We here at Murmurs from the Losers’ Bracket play a lot of pickleball.
Maybe, too much pickleball – especially for somebody who knows all the parts of Medicare. Recently, the nagging pickleball-related leg pains I was experiencing bugged me enough to take some decisive action.
No, I didn’t stop playing. (Let’s not get crazy here!) Instead, I sought both high-tech and low-tech methods of relief.
It was time to try something beyond Tylenol.
I’m talking about (1) drinking pickle juice and (2), investing in a Hyperice Normatec 3 Leg Recovery System.
You probably don’t know what a leg recovery system is. I didn’t until I was watching a documentary that showed basketball superstar Lebron James using one after a game in the team’s locker room.
He was sitting down with both his legs entombed in what looked like the puffy legs of a child’s snowsuit. Imagine a blood-pressure cuff that encases the whole leg, going from your bootie-enclosed feet to your waist.
And then I stumbled on a Facebook post in a pickleball group from a guy also using the leg recovery system.
“Never thought I would love something so much, but oh my gosh, these are amazing after a pickleball session,” the player wrote.
If I were paying closer attention, I would have found an earlier post years ago that showed pickleball pro Kyle Yates zipped up inside his inflatable Normatec compression pants during a tournament.
So, that was it – my new two-pronged strategy for pain relief: Low-tech pickle juice and a high-tech leg compression system.
It’s still too early to offer a full assessment of the effectiveness of each method. I’ll do that in a future column after a longer trial period.
But it might be useful, for now, to view these two muscle pain-relief methods in a side-by-side comparison.
The Science
Pickle juice: Drinking pickle juice has been cited as an effective way to relieve muscle cramps caused by exercise. But this praise has been mostly anecdotal.
The salt and vinegar in the juice are said to replenish electrolytes that are needed for a speedier recovery after a workout. And some say the juice shuts down the triggering of neurons in muscles all over the body when the liquid hits the back of the throat.
It hasn’t been a heavily studied subject, and the science so far is inconclusive and spotty. A Journal of Athletic Training study looked at the anti-cramping strategies used by 337 athletic trainers. It noted that 19 percent of them employed drinking pickle juice before workouts for its elevated sodium content.
The study, however, failed to find measurable benefits of drinking pickle juice over sports drinks and other hydration options.
Normatec 3: The leg compression sleeves use air pressure on the leg muscles to generate blood flow that mimics the natural action in the body.
By alternating pressures in five distinct areas of the leg, it assists the body in pushing blood and metabolic waste products, such as lactic acid, out of the legs after a workout.
This is designed to reduce post-workout swelling and to speed up the body’s recovery time as it relaxes muscle tissue and reduces cramping.
The Hassle Factor
Pickle juice: If you’re like me, drinking pickle juice – the brine in a jar of pickles – is not a problem. I like pickles on my sandwiches and have no issue drinking the brine those pickles soak in right from the jar in my refrigerator.
There is also a more civilized alternative to drinking from the jar.
You can buy your juice in little 2.5-ounce bottles marketed as “extra strength” pickle juice. It’s a vinegary blend that’s easy to swig and you can put a bottle of it in your equipment bag to use during a break on the court.
The Normatec 3: It’s a bit of a contraption with the bulky two giant zip-up legs and the thick hoses that connect to the surprisingly quiet compressor.
They work best while sitting on a chair or couch with your legs elevated to a horizontal position. It has settings that range from 15 minutes to 45 minutes, with seven different levels of compression.
I’ve tried it all the way to the highest compression (Level 7), which feels like an intense massage. While the air compression sleeves sometimes cause some discomfort, especially around the feet and ankles, the overall effect is enjoyable enough that I often want to do another cycle at the end of the first session.
I’ve gotten to the point now that when I watch television I first get myself plugged into my Normatec 3.
Unless my wife beat me to it.
The Cost
Pickle juice: I like Famous Dave’s Sweet n Spicy pickle chips on my sandwiches. A 24-ounce jar sells for about $8 at the supermarket. Along with the tasty pickles, you’ve got a good 12-ounces of flavorful pickle brine in there.
I have also opted for the single-use pickle juice shots sold as “Extra Strength Pickle Juice.” They’re not pickle jar brine. They taste more like a vinegary salad dressing. A 12-pack of these pickle juice shots sells for about $23, or a little less than $2-per-shot.
Normatec 3: The Hyperice Normatec 3 sells for about $800.
I know. That’s a lot of pickles.
MURMURS FROM THE LOSERS’ BRACKET
Read past editions of Murmurs from the Losers’ Bracket, including:
- Partnering with a Giant: Hitting the Wall in Pickleball
- Ten Things Not to Say on a Pickleball Court
- Oh, the Horror! Playing with a Pickleball Partner who won’t Move Up
- Not a Softie When it Comes to Pickleball with a Foam Ball
- Do Pickleball Prayers Get Answered?
- Ten Tips for Being “Nice” at Pickleball
- Attention Pickleballers: Be On The Lookout For “Ball Blowers”
- The Etiquette Crisis with “Open Play”
- Lob into the Sun? Maybe, Maybe Not
- Mastering the Diplomacy of Round-Robin Scheduling
- Confessions of a Paddle Addict
Frank Cerabino is a long-time columnist for the Palm Beach Post in Florida, a pickleball addict like the rest of us, and a newly published author. Check out Frank’s newly released book, I Dink, Therefore I Am: Coming to Grips with My Pickleball Addiction (available on Amazon and a great read (or gift!) for any pickleball player), for pickleball tips and laughs!
