump, depending on the amount of exercise you’re just performed and the amount of compression therapy you desire.
Bottom Line
With 5 Recovery Modes and 4 pressure settings that are easy to control with the included digital pump, Air Relax Recovery Boots are a great choice for newbies to compression therapy as they are one of the lowerpriced models available.
RP Sports Recovery Pump Boots / Best for Travelling
Designed to allow passive rather than active recovery, Recovery Pump Boots from RP Sports are meant to be worn on a daily basis whether you’ve exercised or not. The company brochure states that 1 to 2 hours using their product are equal to 12 to 48 hours of rest, which is quite impressive. Like most compression recovery boots the pair from RP Sports comes with 2 boots, a digital pump and connecting hoses.
While the Recovery Pump Boots do offer a variable pressure setting they don’t offer as high a pressure as other models at only 100 mmHg maximum. Of course, these are passive recovery boots so that’s not really a problem. One thing they do offer that’s perfect for athletes on-the-go is that they only weigh 2.2 pounds so traveling with them is easier than with some other, heavier brands. Also, they have a battery that lasts for up to 8 hours, making compression at an event, triathlon or game easier since there’s no need to search high and low for an electrical outlet.
Bottom Line
Designed for athletes that travel often for competition and events, the Recovery Pump Boots from RP Sports are a great choice due to their lower weight and their pump’s long-life battery. On the other hand, they are made for passive recovery and, as such, don’t compress as high as other models and are meant to be worn daily rather than after a competition. For this reason, they’re a great travel compression boot but might need to be supplemented by another, 2nd pair of boots made for active recovery, increasing your investment substantially.
Normatec Recovery Boots / Best for Professional Athletes
One of the top companies on the market and helmed by a medical expert, Normatec offers its Recovery Boots with Pulse Recovery System, made for professional athletes of all types to give serious therapy after a race, competition or event.
One of the best reasons to purchase the Pulse Recovery System model from Normatec is that it offers both Pulse and Zone Boost. This allows you to put more pulsing pressure on a specific body zone by inflating specific boot chambers higher than others, for faster recovery of that body zone (calf, thigh, etc.) Also, they are very easy to maintain, lightweight and have a battery that lasts up to 2 hours. Most importantly, these compression recovery boots are very high quality and meant to last for years under heavy use.
Bottom Line
It’s no wonder many professional athletes use the Normatec Recovery Boots with Pulse Recovery System. They’re lightweight, quiet, extremely well-made and offer several features not found in other brands, like Zone Boost and Pulse. They are a bit more expensive than other models, however, making them a pass for weekend-warriors and amateur athletes in most cases.
Rapid Reboot Compression Recovery Boots / Best Overall
With a dynamic, sequential air compression system that helps quickly improve circulation and significantly speed-up recovery, the Compression Recovery Boots from Rapid Reboot are made for the professional athlete who needs to recover faster and stronger. Of the 4 compression recovery boots we’ve looked at, these are the only pair that come custom-made for your particular size leg, both left and right.
Rapid Reboot’s Compression Recovery Boots also offer several features and benefits not found on other, lower-priced models, including 10 different pressure settings up to 200 mmHg, several time settings and also 2 mode settings. all of which can be used in concert for the fastest recovery. You can also target specific areas by filling or deflating the boot’s different chambers, to target problem areas that need a bit more TLC.
Bottom Line
Made for the serious athlete who needs serious compression therapy to recover as quickly as possible, the Compression Recovery Boots from Rapid Reboot are the best-in-show, although they do come at a higher price than other models. That being said, if you want the fastest recovery using compression boots that offer the most options for targeting, pressure and timing, these are the recovery compression boots you’re looking for.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed this article and have gleaned enough information to make an educated choice on your first, or next, pair of compression recovery boots. If you have any questions or concerns please leave them in the space provided, and best of luck purchasing your next pair of compression recovery boots!
