Therabody, the manufacturer behind some of the top massage guns and beauty and recovery gadgets, on Saturday announced its latest device: the CryoTherm Palm. It’s a three-in-one handheld recovery tool that resembles a dumbbell, offering dual-sided heating and cooling and a stopwatch for timed sessions.
According to Therabody, the CryoTherm Palm uses scientifically calibrated cryothermal technology that makes the device cold or hot within seconds. The company wanted a device with a similar function to its hot-and-cold wearable RecoveryTherm Cube, but more compact.
Therabody chose palm-cooling because the palms and feet have glabrous skin (smooth skin without hair follicles) with blood vessels, called arteriovenous anastomoses, that are known to rapidly exchange heat. Researchers from Stanford University performed an experiment in 2023 where they had athletes wear cooling gloves after high-intensity exercise. They found that palm cooling helped slow the rise in core body temperature, which can help with recovery, prevent potential injuries and improve athletic performance.
This palm-cooling tool was specifically developed for athletes who need instant recovery during training. Therabody teamed up with the University of Southern California to test the efficacy of the CryoTherm Palm on Division 1 track and field athletes during strength-training workouts.
Athletes were asked to complete four sets of overhead presses at 85% of their one-rep max (the heaviest weight they can lift). Researchers then had them test the CryoTherm Palm between sets and found that it helped them increase their total work volume by 28% and churn out 58% more reps, with the greatest progress seen in the final set.
The cooling function has three levels and is designed to lower your core body temperature between high-intensity workouts and reduce swelling and other aches. The heating aspect has three options and is intended to boost circulation and reduce muscle soreness. You can also customize contrast therapy and apply heat and cold simultaneously.
Therabody designed this product with athletes and everyday fitness enthusiasts in mind, so the CryoTherm Palm is compact and can easily fit in a gym bag. It also shuts down on its own after 30 minutes and has a travel lock to prevent it from turning on when it’s not in use. Even though it’s shaped like a dumbbell with round ends, the CryoTherm Palm was designed to be an anti-rolling device.
The Therabody CryoTherm Palm is now available for $399 and can be purchased on the Therabody website.
