Recovery strategies that go beyond just stretching and staying active on non-workout days are essential in these high stress times.  They can help restore and renew your body so we decided to try some of the latest recovery treatments and blog our experiences.  Let’s get started with Joovv Red Light Therapy, Normatec Compression and maybe some Cryo Shock too!

Choosing Treatments Was A Bit Overwhelming!

I started getting acupuncture and neuromuscular massage along with assisted stretching in my early 20s so to say I’m an early adopter of the stretch studio trend currently taking over the nation is an understatement.   I’ve also tried Rolfing, Reiki, EMDR, EFT, various somatic Methods, foam rolling, KT taping, rapid release tools and scraping but none of that prepared me for the plethora of treatments available at the moment.  Here’s a list of what I considered:

• Red Light Therapy (featured below)

• Compression Wearables (featured below)

• Cupping Massage (featured in next blog)

• Cryo Chamber (featured in near future)

• Partial Body Cryo (featured in next blog)

• Ice Baths

• Dry Needling

• Pulsed Electromagnetic Field *PEMF

• Exercise with Oxygen Training *EWOT

• Photobiomodulation *PBM Therapy

• Shallow Dive Hyperbaric Chamber

• Ultra Low EMF Far Infrared Sauna

• Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

JOOVV Red Light is 10-20 minutes of exposure to red and near-infrared light that was originally used by NASA to grow plants in space.

It can have many benefits including: better sleep and recovery, reduced inflammation and pain, improvements in circulation and mood, as well as skin and brain health.  According to the NASA Technology Transfer Spinoff website “decades of studies including extensive research funded by NASA indicate that red light can help with many health conditions but the mounting evidence makes it appear to good to be true.”

In my experience (pics here) the red light feels amazing and has helped immensely with various issues including, insomnia, low back and hip pain, post workout tension and hormonal stress. 

My husband thinks it’s just a placebo effect but I’ve done enough experimenting with recovery therapies to know when things are actually working or just seem to be working.  For me it’s more than just a feeling, it's a difference in various areas of my body and life.

Even my skin looks better which is a surprising bonus.  I wouldn’t have noticed the skin much except people keep bringing it up.  Another bonus is more mental clarity which is a plus when you train so many people every day!

Normatec Compression is a 10 minute recovery strategy that requires wearing leg sleeves or shorts that use compressed air to massage your legs and hips. 

It’s primarily used by athletes to increase blood flow, lower blood lactate levels, decrease soreness, fatigue and stress from hard workouts.  According to PubMed, NCBI, Human Kinetics Journal and a few other reputable sources there are studies finding many benefits of dynamic compression for recovery and athletes do seem to love it too.

My experience with 1 leg and 6 hip/thigh compression sessions ranged from unpleasant and questionable to relaxing and effective!

The thing I’ve found with compression is that you need to workout hard to really feel the benefits.  If I go in there after a grueling hike, heavy leg day or hardcore HIIT day then it feels like an effective treatment but if I go in there after a day of less demanding exercise like yoga, dance, aqua, Pilates, Barre or basic walking then it almost feels like overkill and I walk out with legs feeling wrung out and not energized. 

One thing I have noticed is that doing hip and thigh compression regularly has taken pressure off my lumbar spine at night which allows me to sleep better and has helped me to do more effective core work the following days.  

Next time I’ll be covering my first cupping massage, a few sessions of cryo T shock and maybe total body cryo chamber!  Have you tried alternative therapies to help with workout recovery, health issues, wellness or anti-aging?  Tell us your thoughts in the comments.