Hyperice ICT Review – Ice, Compression, and Mobility

Welcome to a series of reviews on Hyperice’s tools for pre-workout warm-up and post-workout recovery. We will be reviewing five of their products in total from the ICT, Venom, Hypervolt, and NormaTec product lines (links will be added to each product name as the reviews are posted). A preview of their full product line to introduce what they have to offer was previously posted, so now it’s time to go deeper into full product reviews.

When I was working with Hyperice to determine what products I wanted to review, there are reasons why I chose the products I did. Between my wife, a runner turned fitness instructor who before COVID was teaching 45-50+ classes a month with a fulltime job, and myself, a cyclist/runner who also started teaching three cycling classes a week, we each have aches, pains, and injuries that we deal with. One of those aches, especially as we were running longer distances during quarantine, was our knees.

In the past, we have tried wrapping frozen gel ice packs, ziplock bags with ice, or ice packs, wrapped with ACE bandages. None were ever a great option. The gel ice packs never seemed cold enough, the ziplock bags always seemed to leak, and the ice packs didn’t always fit well. With the Hyperice ICT Knee, it has solved these problems.

Using it was easy. The ice cell, which is removable from the compression wrap for cleaning (machine washable), was easy to fill with the largemouth cap. I think you could easily fit at least golf ball-sized ice if you really needed to. The most ice I ever filled it with was a full tray from the freezer, which was more than needed, and there was still plenty of room left.

Next is to place the ice cell and secure the compression wrap. The stretchy neoprene wrap used three alternating straps to wrap around your knee and apply compression around the ice cell. For me, I always centered the ice cell where I needed it, wrapped the middle strap first, then the top and bottom, and then readjust as needed. This is where the ice cell really sets itself apart from other ice packs. As you tightening the straps, you can use the pressure release button on the cap to release air from inside the cell.

Once on, I was able to move around to grab a few things I wanted. The stretchy, soft neoprene was always comfortable, allowing me enough movement to be able to walk around the house. As ice would melt, I’d bleed air out, which helped keep the intensity of the cold treatment consistent and focused. One thing I learned though. If you get overly ambitious about bleeding air out of the ice cell, you can bleed some water out. Once you get most of it out, it is best to bleed with your leg level so any remaining air moves to the cap.

It was an incident towards the end of the review period that really allowed me to see what makes the combination special though. I was rushing to finish preparing for a ride and get out the door when I was trying to leave the kitchen while wearing my road shoes. My feet slipped and I landed on my knee. After feeling a bit humiliated and saying a few choice words to myself, I still left for my ride. Upon returning, I could see that my knee was a little swollen and I could feel the pain, so I grabbed the ICT Knee.

Filled with ice, I wrapped my knee and was able to see the benefits of the compression that I had not really taken advantage of in the past. It probably would have been better if I skipped my ride and put the ICT Knee on right away, but the compression of the neoprene wrap, along with the ice, helped to bring the swelling down. A few treatments over a few days really helped my knee recover.

At $90, the Hyperice ICT Knee is definitely a premium product. If you are regularly icing your knee though, the quality of the construction and well thought out design really makes it worth it.

If above wasn’t enough for you, look at just about any pro training room, and you’ll find Hyperice products being used. Lebron James, Steph Curry, Lindsey Vaughn, these are just a few pro athletes that use Hyperice’s ICT products. They take recovery, whether it is from injury or just a hard workout, very seriously, and you should too. For an icing solution that checks all of the boxes, the Hyperice ICT line is one of the best out there.

http://www.hyperice.com