I just got back from a standard Saturday
morning smash fest on the bike. My buddy Larry and I
ripped through three seven-minute intervals at ~425 watts uphill and then hit a
hard 5-mile climb called Rockstore. Rockstore is a great climb and was featured in the tour of California. No matter how fast you
ride it, it seems to sap your legs of whatever is left.
A couple years ago, that ride would have been the end of a really solid day and I would have bagged it and lounged around for the
rest of the day. I might have needed to recover the following day. However, as I get further into the sport, the standard volume of
workouts and weekly training load has bummed up significantly as feeding my
endorphin addiction has become increasingly difficult. Full rest is rarely on the agenda. As I ramp up the training, the body
needs a bit of extra love in order to bounce back. After a year of injury, I have become proactive with the little
things that keep you on the road and rolling. Foam rolling, elevating your legs, and compression socks are
all excellent starters. But I am always in search of the next thing. I am a tinkerer. Ice baths have always
been effective for me and I came across a product that gets you the same effect and is a bit more
practical.
The product is called the Podium Cold legs
wraps. They are basically
full-length ice wraps that you apply as a recovery aid after big days.
My first use was an interesting experience. My first impression when I
threw them in my freezer was surprise.
They actually fold up and fit really nicely. I hadn’t considered it but fitting full leg anything in your
freezer is pretty impractical but the folding was quite an easy solution.
On my first use, I found putting 8 Velcro
straps sort of cumbersome. They
are also limited in terms of how tightly you can wrap the straps but once they were on, they felt
awesome. Not too cold, but just
right. I used them for 15 minutes
for the first time and that amount of time seemed right as well.
Putting them to the test through the last 4
months, I have noticed less soreness as you would expect with icing. It allowed me to up my volume without
carrying that deep muscle soreness that used to follow me around. The fatigue was still present but the ache was gone. I often used them twice a day on heavy
multiple workout days. I found
them most effective though when I combined using them with a pre-ice flushing
massage. I massage my quads,
calves, and hamstrings and then put the Podium colds on and it seems to help considerably more.
One thing I noticed though was when they get
wet from melting; they accumulate a bit of moisture on the inside of the
legs. This moisture turns to frost
in the freezer and can burn your skin if you apply it directly. I solved this by wiping the wraps down
with a towel and then wearing tights before using them.
Overall, my experience with the Podium Colds
has been excellent. I tested these for four solid months and they
have been a worthwhile addition to my routine and have helped me stay injury
free through some very heavy blocks of training and racing. I use them nearly on a daily basis when really getting after it. At 99 dollars, they are a very
affordable substitute for the thousand-dollar compression pump and serve a
similar function of flushing your legs out, speeding recovery, and reducing soreness.
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