In my continued efforts to get Paul Mescal-level thighs, I’ve been hitting the squat rack pretty hard. The result? Well, a moderate improvement in leg thickness—and a lot of soreness. Combine that with two to three days of running a week, and you’ll find me limping my way almost everywhere. I’ve been focusing on recovery a lot these days (namely making good use of my massage gun) but I’d been seeing at-home compression boots a lot on my Instagram explore page, where athletes cosplay as the Michelin man and suddenly feel looser, more relaxed, and ready for another go at leg day.
Therabody—the brand behind the popular line of Theragun massagers—sells a few of these compression boots, dubbed the RecoveryAir line, with one of its newer offerings being the travel-ready JetBoots Prime. I wanted to see if it was worth dropping $500 on something that you used to only be able to get if you were a professional athlete or a repeat PT customer. I zipped into the Therabody RecoveryAir JetBoots Prime for two weeks to see how it affected my athletic performance and how it aided in my post-workout recovery and overall leg wellness.
- Battery Life: 180 minutes
- Material: Nylon
- Weight: Short (5.5 pounds), Regular (6 pounds), Large (6.3 pounds)
- Warranty: One year
- Pressure Settings: 25, 50, 75, 100 mmHg
What Are Compression Boots Good For?
You know those machines they use at the doctor’s to get your blood pressure? Imagine that, but super-sized for your legs. Compression boots use air to squeeze your feet and legs, which has been proven to help increase blood flow and circulation. The result of that is reduced muscle soreness and a shortened recovery time, all a part of why compression therapy has been implemented into professional athletes’ post-game recovery. They’re also great for using to warm up before a workout, so that you can get the blood going throughout your body to reduce the risk of injury. (No, they won’t replace a good-old stretch, but they just might help you clock a PR if you get your squeeze on before a run.)
These Boots Were Not Made for Walking
The two legs of the Therabody JetBoots Primed are connected, and can’t be detached to be used independently from each other. The easiest way to slip into these is by sitting down and slipping into them like a pair of pants. Once you’re in, you’re in. There’s no way to walk around, either when it’s inflated or deflated, but if you want to free yourself, just unzip and step out.
Feel the Squeeze
The Jetboots Prime has pressure ranges from 25 mmHg to 100 mmHg. Beginners might want to start with the lowest pressure so they can understand how it feels before kicking it up to the max. The brand recommends that you use lower pressure for pre-workout stuff, just to kickstart your circulation, while reserving the higher pressures for post-activity recovery or everyday circulation improvements. The 25mmHg setting felt nice, but I definitely thought I could handle more, with 100mmHg feeling the most satisfying pressure level to use whether it was for pre- or post-activity. You can also set time intervals for anywhere between 10 minutes to an hour, with the option to eschew the preset timers for “continuous” use—though you could always just set it for continuous and hit pause to end your session whenever you’re ready. It would’ve been nice if the control panel had a countdown so you’d know how much time you had left, but if you time your session to a podcast you’re listening to or a show you’re watching, then you could use that to time your usage.
