Class: Normatec

Location: Brentwood

Work-out: Leg recovery – compression massage therapy

Difficulty: 1

Next day soreness: 0

Duration: 20 min

Sweat Level: No sweat

Parking: Validated lot

Amenities: N/A

Requirements for class: socks and comfortable clothing (no dresses/skirts)

This place looks like the inside of a spaceship and when I come here, I definitely feel like I am stepping into “the future.” This place focuses on helping athletes and active people recover and make the most of their performance. Normatec is a type of massage therapy that uses compressed air to squeeze your muscles. You sit in a chair and put on these leg cocoons that massage you. You can also control how much pressure you want. The highest setting was a little too much for me so I think I took it down a level or two. But, if you are someone who likes very firm massages, and can take the pressure, you’re going to love doing this on the highest setting.

From there, you are just chilling and letting the pressure move up and down your legs, from your feet to thighs. It’s quite nice. The “studio,” if you can call it that, also offers cryotherapy, along with biomechanical movement analysis (identification of faulty movement patterns and limitations of the musculoskeletal system), and CVAC sessions which are rhythm-based changes to pressure, temperature and air density that happen in these pods. These three offerings are currently not on ClassPass (though cryo at one point was). If anyone needs a rest day, this is the place to be!