Summary
Gilad Jacobs, Chief Innovation Officer at Hyperice and founder of NormaTec, joins host Ken Gunter to discuss the mission of democratizing access to elite recovery technology. Gilad traces the origins of NormaTec from his late mother's medical research on circulation and lymphedema to its adoption by nearly every professional sports organization. The conversation covers how Hyperice combines percussive therapy devices with pneumatic compression boots to provide comprehensive recovery solutions. Gilad explains the science behind NormaTec's pulsing compression algorithm that mimics the body's natural fluid movement, and how percussive therapy from devices like the Hypervolt helps with muscle recovery and pain management. He shares how these tools went from being exclusively available to elite athletes to becoming accessible consumer products, and discusses the company's vision for integrating technology into recovery through app-connected devices.
Key Points
- Hyperice was named one of Fast Company's most innovative companies of 2021 for their recovery technology
- NormaTec originated from medical research on lymphedema and poor circulation, then expanded into sports recovery
- The NormaTec compression algorithm mimics the body's natural fluid movement through strategic pulsing, holding, and releasing
- Percussive therapy devices like the Hypervolt are now standard equipment in nearly every professional sports training room
- The combination of percussive therapy and pneumatic compression provides comprehensive recovery for athletes
- Hyperice's mission is to democratize elite recovery technology so everyday people can access what pro athletes use
- Innovation in recovery tech involves anticipating future technologies and building proprietary solutions
Key Moments
Percussive therapy's impact on athletic recovery
Host Ken Gunter shares his personal experience with Hyperice's percussive therapy during decathlon training, noting how it improved both immediate comfort and long-term physical wellbeing.
"The percussive therapy, the Norma tech boots. Like I was first introduced to it when I was training for a decathlon blown away by the difference that it made, not only how I felt in the moment, but how I felt long-term started using it more frequently."
NormaTec's medical origins in circulation research
Gilad explains how NormaTec originated from his mother's medical research on lymphedema and poor circulation, developing a compression algorithm that mimics the body's natural fluid movement.
"She started medications with poor circulation and she wanted to create a better mousetrap to move the fluid in the body to kind of reduce the limb. A lot of times you have something called lymphedema, which is after breast cancer surgery or injury and it's a big swollen limb."
Innovation approach in recovery technology
Gilad describes Hyperice's approach to innovation: anticipating future technologies, assessing what is currently available, and building proprietary solutions for recovery products that have not been done before.
"Theory has always been innovation should be what's coming next and how do you get to it first? And from that perspective, the challenge that we see a lot is we have some ideas and I think companies in general have the ideas, but sometimes the technology doesn't quite match up to it."
