Embrocation - Leg rub to make ‘em work better
Some of you have heard me going on about “embrocation,” but I’ve gotta say on this point, I think the euros are on to something. Henceforth, you’re going to see me rubbing my legs down with something before and maybe even after most every race or hard training effort as part of my resolution to take better care of my legs.
At Jingle Cross, a friend let me use a bit of his Sports Balm and at Cross Natz I bought a jar of Qoleum Extra Hot. 
Both of these products stay on like nobody’s business. In fact, I can guarantee after you get over the shock of not having that dead feeling during the ‘cross start because there was already plenty of blood to your muscles, you’ll get a whole new level of sensory experience in the shower. It gets so hot in the presence of warm moisture that you’ll think flames are licking up your legs. But once you ascertain there is no smoke, you can actually get kind of a rush as you use breathing techniques to control your impulse to leap out screaming. I realize this isn’t much of a sales pitch, but I’m a total fan. Is that too much information?
On a recent ride in the dark - 21 degrees F, 17 mph wind - about 1/2 teaspoon of Qoleum on each leg under Pearl Izumi Amphibs, I was post toasty from the tips of my toes to the ends of my fingers. Legs muscles were loose and felt good. From my perspective, if the cost of feeling great in Nebraska’s sub-freezing temps is simply an opportunity to practice pain management for 5 or 10 minutes, you can count me in. The real benefit of embrocation seems to be that the stimulation of the nerves increases blood flow to the target area. Consequently, your muscles have more oxygen to work with and feel better. All that being said, I’m going to be trying various products and will review them here. Maybe extra hot is overkill. I don’t know yet, but the embrocation makers have got a new consumer. What are your favorite products?
Don’t be a sissy, ride your bike.
- Qoleum’s web site
- Sports Balm
- “Belgium Knee Warmers” from BKW blog
- BKW’s embrocation related posts
tags:product
One Comment, Comment or Ping
As a funny side note to your story, I played college soccer adn one year at soccer camp my shoulders were really tight. so I thought I would use icy hot to alleviate some of that pain and loosen them up. i put it on before I went outside in the august heat for one of our three a day training sessions.
needless to say my shoulders were on fire the entire trainnig session and you know from that experience I have never used icy hot type product. but from your rave review i may have to try it out again — especially for the fantastic shower experience! thanks for the input and review.
Feb 7th, 2008
Reply to “Embrocation - Leg rub to make ‘em work better”
You must be logged in to post a comment.