Hate your legs feeling heavy and achy? Not your fault, but rather the natural tendency to age. Here are 3 benefits of the Normatec leg compression boots.

Leg compression sleeves and boots are nothing new. In fact, I think you could probably name any couple you know that have, or has, these things.

A couple things people seem to struggle with however are finding the leg compression boots and the ideal placement on the back of the calf (non-mid back). This post will go through both and how they can really help.

So strap in, because this is going to get real geeky and can be a little painful!

Proof that these things work

1. Pre-Use Pain

First things first, you have to make sure that there is nothing ‘wrong’ with your feet. To test this, I laid them all out on the floor and poked with a pin to see how they feel.

Check your feet before you wear the NormaTec leg compression boot.

2. Post-Use Pain

Now that I’m comfortable with the discomfort and nothing appears to be ‘wrong’, it is time to actually wear the leg compression boots.

The order I personally take my leg compression boots off in is as follows:

Back: leg, calf, calf, calf

Front: leg, calf, calf, calf

Seems obvious.

Also, the order in which you take the boots off really matters. Before you do anything else, check out these visualisations, which show how different the foot compressions will be.

On the one hand, when you initially put the boots on, they feel like they are basically hugging your feet and squeezing every inch of the foot.

However, when you take them off, you can feel the compression gradually going away. This can be very uncomfortable if you’re not used to it.

I would recommend doing this first before getting on with other movements.

How should you wear them?

For most people, you are probably best sticking with keeping the leg compression boot ON for the majority of the time. This ensures that your calves are engaged as much as possible.

Since the leg compression boots are essentially hugging your foot, the natural tendency is to constantly massage the calf. This is how they work.

So, in most cases, you want to keep your legs tightly straight and lean forward a little bit. It is important to try and keep your chest upright as well.

You could also gently roll your head forward from time to time, to keep you engaged even more.

Alternatively, you can just allow your feet to hang down and legs limp – just like when you first put them on.

If you’re having issues keeping your feet straight and are moving your feet in weird ways, then check out these visualisations.

These are from an initial test that tested everyone’s setup, it was clear which order to take things in.

3. Results

By having your feet as straight as possible, you are essentially using as much of the stretch receptors on your feet as possible.

By doing this, the stretch receptors are more likely to tell your brain that you are in discomfort and the more intense the compression is, the more likely you are to notice it. Since the compression is working so hard, it is able to last longer, and your body responds better to it.

See what my legs are like after wearing leg compression boots for 3 days.

Finally, I wanted to know if these things were going to have any effect on my knees.

I can run and play squash, but I do also have a bit of arthritis in my knees.

At my age it’s to be expected – but after 3 days of wearing the boots, I felt so much better! I was back to playing squash and everything felt strong and healthy.

So, did these boots work for me?

I definitely felt the benefits, both immediately and also in the days following the experiment. I have to say that it was such an eye opener for me.