Page 32 - Men’s Health - USA (December 2019)
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BODY
“the mineral-lined fabric refl ects [infrared 7. HELIX MATTRESS
light] back to your body, which helps restore “UNEXPECTED
your muscles faster.” (My Oura reported no Ease of use
diff erence in sleep on nights I wore them.) My DOWNSIDE:
Tuned Recovery Glimpse glasses, the ones Effectiveness
that Smurf-ifi ed my children, just felt silly.
And Bose discontinued those earbuds because YOU CAN
they weren’t living up to the marketing.
But many of these products did help my 8. MOLECULE SHEETS QUICKLY GROW
sleep. After three weeks, my Oura reported
Ease of use
that I had slept eight to nine hours at least six
nights a week. I was less “awake” during sleep- OBSESSIVE.”
Effectiveness
ing hours, and my heart rate, normally about
52 bpm when sleeping, fell to 48 bpm.
With all my newfound energy from a better
night’s rest, and armed with the Garmin on
9. GRAVITY BLANKET
my wrist, I actually found that I started tack-
ling my workouts with renewed vigor. Which THE BOTTOM LINE
Ease of use
is also how I came to own a gun. SLEEP TRACKERS, enhanced bedding, the
Hypervolt—these tools aren’t the last step
Effectiveness
THE FIRST TIME I saw the HYPERVOLT PLUS toward better health. They are the fi rst.
[10], I thought it was a tool out of an HGTV Each tool didn’t always lead to dramatic
show. The “percussive massage device” looks results, but they did increase my awareness
like a high-end drill, except that the bit is a about recovery. The specter of the Fēnix’s
10. HYPERVOLT PLUS
hard rubber disk that tenderizes sore muscle. data pushed me to work harder in the gym,
There is science showing that this type of Ease of use and the Hypervolt pushed me to recover
device works. A2014 study in the Journal of harder for the sake of the Oura data. The more
Clinical & Diagnostic Research found that Effectiveness I repeated this process, the stronger I grew.
people who underwent fi ve minutes of vibra- These devices made me examine my own
tion therapy had signifi cantly less muscle rituals and then, ultimately, determine what
soreness when compared with a control group. daily actions I could take to improve. My kids
Sure enough, after using the Hypervolt on the have a ritualized bedtime routine, so after
left side of my body, it felt less sore than the my wife and I questioned why we didn’t, we
11. THERAGUN
untreated right side and far less sore than it set one. I found myself frequently pushing
would be after my usual fi ve to ten minutes of Ease of use postworkout recovery practices aside, until
foam rolling. I used several other percussive the Hypervolt made me realize that taking the
tools, often for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. The Effectiveness time for a mini massage improved my sleep.
THERAGUN G3PRO [11] is louder but holds a Now I make recovery part of my workout.
charge longer. The RECOUP CRYOSPHERE But there’s also an unexpected downside
[12] stays cold for up to six hours and adds the to all this recovery gear: You can quickly
benefi t of ice to the known benefi ts of massage grow obsessive about the outcome. I found
12. RECOUP CRYOSPHERE
with a lacrosse ball. And the slightly less brutal myself often assessing how I felt by the data
CTM BAND [13] is an exercise band with sore- Ease of use my devices delivered instead of actually
ness-soothing nodules along its length. feeling how I felt. I had a good night of rest
On the days I used these products, my Effectiveness only if my Oura reported that I had. And
Fēnix reported that I could return to exercis- I fretted if I hadn’t used all of the recovery
ing faster than on the days I didn’t. And my tools available to me. My Fēnix is going to
Oura showed me moving less at night, which ding me for not using my Hypervolt today.
may have been due to me feeling less sore. But Which is crazy. Because recovery isn’t
13. CTM BAND
I was also beginning to feel overburdened by about making your devices feel taken care
all the devices. My home gym was littered Ease of use of. It’s about me feeling taken care of. And
with them. Even though much of the data col- although I’m grateful that my month as a
lection was passive, I still had to spend time Effectiveness recovery lab rat helped me start the process
analyzing the information. All this recovery of taking care of myself, I’m pretty sure I
was, frankly, starting to wear on me. can take it from here.
30 December 2019 / MEN’S HEALTH
