Hello citizens.
I was wondering if you guys use any of these recovery solutions, such as the Compression boots, or the pulse guns.
They have lately attracted my attention, but I have read different reviews. Some say they are awesome, and if we can, we should use them. Others state that we should NOT use them, because they wont let the body recovery by itself, so it wont addapt and you wont gain any fitness.
I saw some chinnese pulse guns that run for about $30, and reviews say they are really really similar to the most expensive ones that are around $270
any thoughts on which system is better? (compression vs vibration guns)
and the most important part… is it true that the body wont addapt to changes so you wont get fitter?
thanx for the reply. I read that topic too. Everyone seems to love them… but… what about my question about the body not getting fitter for using them?
Also, any thoughts about the Pulse (Vibrational) guns?
About the “not getting fitter” part of the question; Sorry, I have to pass on this. But I don’t see how this could work.
I bought a percussive therapy massage gun after my osteopath used it to fine tune my back alignment. I love it and it feels great. I feel like I can use it to loosen some fasciae in my body better than with my old blackroll, too. But it’s all very subjective.
This isn’t something I’ve looked into personally, but I would really strongly question the concept of “Others state that we should NOT use them, because they wont let the body recovery by itself, so it wont addapt and you wont gain any fitness.”
At that point you are at recovery, the body is rebuilding to be stronger and more effective.
There are two possible comparisons to be made here:
You’re sitting a maths exam, but struggling. You let your maths savvy friend do it for you and submit his answers without looking. So far as it looks outside, you’ve “done the work” but you’ve actually learned nothing. This is the implication of the statement above.
You’re building a new house, you’re a competent builder, but so is your friend. He comes and helps you and you finish in half the time. The end result is exactly the same, but you got there quicker.
My take on compression is 2), the “work” is the exercise, you then need the body to adapt and recover before you do more exercise. Anything that aids the speed of recovery isn’t “cheating”, it’s just preparing you for more exercise sooner.
I could see an argument that a shorter recovery period meant marginally less adaptation, but most of the adaptation would take place anyway and I would argue that being in a position to train hard again sooner would be a bigger gain than any loss in the gains made during recovery.
As another example: You’re in a friendly race preparing for the season, you’ve got a thirty-second lead but you’re bonking. As you round the next corner there are two people stood there, one with a bottle of SIS Beta Fuel, the other with a pastry. You need to get that energy inside you, know it’s going to be effective and get going again quickly, which do you choose?
The Beta Fuel gives you the energy you need quickly to complete the race, it doesn’t hamper your ability to digest pastries in future. The pastry doesn’t get into your system fast enough to help and even choosing that doesn’t improve your ability to use it for instant energy in future.
Sometimes science and technology just moves forwards, using it isn’t cheating.
I have both, and use the pulse gun much more often. The compression boots feel good after a workout, but also requires the time to run through a cycle of the boots. With the pulse gun, it is really good at targeting sore/tight spots to loosen them up (I’m talking to you IT bands!) Also an effective warmup to get blood flowing and fascia loosened up quickly before a workout, but it’s the targeted precision that I can get to specific muscle groups that helps the most (although just running it all over the quads after a ride feels good too)
Thanx a lot @cappelwsu
I have never tried the pulse gun… I did try the Compression boots, and felt a great relief after using them… almost like fresh legs. Can you get the same results with the gun?
that would save me like $150 and I would be able to use it in my back that hurts alot after some Enduro riding.
I agree its easier (faster) to use than the boots
Honestly completely different. Agree with the fresh legs feeling after the compression boots, I don’t get that feeling from the gun. Gun doesn’t cause the flushing of lactic acid and increased blood flow to the whole leg (my understanding of why it works). Gun is better to me for warm up and specific spot soreness/tightness, trigger points, etc. Not sure if that helps, but if the “fresh legs” feeling is what you are going for, I would say the boots would be more beneficial. But the gun would let you use it on neck/back/shoulders, etc, so I guess it depends on what you are really looking for.
You didn’t ask about it, but I’ve got a Compex electro simulator thing (technical term I’m sure) that I use the recovery mode on after most big sessions. I honestly don’t know the long term affects it has on recovery, but short term it is great, I usually use it before bed and it calms any immediate aches so I can get to sleep better. Sometimes DOMS aren’t too bad next day, sometimes they are, but I don’t know if they would be worse if I’d not used it.
I only once tried the training side of it and I turned it up to high based on the numbers I use for recovery, it felt like it was going to rip my muscle off the bone. That, and the fact I’d rather train properly, means I’ve never gone back to the training features.