What Is The HyperIce Shoulder?
The HyperIce shoulder is an excellent recovery tool for the gym-goer or athlete that's constantly pushing their body to it's limit, whether on the field or in the gym.
The HyperIce shoulder is essentially a velcro strap designed to hold a bladder, filled with ice that's strapped to your shoulder.
The HyperIce shoulder is used specifically to apply ice with compression to the shoulder to aid recovery while keeping you mobile.
The ice cell has an air-release button to keep the rubber cell tout so ice firmly rests on the skin, while the velcro straps enable users to tie down the HyperIce to a specific region of the body. To remove excess air from the pack, just squeeze the rubber cell and press down on the button to slowly release the air. The cell pops in and out of the cloth part without fuss, and fits snugly inside.
Benefits Of The HyperIce Shoulder
Here's what I like about the HyperIce Shoulder Strap
- Well constructed, I've been using this thing for months, have lent it to others, thrown in in my suitcase numerous times and it's still like new.
- Convenience - instead of sitting on the couch with an icepack and a towel compressing it myself I'm able to go about my day while using ice compression for recovery.
- Compression is more than sufficient - this thing can go on tighter than you'd be able to hold an ice pack on yourself.
- Assists in injury recovery, improves recovery time and decreases severity of delayed onset muscle soreness.
- Can be used for a variety of different body parts.
When And Why I Use My HyperIce Shoulder
I've got both a HyperIce shoulder and a HyperIce utility which I use at different times post training, here's how and when I use my HyperIce shoulder...
After Training Deltoids
Having previously suffered an impinged left rotator cuff I'm also extra careful when it comes to recovering after my shoulder workout.
I find by wearing my shoulder strap for 20 minutes after training the DOMs I normally experience are far less intense and my shoulders are far looser, as they tend to tighten up from a combination of training and sitting at my work desk writing.
After Heavy Bag Training
The impact of heavy bag training (striking) as well as focus mit work (particularly holding the pads for my training partner) take there toll on the shoulders.
Once again, immediately after I get home from training I use my HyperIce shoulder strap for 20 minutes and again in the afternoon if necessary.
How I Prepare My Shoulder Strap
I always ensure I have several trays of ice cubes in my freezer, when it's time to get strapped up after training I take a couple of trays and empty them into my Vitamix blender, I pulse the blender for a couple of seconds - just enough to process the cubes into tiny chunks. I've heard of people putting entire ice cubes directly into the the cell (bladder) of their HyperIce shoulder strap before, but there's several problems with this...
- it's uncomfortable as hell as you have blocks compressed tightly against your shoulder
- The surface area is reduced as the ice will not compress correctly
Note: there is synthetic ice available which is quite popular, however in my opinion it's too pricey to be worthwhile using (as each time you empty your re-usable synthetic ice between it's container and the HyperIce cell you lose a decent amount.
After I've processed the ice I empty it from the blender into the HyperIce cell (bladder), put the ice cell inside the strap and compress it to my body using the velcro straps as tight as possible.
For the next twenty minutes I'll generally do some reading or writing - something productive while not requiring an excessive amount of movement.
Who's The HyperIce Shoulder For?
I'd recommend the HyperIce Shoulder Strap to numerous people including...
Gym-goers Looking To Improve Recovery Time
Getting sore shoulders in the gym? Having trouble recovering in time between workouts? mobility work along with ice and compression are your friend in these situations.
Anyone Experiencing Strains/Sprains
Rotator cuff strains, impingements or soreness in general are generally prescribed ice by physiotherapists (I was too!).
It's all well and good saying you're going to compress it with ice, but unless you've got an easy way to do it chances are you won't - sitting around holding an ice pack against your shoulder for 20 minutes multiple times a day becomes old fast, and you'll soon stop doing it (leading to a longer recovery time or further problems).
Throwing & Striking Athletes
Throwing a baseball, striking a heavy bag - all of these explosive type movements are stressful on the shoulder.
Recovery is key here.