Did Koa Smith score a gig as the new Michelin Man? Photo: Instagram
Far as we know, John John Florence and Koa Smith ain’t no doctors (astronomers, maybe). But they do have the right idea behind those Michelin Man leg braces John John is sporting in a recent Tour Notes video clip from the World Surf League. They are pumps that inflate around the legs or arms and deliver pulsing bursts of compression to aid in recovery.
On its website one maker, Recovery Boots, claims that using its product for one to two hours a day will equal 12 to 48 hours of rest.
The technology is not much different from a massage — the compression is intended to squeeze the muscles, loosen up lactic acid and other things you want to flush out and encourage circulation. It sounds like John John would agree with tons of athletes who feel these devices beats soreness and speeds up the muscles’ rest and recovery process.
Says Normatec, maker of the brand John John favors: “Our patented pulsing action more effectively mimics the muscle pump of the legs and arms, greatly enhancing the movement of fluid and metabolites out of the limbs after an intense workout.”
NormaTec has become a staple around surf comp sites, with surfers like Sunny Garcia showing support. He and John John are in good company. Lebron James, along with pro athletes from mainstream sports as well as Olympians, elite endurance sports competitors, Crossfitters and more appear to be throwing the $1,400 to $2,600 system into their recovery routines. As is Drake, who has posted shots of himself and a puffed up NormaTec to his Instagram.
NormaTec does its thing by way of first employing the pulsing to mimic circulation. After that, the device uses a gradient of compression to move fluids in the desired direction, out of the limbs, and then gradually releases the pressure.
Here’s Smith in the getup. Nobody said it makes you look cool.
