Two book-sized gel packs that go in the freezer or the microwave, and one strap to hold either in place.
A gel pack is the simplest piece of a recovery kit and the one that ends up doing the most: cold on the knee that complained on the stairs, warm on the low back after a long afternoon in a chair. The MEDVICE set is two 10 × 5 in (25 × 13 cm) packs, 0.5 in (1.3 cm) thick, that the maker says go in either the freezer or the microwave, plus one elastic strap of 36 in (91 cm) – 40 in (102 cm) stretched – that holds a pack against a knee or the small of the back so your hands are free for a book.
The listing is thin on the practical numbers: microwave and freezer times are only on the panel printed on the pack, the cover material is listed just as “fabric”, and nothing says whether the gel stays soft when frozen. At 10 × 5 in each pack covers one spot, not a whole back, and the two packs share a single strap.
Tip: A thin cloth always goes between the pack and your skin, cold or warm, and 10 to 15 minutes on one spot is plenty – let the skin come back to normal before the next round.
Rester's Choice
cold on the quads or hamstrings after leg day, warm on the low back later, a freezer shelf kept for recovery
Amazon Basics
a recovery kit that lives by the door, the garage or the end of a hallway, rolling the whole kit to wherever you stretch, small apartments
Amazon Basics
lying lengthwise to open a rounded upper back, slow rolling of the mid-back and thighs, a corner with 3 ft of clear floor