As any runner knows, the calves tend to bear the brunt of post-workout soreness. So I was intrigued to learn about the new Spryng 2.0, a portable compression device that specifically targets the calves — the muscles responsible for sending almost 90 percent of the blood returning to your heart from your veins.
Of course, that kind of soreness doesn’t just come from just running; after standing for nearly six hours cheering on other runners at the Boston Marathon finish line, my calves were equally tight and tired. Calf fatigue like this can also be the result of poor circulation, especially considering these muscles work almost as hard as your heart when it comes to pumping blood through your body.
Compression devices have become one of the most popular recovery modalities, mostly because they feel almost as good as getting a hands-on massage. You’ve probably seen athletes like LeBron James using puffy boots on social media; these use intermittent pneumatic compression to squeeze your legs to send blood flow back towards your heart so fresh blood, full of oxygen and nutrients, can come back down to those tired muscles.
Intermittent pneumatic compression reduced muscular fatigue scores after an ultramarathon on par with manual therapy, a 2018 study in the journal Research in Sports Medicine found, and daily treatments using a pneumatic compression device reduced recovery time from muscle soreness, according to research published in 2018 in the International Journal of Exercise Science.
Those inflatable boots — like the Normatec 3 compression boots from Hyperice — are expensive and cumbersome, but the Spryng 2.0 compact compression wraps are more reasonably priced and easier to use on the go. So I put them to the test while recovering from the Tokyo Marathon in March and traveling to the Boston Marathon in April. Here’s what I thought.
These low-key Spryng 2.0 Compression Wraps are the perfect cross of compression boot and compression sleeve. Slim, powerful and wireless, you can take them anywhere to help target post-workout soreness with ease.
What we liked about them
They’re super portable
One of my main issues with full-coverage compression boots is that a) they’re big and bulky and b) once you’re in them, you’re staying put until the session is over. The Spryng 2.0 compression wraps, which close around your leg with three velcro flaps, are more akin to compression sleeves, in that they extend from your ankle to the top of your calf. You’re not going to be wearing them under any kind of pants, like a sleeve or sock, but they’re definitely slim enough to pack in a backpack or carry-on (I stuffed them in a backpack en route to Boston, and while they do still take up a decent amount of room, I didn’t have any issues fitting in everything else I needed).
They also require no cords, except for a charging cable, and are super easy to walk around in. While I do think one of the recovery benefits of compression boots is that they force you to sit down and relax, I really appreciated that I could strap these on post-Saturday long run and still move around my condo while doing chores.
The partner app
There are three buttons on each individual compression wrap — power and pause/resume, intensity, and therapy profile (AKA graduated compression or pulsated) — but I much preferred using the simple interface within the Spryng app. From the home screen, you can adjust the session time from the built-in 15 minutes down to as little as 5 minutes or up to as long as 60 minutes, adjust the intensity between three levels, and change the style of compression. There’s also a tab for “Usage Tracking,” which highlights details from your last session as well as your overall stats. As with so many aspects of health and fitness, tracking your data and paying attention to overall trends — i.e. after using the wraps on Saturdays, my Sunday easy runs felt much better — can help inform your training or lifestyle habits.
What we didn’t like about them
They’re a little uncomfortable on your shins
I tend to prefer high levels of compression, and the Spryng 2.0 compression wraps provide up to 250 mmHg of compression (mmHg stands for millimeters of mercury, the unit used for measuring pressure). Most compression socks or sleeves range between 10 and 30 mmHg, while most compression boots deliver between 20 and 240 mmHg — so these are actually pretty powerful. With the Spryng 2.0, you can also choose between three levels of intensity; I found the highest level to be OK for shorter recovery sessions, but when I used it for over 30 minutes, I started to feel an uncomfortable amount of pressure on my shins rather than my calves, which lingered after the session, too.
How they compare
Spryng 2.0’s compression wraps fall somewhere between full-blown compression boots like the Normatec 3 Legs ($799) and compression sleeves like the Therabody RecoveryPulse Calf sleeves ($149 for one, $249 for a pair). Boots provide full-coverage, pneumatic compression, using inflatable air pockets that squeeze from your feet to nearly your hips, while compression sleeves use graduated compression, meaning they’re tighter at the bottom and looser at the top, to squeeze blood flow upwards. These compression wraps only target your lower legs, like a sleeve, but use pneumatic compression, like a boot, to provide more rapid relief. Which one you prefer will likely come down to personal preference, and, of course, budget.
Bottom line
The jury is still out on quantifiable benefits on pneumatic compression — “there appear to be no substantial benefits of IPC in promoting recovery,” one 2020 study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science — but a lot of recovery comes down to what feels good to you. There are no physiological downsides to using pneumatic compression on sore, tired legs, so if you’re seeking post-workout or post-workday relief, Spryng 2.0’s smart compression wraps offer a more affordable and portable way to incorporate pneumatic compression into your daily routine.
