I remember the first time I laid eyes on the first Normatec red pumping machine around 2009. Big Bertha was her nickname. It was by far the coolest thing going on in triathlon when it came to recovery tools. Putting those soft plastic leg boot covers around your tired legs and having them squeeze all that soreness out of you was like instant magic for your soul. At least, it felt that way. To this day that temporary imprint those boots leave on your legs is like a badge of honor that you just did the right thing for yourself. All the top professionals had them and back in those days it quickly became the thing to aspire to get.
The only 2 negatives about the product was that it was bulky and it was expensive. $4,850 to be precise. ”Are you serious? That’s a fast bike! But two things were clear: that’s what it cost, and in no way could I afford it. At the time I was living the single life, traveling the world trying to make a living at photography in triathlon. Every single dollar I made was used for airfare, camera gear and to pay for rent at the apartment I was never at. I was barely able to rub two nickels together at times. I couldn’t afford these magical recovery boots. But I was lucky enough to not really need to buy a set – because with work, I was always around some of the professional athletes who did have them. I would just use theirs. Everytime I would get the chance: “Can I use your boots?” Over time I ended up getting my first set of boots from Jordan Rapp. He had just gotten an official sponsorship from them. With that, he had a new pair. He probably felt sorry for me and gave me his old set. (Thanks, Jordan!)
The importance of the above paragraphs is that looking back over that period of time, I had become a true fan of the product over time by simply using it. I had had enough conversations with product owners and had used the product enough that I had made my own decision that it would help me with my recovery.
Fast forward a few years and I had become pretty good friends with Gilad Jacobs. If you have ever been to the IRONMAN World Championships, or many of their other North American races, between 2012-2018, chances are you met Gilad at the expo. Big tall guy with a huge smile that is about as passionate about his product as humanly possible. Why was he so passionate about it? Simple: he had taken the product from a medical device to the smaller portable athlete recovery system we all know and love. I'm sure we will learn way more about that whole story when we feature him on our forthcoming podcast.
As we know, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That soon became the case in the recovery boot department. Once Normatec opened the floodgates other systems started coming onto the market – and at a much cheaper price point. This forced Jacobs to get moving on his key mission: building a better designed product for less money. The first time I visited the Normatec office was in late 2015, just before the launch of the first truly downsized products, the Normatec Pulse and Normatec Pulse Pro. During that visit Jacobs spent just over 90 mins showing me the guts of the new system. I had a new appreciation for the term “geeking out” by the end of that time.
During his tenure owning Normatec, Gilad was well-known amongst the greats in sports and beyond. Some of the names: Craig Alexander, Lebron James, Guns N Roses, the President of the United States, Drake, and Lady Gaga–all had a set of Normatecs. What most people don't know was that Gilad didnt give away a lot of units. Money was always tight and margins were super thin. If there was a buck in the account it was earmarked for R&D. His passion to improve the price point while not giving up quality drove him to the brink of closure a few times. He believed he had the best product and he was 100% committed to never giving up on his mission.
His path soon crossed with Anthony Katz, Founder of Hyperice. Hyperice was getting more and more into percussion recovery therapy. And while Hyperice and Normatec were trying to target the same end user they didn't see each other as competitors. At first what was a couple of calls here and there between the pair turned in 1-2 times a week and after about 5 years of friendship they decided to join forces. Normatec was sold to Hyperice and Gilad stayed on as Chief Innovation Officer. Through that acquisition, two key elements benefitted both the company and consumers: shared resources and buying power.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, some things have changed – some positive, others less so. One thing that has changed for the better is that more people have found the need to take more care of themselves. They have discovered that life isn't all work and no play, and that play has started to change into a healthier lifestyle, that includes more amazing things to do outdoors. They have also learned that being more active requires proper recovery. Recovery has long been considered as the 4th discipline of triathlon. We here at Slowtwitch take it seriously, as do users in our Reader Forum.
As we emerge from the pandemic, we're now seeing the fruits of the combined labor of
Hyperice and Normatec together. They have a much more powerful offering to the consumer and what is now a completely new competitive price point. They are letting feedback and innovation lead the way to the products they are introducing and are finally able to use the buying power to keep the price competitive while not sacrificing quality. A perfect example of innovation and buying power from them is one of their new products, the Noramtec Go . A device that gives you hours of use, can be controlled by a free app, packs in the small corner of your bag and costs less than $400. It’s these sort of new product releases that couldn't have happened without the combined resources that the two companies now enjoy as one.
Like much of the world, we will be watching what they do at Hyperice in the future. We will have some detailed product reviews coming up, and I'm sure we have things that we will have improvement suggestions on , and during that time I look forward to watching them push the envelope on recovery and innovation.
Ultimately, we all win.