Why LeBron’s Hyperice Normatec boots are a game changer

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Why LeBron’s Hyperice Normatec boots are a game changer

LeBron James is said to spend more than $1.5 million a year on health and nutrition.

Investing, he says, in himself, his career, and his legacy. And surprisingly when you do the math, it comes out to a little over $4,000 a day. How, exactly, does a person spend $4,000 every day on his life and health?

About five years ago, I thought I had found the answer. It was the heart of the NBA season and LeBron was in (another) statistical tear when I opened Instagram and saw the photo. James was wearing what looked like astronaut legs, inflated and stretched out on a long table. Except for pictures from NASA, I have never seen a product like it before. I didn’t know where it came from. I didn’t even know how to Google it. But I was hooked.

A few years later, my girlfriend Jamie decided to run the Chicago marathon. When it came time to make reservations for race weekend, we decided on the Westin River North because we had heard about the “runner’s club” program run by the hotel chain at each of the six “big” races. Westin, we were told, invested thousands in the latest and greatest technology for runners, which guests of the hotel’s “runners club” were free to use at their leisure throughout the race weekend.

On our first day there, I walked down to the lobby and saw it. Space Pants – Lebron space pants — sat empty next to a strange-looking lawn chair. With no plans to compete for the weekend other than deep dish and light beer, I turned to Jamie.

Do you mind if I try?’

Five minutes later, I was under arrest. And with my pants up in the air and my seat tilted back, I heard for the first time about a product that had interested me years ago. Not space pants but Normatec Compression Boots – a new piece of regenerative technology that is changing the way athletes manage their health. The pants were actually giant balloons, the PT on site told me, trained to inflate and inflated in specific ways to promote blood flow and speed recovery. The secret sauce was something called powerful compression technologywhich promotes leg circulation, converts lactic acid and metabolic waste, and mimics the natural muscle “pump”.

HyperIce Normatec 3

$699

Normatec 3 is the next evolution of the iconic Normatec series, using variable air pressure to improve your health, recover faster, improve your training, and increase your performance.

buy now

As my “cycle” continued, rhythmically squeezing my feet, calves, knees and thighs, I looked around the lobby. Another 20 pairs of NormaTec Boots line the site, each with its own zero-gravity sole. I turned around and went back to PT.

“They must use a wealth this time,” I said, remembering LeBron’s $1.5 million bill.

“Actually, they probably spent less money than you think,” he said.

Turns out he was right. According to my memory, Normatec technology revolutionized professional sports, especially in the NBA, about five years earlier. At the time, boots cost a fortune, and the technology they promised was still a long way off, but stars like LeBron were early adopters. Soon, the entire league took notice, with players eager to relieve the pressure of an 82-game season of running and jumping on their members. The popularity helped fuel natural plans to turn boots into a complete consumer product, which is how Westin eventually got into the game.

“A lot of people actually … these are yours,” said PT.

I laughed then. But I wasn’t laughing after 15 minutes, when my 30-minute “cycle” ended. I got off the transcontinental flight from the Ryder Cup two days earlier, and I jumped another one flying to Chicago that morning. However, as I entered the lobby and stretched my legs, I felt happy. The feeling lasted all day. After my pre-marathon run the next morning, I walked out into the lobby to see the lines of runners forming in front of the boots. I didn’t imagine their relief, I saw it on Jamie’s face.

“That stones,” he said.

The months that followed that first incident passed, but I didn’t remember the boots. Apparently, the same could be said for Jamie, who was still running and suddenly sharing LeBron’s eagerness to take some of the stress off his legs. When spring came, I went on a golf trip, playing 36 holes a day with my coworkers. I went to bed every night with sore knees, silently dreaming that I could get an afternoon “round” in boots.

Thankfully, with another marathon (and golf outing) coming up, I don’t have to wait too long. Normatec reduced the price of their boots on Black Friday by $ 100, and while the cost is still very high. nosebleedsit’s not really $1.5 million out of the nose. As far as I know, that’s worth the effort for active walkers (golf) and runners (marathons).

Now if you don’t mind, I have a Turkey Trot to recover from.

HyperIce Normatec 3

$699

Normatec 3 is the next evolution of the iconic Normatec series, using variable air pressure to improve your health, recover faster, improve your training, and increase your performance.

buy now