I’ve known about Normatec Pulse 2.0 for a long time now as I’ve seen them used for years at every professional and amateur athletic competition. And with dozens of friends who swear by these compression boots, I had to try them out myself.
The Normatec Pulse 2.0 uses air pressure to massage, increase blood circulation, and relieve muscle aches in the legs. I’ve tried using Normatec on occasion in the past, but until the past few months, I’ve never had my own pair to be able to use consistently.
The majority of my training recently has been a lot of cycling mixed with a little bit of running and some barbell and dumbbell strength training. While I didn’t use the Normatec Pulse 2.0 after every session or every day, I did find myself using it whenever I felt like I had a particularly tough session. Then compression was great for getting fresh blood into my legs, massaging my muscles, and it helped keep my knees feeling great.
The Normatec has intensity levels from 1-7. I mostly found 3 was good for me, but I believe it’s very dependent on your leg size, and how much compression feels good for you. There is quite a bit of range here, so I think most people should easily be able to dial in and figure out what works best for them.
After a few months, I’m still using the Normatec Pulse consistently, and this leads to the biggest reason I think the Normatec is the king of recovery tools.
It has to do with human nature.
There are a lot of great and important recovery tools, some of which I already reviewed. But most, if not all of them, require a good amount of effort from the user. A foam roller, massage ball, massage gun, or ice bath… all of these, no matter how good they are for you, require active effort and often a good amount of discomfort.
The Normatec Pulse 2.0 doesn’t require anything. After a 30-second setup, you just relax and feel good. While it’s working there is no need to focus on on it, which allows it to be used while you read, watch TV, or whatever else you like to do while sitting. So I believe people will actually use this Recovery System long-term, whereas some other recovery tools might eventually be used less over time.
For that reason, If I had to suggest someone get only one recovery tool, I think this would probably be it. It isn’t the cheapest recovery product at $899, but there’s a good reason the Normatec Pulse 2.0 is seen at every professional and amateur sporting event. I highly recommend it.
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