From Normatec, Therabody to Air relax, we throw down the best compression boots for a rapid recovery after a solid race or training session

Since you’ve made it here, you are most likely serious about performance and recovery and would benefit from using compression boots in your recovery regimen.

The best compression boots can be pricey but these air-filled boots are fast becoming a common sight in gyms, wellness centres, physiotherapist clinics and even at home, and for good reason - they work.

We first came across compression boots back in the day watching the first Cross-fit games and admittedly were skeptical, however the benefits of compression boots are backed by science and backed by the best athletes, coaches and experts globally.

In this article, we have compiled every compression boot online worth looking at and give you a buyer's guide for compression boots. Brands like NormaTec, Therabody, Rapid Reboot and Air Relax dominate the compression boots market, but there are plenty of other strong players that you may also want to consider.

Are compression boots worth the money? If you are like us, you could spend $1000’s on fitness recovery gear and still want more, but it is no doubt that compression boots are a high value item. After spending over 100 hours in compression boots and feeling the love they give the legs, it’s a yes from us. Below is a quick look at the best compression boots before we break it down.

Best Compression Boots 2024 - Our Top Picks

Best Overall: Air Relax Plus AR 4.0

The Air Relax takes the cake for best compression boots for recovery. It can be bought in three different sizing options for most body types, has an option for extended 3 year warranty which is top of the market, features a quality digital control with four modes and four different pressure settings.

Best in Australia: Blackroll Compression Boots

Blackroll offers the best solution for compression boots Australia with their cordless leg recovery system pumping out a pressure range of 20-120 mmHg housed in 5 chambers and offering 5 massage modes. The controls allow for a customised time setting, pressure and zone settings all from a compact and light control unit making it a perfect setup for home with approximately 1 hour of use per charge of its rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Best Value: Endurance Relax Recovery Compression Boots

The Endurance Recovery Boots are the best value compression recovery boots with a mid range price of $799. The Endurance Relax boots are superb value and have most of the same features as the more expensive boots but at a more affordable entry level price. They operate on three different programmes including massage, lymphatic and double massage with four seperate chambers for even inflation and a quality LED countdown display. They offer free shipping Australia wide and a 2 year warranty on all of their compression boots products.

Use code RECOVERYGURU for $100 discount at checkout

Best Budget: Renpho Air Compression Leg Massager

Renpho are the best priced compression boots on the market but still surprisingly do the job! Renpho offers both a heated and standard version of compression boots in a slightly more budget looking design. The Renpho boots include adjustable velcro strapping on the feet, legs and calves making these boots adjustable for multiple users.

Use code GURU for 10% discount at checkout

Best Pro: Therabody Recovery Air JetBoots

Therabody are REALLY good at making recovery gear and dominate the market. Their new Therabody Recovery Air Jetboots are very well designed with smart hygienic overlapping internal chambers (4), precise pressure settings allowing between 20-100mmHg, 360 minute battery life making the perfect for taking away on travel or using at home. Therabody have also just added three new models to the Recovery Air range including the Prime, JetBoots, and PRO which are all exceptionally wireless and hassle free setup designs.

Best on Amazon: Normatec Pulse 2.0 Leg Recovery System

With Hyperice Nortmatec you can choose from the Leg System, the Lower Body System, and the Full Body System. The Normatec Pulse 2.0 Leg Recovery System is the cheaper of the options and covers from the top of your hip down to the entire foot. Normatec has that solid brand recognition being a name you can trust in compression boots and they offer 30 day returns with a 1 year standard warranty. These boots can be paired via bluetooth to the Hyperice app on your phone where you can track recovery data. They also have some cool features like “zone boost” which allows you to increase the pressure and hold time on a particular area of the body.

Best Full Body: Rapid Reboot Full Body Compression System

The Rapid Reboot Full Body System is for ultra serious athletes featuring 10 pressure levels with A&B Modes, 3 different time settings, position isolation for when you find a tight spot, position Indicator, quiet session mode ideal for using at home and a compression massager included.

Best for Newbies: Quinear Air Compression Boots

The Quinear compression boots are a good place for newbies to start and test out the benefits of compression boots at home with 6 massage programs, isolation mode, custom time settings and remote control. The technology includes 4 Air Chamber Technology with overlapping chambers for a smooth recovery treatment. Secured by 2 years worry-free warranty, lifetime servicing and 60 money back guarantee.

What Are Compression Boots?

Compression boots or recovery boots use air chambers driven by a small compressor unit that is plugged straight into the standard wall socket to slowly fill air chambers that are secured around the legs or arms to essentially massage your legs, feet, quads, calves using the flow of the compressed air.

Many people may have seen compression boots used in events like the Crossfit Games and after triathlons or marathons as they are effective at encouraging blood flow to fatigued parts of the body to assist in recovery after intense bouts of exercise. If your end goal is to bounce back and recover faster, then a set of good recovery boots is essential.

You may have heard of the term “active recovery” - compression boots provide some of the physiological responses that you would find in the benefits of active recovery but give the option for the effect of a light to intense massage, with some compression boots pumping out some intense pressures, without having to move.

Compression boots have both a recovery and a medical application and can be super effective at not only rapid rapid recovery from exercise after running, lifting, riding or playing impact sports but they can also be used to help with varicose veins or Deep Vein Thrombosis as a preventative or therapy tool.

In short, the various compression boots on the market provide an option for every budget for people who want access to a massage at-home in the lounge room while relaxing, watching Netflix or the newest season of Suits.

What Are The Benefits Of Compression Boots?

Originally, compression boots were used mainly in a medical setting to help treat circulatory disorders, but now they are used by athletes and people serious about recovery all around the world.

As you sweat it out during exercise, our body produces metabolic waste products which are released into the blood, something you’ve probably physically felt as ‘fatigue’ in the muscles when you push yourself to your limits. The aim of recovery between races, training sessions or competitions is to remove these metabolites or waste products from the muscles as fast as possible via increasing blood flow.

Post exercise it is important to push blood supply around the body for growth and repair. The fundamentals benefits of pneumatic compression boots and compression recovery systems like Normatec, Rapid Reboot, Air Relax, Recovery Project, Renpho and SLS3 is increased circulation from using compression boots. In short, more blood flow means more oxygen and nutrients being delivered to the muscles, meaning more rapid recovery and faster healing.

Some of the main benefits of using compression boots supported by science include:

Decreased Inflammation
Increased Circulation
Increased Flexibility
Increased Pain Threshold

How We Review

compression training — Credit: Therabody

When we look at the best compression boots available to buy online we consider a few key features that make a compression boot worth the money as a practical recovery tool:

Price

The price of compression boots that we have tested range from between $160AUD - $1800AUD for some full body compression systems. This is a large gap so what determines a good value compression boot?

When we do any compression boots review, we compare the price to what you get as a functional product, what design features it has and what technical specifications the compression boot offers for performance. What you can see with cheaper more budget compression boots like the Renpho Leg Massager Boots is that they lack the same inflation power/pressure that the higher priced compression boots offer meaning less ability to push fresh blood around the body which is the key to the benefits of compression boots.

Then there are the mid-range boots like the Endurance Relax Compression Recovery Boots which offer much of the same functionality as a compression boot worth twice the amount at $999. The Endurance Compression boots range offers a type of recovery boot for every budget and come free shipping is included in the price along with a 2 year warranty.

A higher priced compression boot, like the Air Relax Plus 4.0 or the Therabody Air Recovery System, come with better compression technology in the form of multiple chambers inside the boots that allow for more effective and efficient cycles and programs meaning you need to spend less time in the boots to achieve the same result - they actually work.

Often the more budget compression boots also don’t offer as good a fit or sizing options, instead coming with a one-size-fits-all Velcro style adjustment, while the better compression boots will offer 2-3 unique sizing options.

Warranty

Compression boot warranty is important in our eyes, particularly when you are forking out upwards of $1000 on a recovery tool, you want to know you are covered for repairs and defects. Every product will come with a standard 12 month warranty required by law, but the best compression boot brands offer a warranty period that is reflective of the quality of their product.

As with Air Relax Compression Boots, you are able to pay a little bit extra on your purchase and get up to 3 years extended warranty on any of their boots.

We typically give extra street cred in our compression boot reviews when brands offer free 2 year warranty and more. A number of the best compression boots brands will also offer a 30 day money back guarantee on your purchase which gives you the opportunity to try them out and send them back if they are not what you thought they would be.

Pressure

The compression boot pressure is essentially the key performance indicator of a good compression boot - more pressure means more compression ability and faster waste product removal. Air compression boots are essentially mimmicing our physiology, specifically how the body moves fluids. When the pressure rating is high on a pair of compression recovery boots it means they are able to better move fluid around the body.

Common compression boot pressures range from between 20 – 240mmHg. The Air Relax has some of the better pressure ratings for compression boots while cheaper brands like Renpho only give you about 150mmHg which still makes them effective but means you would have to spend more time in them to get results.

Design

Another aspect that can compliment the pressure rating is the technical design of compression boots. The best compression boots will feature a design that involves some type of multiple chamber inflation method that allows a cyclical or rhythmic style of inflation up and down the legs or body which makes it much more effective at encouraging lymphatic drainage.

Air Relax Compression Boots, for example, have 4 compression chambers capable of 4 different pressure settings. Or the Rapid Reboot Leg Recovery System which offers 20 different pressure settings across both Mode A and Mode B on the control unit where Mode A fills up one section with air and releases before moving to the next section and Mode B fills up one section and keeps filling until all sections are inflated before releasing.

Compression boots reviews based on design also include an assessement of how they ergonomically fit around the legs or body. Some of the best compression boot brands will offer up to 3 different sizing options like - like S, M, L - which allows for a snugger fit for you body type and shape. Other compression boot systems only offer a one-size-fits-all design in the form of velcro adjustment straps. We give a higher rating for compression boots that can be bought to match your size.

Best Compression Boots 2024 - Review and Buyers Guide

With all of the previous information in mind on how we review compression boots and a few reasons why compression boots are worth the money investment, lets break down the handful of the best compression boots we think are worth throwing down some cash for to elevate your recovery efforts. This list of compression recovery boots is not necessarily in order of choice but our overall top pick for compression boots after all things considered is definitely the Air Relax Plus boots.

In our list, we have included some different options for full body compression, leg only compression boots, best Australian compression boots, compression boots on Amazon, best professional compression boots for commercial spaces and best options for those with a smaller budget. Fill your boots!

Best Overall: Air Relax Plus AR 4.0

The Air Relax Plus is the overall best compression boot in 2024. The Air Relax system offers a couple of handy settings that allow users to take advantage of their desired benefit of using compression boots. The different modes of the Air Relax system as well as its simple to use control box make it the best compression boot for at home use.

Shop Air Relax Recovery Boot models online

To break down the Air Relax Modes, it includes:

15-minute pre-setting that enables you to warm up the system.
Mode A fills the chambers from the bottom up, one leg at a time.
Mode B fills from the bottom to top of the leg and keeps the pressure at the lower sections of the leg and feet.
Mode C immediately fills all chambers and releases simultaneously.
Auto mode cycles through a variety of the different modes

Is Air Relax worth it?

Air Relax has one of the highest pressure output of any other compression boots we have come across at up to 240mmHg. In comparison the other compression boots the Air Relax features superior technology in its control system as well as in the design of the actual leg fittings with seperate inflation chambers with multiple layers. In comparison to other methods of compression for recovery like compression socks and other compression garments, the Air Relax compression boots have been shown to be far more effective at achieving the desired result of blood flow and waste removal post exercise.

Read our Full Air Relax Boots Review here

When we compare the Air Relax Compression boots to other competitors it presents a reasonably affordable price in comparison with other big names like Therabody, Air Press, NormaTec Pulse and Rapid Reboot. The NormaTec Pulse compression boots sit at around $1395AUD mark, while the cheapest Recovery Air model sits at $989AUD, making the Air Relax a few hundred dollars cheaper for a super high quality product.

How Air Relax works

Best Value: Endurance Relax Recovery Compression Boots

The Endurance Relax Recovery Compression boots are the best value compression boots on the market in 2024. Endurance Relax boots have a lot of the same features as some of the recovery boots that are worth double the price. The Endurance Recovery Boots brand is born in Australia and offer a number of options for pneumatic compression for recovery, with a set of compression boots for all budgets.

Read our full Endurance Relax Recovery Boots Review here

After testing these Endurance Relax boots out recently following preparation for a marathon, I found them to be quite basic to setup, with a slightly budget feel but plenty of options for massage settings and a great pressure range. At the highest pressure range of 250mmHG, these boots are almost too strong and provide a lot of compression for those who want it. For tender, sore muscles after a big run or solid training session, the lower settings work well and our favourite setting is the Massage setting on the 3rd highest pressure level for a 30 minute session length.

The Endurance Relax boots offer 3 different programs which deliver a different flow of air. Programme A which is the ‘Massage’ setting, exerts pressure from the foot towards the heart, alternating chambers. Programme B, the ‘Lymphatic Drainage’ setting, stimulates flow through pressure from the foot towards the heart, retains pressure until the entire leg chamber has been inflated.

Shop Recovery Boots models online

Lastly, Programme C, the ‘Double Massage’ setting, exerts pressure from the foot towards the heart, two chambers at a time. The great thing about the Endurance Relax console is that you can isolate one or more of the chambers to not inflate which is useful if you do not want the chamber to inflate around an injured part of the leg.

Compression boots reviews

The Endurance Recovery Boots are backed by some renowned Australian Olympians and athletes including Netball players, soccer players, triathletes, surfers, AFL players, tennis players and UFC fighters like Rob Whitaker. The amount of positive reviews of the Endurance Recovery Boots give high confidence that these boots are high value for the price and are competitive against the major players like Therabody, Air Relax, Rapid Reboot and Normatec.

Best Full Body: Rapid Reboot Full Body Compression System

Rapid Reboot offer the best full body compression system and arguably are in line with the calibre of the Air Relax compression system. Rapid Reboot offers a unique purchasing experience with somewhat of a plug and play selection for their compression products.

Buy Rapid Reboot at Amazon

How it works is you first choose your control unit (either Regen, Genesis or Classic), you then choose your attachment (boots/legs, hips or arms) and finally you choose your settings of time, pressure and mode on the integrated app.

rapid reboot model options — Credit: Rapid Reboot

The Rapid Reboots system offers a very clever way to recover with compression technology. The Rapid Reboot Complete Full Body package real does cover all bases but will not miss you on price at about $1295USD at the time of writing this. For the Full Body Package you will get:

GENESIS Control Unit

Boots Attachment
Hips Attachment
Arms Attachment
Duffel Bag
2 Year Warranty

Don’t forget, Rapid Reboot can also be bought just in the leg attachment if that’s all you are looking for and makes for a much more affordable compression boot purchase, this is purely an option for those intetrested in full body compression recovery. With each attachment you can expect to be treated to a slice of heaven with 2 massage patterns, 10 compression levels, multiple time settings, your country’s voltage requirements (if you are buying compression boots in Australia be sure to shop on the Australian website of Amazon AU), 2 Hour Battery Life + Rapid Charge, HD touchscreen and app compatibility.

Rapid Reboot is definitely up there with their technology and design aspect, but perhaps just one or two steps behind Therabody Recovery Air when considering their newer models which are the most wireless compression boots we have seen to date.

Best Australia: Blackroll Compression Boots

The Blackroll brand has an ethos around intelligent recovery for athletes, with a deliberate and calculated approach to recovery methodology. Compression therapy products are one of the carefully curated selection of recovery and wellness products that Blackroll offers on their store.

Shop Blackroll Compression Boots

The Blackroll Compression boots are the best Australian born compression boots we have seen on the market. They also offer upper body and full body compression systems. Blackroll is a German design that deliver pneumatic compression therapy can help athletes and average joes revive sore, tired and aching muscles, and maximise circulation throughout the body so that you feel better and recover faster.

At $899 for the Blackroll compression boots, it is a no-brainer for Aussies trying to find the best compression boots online. Featuring 6 massage modes with a pressure range of 80-260 mmHg and customisable time, pressure, and zone settings, the Blackroll Compression boots are a really good contender for your money! What could improve though, is a few more sizing options for those smaller body sizes, with 3 different size options of small, medium and large to suit all body types.

Best Pro: Therabody Recovery Air JetBoots

Therabody have been doing recovery and wellness gear for a long time and have also been at the cutting edge of doing it well. What we love about the Recovery Air compression boots most is the user experience. The compression session can be linked to the Therabody app and the system is as close as possible to wireless with minimal cordage and a super compact compressor unit. The actual boots are a pleasure to fit and are much less combersome than many of the other compression systems we have tested and reviewed.

The Recovery Air boots use a unique negative gradient pressure technology that is supported by a spiraling overlap of four chambers inside the boots that sequentially push the pressure up towards the heart to create the most smooth pressure movement with minimal peaks and valley of pressure.

The get the maximum benefits of compression boots, the more cycles of inflation and deflation in a given amount of time is ideal. The Therabody compression boots claim to be able to get through 3x the cycles in a given period with a more rapid inflation and deflation due to due precise pressure detection built into the unit. We are yet to test this claim but are confident it is a no BS claim.

Therabody Recovery Air Jetboots are definitely the smartest and most high-tech recovery boots on the market. They also allow you to set your session to a precise unit of pressure between 20-240mmHg and will control the amount of pressure according to the size of the limb being treated. This is important because without pressure control parameters it is possible for compression systems to over-inflate past a normal human blood pressure which could be a risk associated with lower qaulity compression technology.

Why the Therabody Recovery Air boots are worth the money

The main drawcard we can see that makes the Recovery Air boots a worthy investment is the extended 360 minute battery life. This one feature alone makes the Recovery Air boots the most versatile and travel-ready compression boots to take away on trips, competitions, races or away games to have epic recovery gear with you whereever you go. 360 minutes of use before needing to charge would get through roughly 6 athletes for a 1 hour session each. This means you could set up a couple of units at once and be able to service a whole team for a recovery day, for example, without needing to charge the boots.

The Recovery Air boots come in three different sizes for the optimal fit for a large range of body sizes. For the best fit of RecoveryAir compression boots, it is worth taking the time to do some quick measurements on your own body to correctly fit yourself to the right sized com pression boots. This can be done by measuring the outseam of your leg from your ankle to hip flexor and then using this outseam length to select your size from their chart. If you appear to be in-between sizes, we recommend sizing down to ensure the best fit and maximum compression potentia - tighter is definitely better.

Best on Amazon: Normatec Pulse 2.0 Leg Recovery System

Much like the Therabody Recovery Airs, NormaTec compression boots come with a not-so-nice price tag for some. The question is: are Normatec boots worth the money? At a cost of $1359 on Amazon, the Normatec Pulse 2.0 is one of the most expensive compression boots on the market. Obviously this price jumps even higher when you look at the full body version of NormaTec compression systems. What do you get for the huge price gap between, say the Australian compression boots by The Recovery Project versus NormaTec? The main features that account for the higher price in Normatec compression boots is bluetooth connectivity, brand recognition and trust, lightweight battery, luxury feel and unparalleled session length selection.

The Hyperice Normatec Pulse 2.0 Boots will give you around 2 hours of battery life or you can just plug it straight into the wall and start your compression therapy session. The unit weighs only 1.6kg (3.6lbs) and with the leg sleeves and cables is approved for carry on luggage and is most definitely light enough for it. The Hyperice Normtec boots are for sure on the professional use end of the spectrum for buyer suitability but if you are new to compression boots and have the budget these boots are a no-brainer.

The Normatec Pulse 2.0 comes with a Bluetooth enabled app, HyperSmart, which allows you to control the compression boots remotely from your phone as well as track and store your recovery data. This may seem like an extra fuunction that alot of people don’t need or wouldn’t use but it is a handy function for athletes looking to gain a better understanding of correlations between your recovery program and performance. In this sense, your recovery data can show how well your recovery routine makes you perform.

Best Budget: Renpho Air Compression Leg Massager

One things that has probably become known to you now if you didn’t already know is that a set of good compression boots is expensive. But, as always there are usually a few brands that offer a budget, low trimmings option on a product that does the job, just don’t expect anything fancy. Renpho has been making budget wellness and recovery gear like massage guns, bpdy scales, foot massagers, eye massagers and compression boots.

The Renpho Leg Massager is more of a massager than a compression boot as it doesn’t reach the same levels of compression that we would generally like from our compression boots to achieve the optimal effect. Despite this, we do think that Renpho still works to help increase circulation and blood flow that would benefit recovery in some way.

The Renpho has three different modes and intensity levels with oversized leg wraps made from soft PU leather that can be velcro adjusted to size. The leg massager also now comes in a Heated and Non-Heated style so you can add a soothing warmth to your massage session too! For the price of $135, we do think the Renpho is a bit of a steal if you are a newby looking for a cheap way to test out what a compression boot may feel like, although it is difficult to say these boots are similar to the more quality brands like Air Relax, NormaTec or Therabody.

Best for Newbies: Quinear Compression Boots

The Quinear Compression Boots are an entry-level set of compression recovery boots for those who are looking to get all the benefits of compression therapy without the huge price tag. With 8 different intensities and 3 different modes, up to 250mmHg of pressure, 2 years warranty and 100% money back guarantee there isn’t much you are missing out on in terms of functionality and value when you buy the Quinear compression boots.

The only downside to Quinear Compression Boots and perhaps why they are a little on the cheaper size is the comfort levels. To be honest, I would probably avoid buying the Quinear compression boots if you have the budget when there are so many other good options out there. Some users have reported that the Quinear boots can’t be fitted as high on your legs as other models and the foot design uses an all-around inflation that has a habit of squeezing your feet in an awkward way, resulting in pain for some. Although this is bearable, it is worth considering if this would be a deal breaker for you. You could always make use of the 100% money back guarantee though!

When To Use Compression Boots

Personally, I most enjoy strapping on the compression boots at home in front of an episode of the newest episode of Luxe Listings or reading the communal Kindle.

The best time to strap on your compression boots or compression recovery system is post exercise. Think post long run, after a race, a solid training session, or just when the muscles are sore. Compression boots are ideal for runners, triathletes, long distance racers, cyclists, football and soccer players, and any other sport that really pounds the legs. Since the aim is to remove the waste products generated by exercise as fast as possible and push as much fresh blood around the body to support growth and repair, it is ideal to engage compression therapy as soon as possible after training. In general, the harder you work or the more output you produce, the more waste products you will produce from exercise, the more likely you will need the help of compression boots.

We also recommend incorporating compression boots along with ice bathing or sauna therapy protocols for a bulletproof recovery regime.

Compression Recovery Boots FAQs

Are compression boots safe?

Yes, compression boots are a very non-invasive treatment for exercise recovery and pain with little to no risk associated with using compression boots. If anything, you may expereince some pressure discomfort, heat or sweating beneath the cuff of the compression system.

Are compression boots worth the money?

There are a number of options for budget when buying compression boots online. Compression boots are well worth the financial investment for athletes who require the most efficient and effective means of repair and recovery from exercise and training to be able to perform again and again with limited DOMS and pain.

Compression boots are also a great relaxation tool as a massage chair alternative. To be honest, even without having done any exercise, we enjoy just sliding some compression boots on, sitting in a comfy chair, recovery beverage in hand, kicking back listening to our favourite meditation or the latest listen on Audiobook.

How Are Compression Boots Different From Compression Socks?

You can see compression socks as a static compression treatment and compression boots as a dynamic compression treatment. Compression boots are far more effective at achieving the desired result for recovery which is reducing pain, inflammation, swelling and assisting with blood flow. Compression socks are good, but compression boot technology is far, far superior. Despite good compression garments being roughly $100 and good compression boots being roughly $600-$1000, compression boots are an obvious choice for those looking for something that works for recovery.

Compression boots vs massage gun - which is better?

Compression boots operate on a similar physiological mechanism to a massage gun in that they both encourage the flushing out of the by-products created by exercise and reduce the effects associated with DOMS. Although massage guns are fantastic at doing this, compression boots are better at capturing the entirety of the leg, arm or area that you are treating and building up pressure to more effectively push the fresh blood around the body and remove the waste products. If I had to choose between a massage gun treatment or a compression recovery boots session I would always opt for the compression boots, budget permitting.

Compression boots vs ice bath - which is better?

In short, sometimes ice is better, other times compression is better. Intense exercise causes micro trauma to muscle fibres. The body’s natural mechanism to heal those damaged muscle fibres is to create inflammation and swelling to protect and send blood and nutrients to the site. Cold water immersion in an ice bath is a practice designed to basically slow that inflammatory process and reduce the pain associated with it. It is also beneficial for the shock proteins associated with ice baths that further encourage healing, boost growth hormone and increase positive mood.

There are times when the application of cold plunge produces a negative effect on recovery, like following strength based or weight lifting exercises. For this reason, using compression boots for recovery may be considered a more beneficial and safe form of decreasing your recovery time and reducing the pain associated with DOMS. We must admit, the process of zipping on a pair of compression recovery boots and laying back in a chair with the eyes closed while compressed air squeezes fresh blood around your legs like a toothpaste tube is a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience than dunking the body in tepid, freezing water for minutes at a time while you struggle to control the breath.

Can you use compression boots at home?

Yes, compression boots for home are super common with a rise in popularity of compression boot use in sport recovery for athletes around the world. No longer are compression boots limited to a medical scenario. There are dozens of brands of compression recovery systems that simply plug into your wall socket at home and use a small compression system to pump up the device and fill it with air. The majority of compression boots and recovery system are super quiet and don’t make much noise making them ideal for at home.

When is the best time to use compression boots?

It is ideal to use compression boots for recovery within 48 hours of the training session, event or exercise that you are intending to recover from. We recommend using compression boots in between other recovery foundations including cold therapy and heat therapy for best results.

How long should you use compression boots for?

It is best to use compression boots for a minimum of 15 minutes to allow for as much flushing of the blood and removal of waste products as possible. A session length of up to an hour will still produce benefits and many compression boots definitely have hour long sessions programmed into the boots. We usually aim for a 45 minute session if time permits to get the most out of compression therapy and to push as much fresh blood around the body as possible especially following intense exercise.

Are compression boots good for varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis?

DVT is a serious medical condition that can cause swelling, pain, and tenderness in your leg. Varicose veins are the visible symptoms of twisting, swelling and damage to the veins usually in the legs. Using compression boots has been shown to be an effective treatment for varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and were traditional used for such medical treatements due to the benefit of encouraging blood flow and minimising blood clotting in the legs. If you are someone at risk of DVT, for example, you are pregnant, have just had a surgery that would limit mobility and movement, travel alot, smoker, obesity or elderly, consider using compression boots as an effective preventative measure for DVT which can be painful and debilitating.

Final Word on Best Compression Boots

therabody compression — Credit: Therabody

The best compression boots in 2024 all operate on the same principle, but as you can see each compression boot has a slightly different control setting, program presets, warranty, price and design features. Overall, we think the Air Relax Plus 4.0 Compression Boots deserve the title of best compression boots due to their investment in design, technology, top rated pressure levels and reasonable price. At the other end of the spectrum, the best budget compression recovery boots are the Renpho Leg Massager which offer a stellar price for compression boots despite a slightly less functional and aesthetic product. If you are buying compression boots Australia, we would opt for either the Endurance Relax Compression Boots or the Blackroll Compression Boots as the best compression boots Australia.

There is definitely a pair of compression boots out there for every budget, and certainly if you are lacking any financial restrictions or looking for compression boots for a gym, wellness space or commercial use we would recommend the top end products like Therabody Recovery Air, Normatec or Rapid Reboot which have the best tech integration and aesthetic look.

The leg recovery systems are an ideal rapid recovery tool for runners, cyclists, triathletes, and for performance in other sports requiring leg recovery. Compression boots are also a great preventative measure for some groups at risk of DVT. To be honest, compression boots just feel fantastic to put the legs in after a long day. If you are new to compression boots we would suggest the best compression boots for you would be one that offers a good return policy and is within your budget. When shopping for compression boots online we always recommend taking a close look at the compression boot reviews that each brand has to see what customer reviews are saying about any common faults or positive feedback.