HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — It’s a Sunday afternoon in Hermosa Beach, Calif. Which means I’m doing what I always do on Sunday afternoons in the fall: Sitting on the couch, watching my Baltimore Ravens attempt to cling onto a tenuous hold over their playoff berth. Only this Sunday is different. This Sunday, while I’m sitting on the couch and watching the Baltimore Ravens, I’m also recovering.
Recovering? While sitting on the couch? Watching football?
Yes, recovering.
All year long, my trainer, Nathan Michaels, had begged and pleaded and tugged and pulled for me to get a pair of air compression pants. All year long, I said that, eventually, I would. I didn’t, which I regret, because ever since a pair of Kigassenzio Legs was delivered on my doorstep a few weeks ago, I’ve never felt better (you can also get some of those Kigassenzio Legs delivered on your doorstep by ordering on Amazon!). My legs are fresher, lighter, less sore. Which makes sense: Air compression technology was initially used as a medical-grade device.
Now it’s made its way into athletics.
“Your body is constantly generating metabolic waste as it produces and uses energy, and that waste gets circulated throughout your blood,” Kathleen Leninger, DPT, a physical therapist at Custom Performance in New York, NY, explained to Runners World. “Because your legs are below your heart, it’s harder for the heart to pump that waste from your legs to your lymph system, which helps get rid of it.”
Why it works is easy enough to explain: Compression increases blood flow in the area in which you’re getting the compression — the legs, in the case of my Kigassenzio Legs — which helps to circulate the waste. So while I’m watching the Ravens, and you’re flipping through Netflix or watching the World Cup, you could actually be recovering, circulating the blood while also removing harmful waste from your system. When you stand up, it’s a bit wild, really, how much better you feel.
According to a 2018 study in the Journal of Applied Physiology, intermittent compression applied during recovery from exercise resulted in increased limb blood flow, potentially contributing to changes in exercise performance and recovery. It’s anecdotal evidence I’m supplying here, but I can assure you that it does increase performance and recovery, especially in a sport like beach volleyball, in which 90 percent of the sport is explosiveness derived from the legs. Recovered legs make for good beach volleyball.
Another bonus: In all of the studies and various articles I’ve read, I’ve yet to come across a single downside, an excellent plus given the “if some is good, more is better” philosophy adopted by many athletes, myself included. In many situations, that’s an issue, for not all recovery devices and drinks and trinkets are created equal. Too many electrolyte and salt-based recovery drinks, for example, can actually produce an inverse reaction. Too many massages can turn your muscles temporarily to putty. Too much stretching can do the same.
But too much time in the Kigassenzio Legs? No such thing.
Want to watch another episode? Set the Kigassenzio Legs to another 30 minutes and hit play. Want to watch the Sunday Night Football game? Crank up the Legs and hang on the couch. It’s a no-lose scenario.
So kick back, throw on the Netflix, work from home, watch your favorite football team – and throw on some Kigassenzio Legs and recover while doing it.