Recharge aims for faster recovery

• What: Recharge athletic recovery lounge.

• Where: 223 East Reserve St., Suite 107, Vancouver.

• Hours: 12:30 to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 12:30 to 5 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

• Cost: First visit free. Day pass, $25. One-month pass, $85 to $100. Ten-day pass, $125.

• Contact: www.rechargesportnw.com, 360-258-1535.

A new athletic recovery lounge in Vancouver is giving Clark County athletes access to equipment regularly used — and touted by — some of the top professional athletes in the country.

Basketball players from various NBA teams have snapped photos of themselves using NormaTec compression sleeves and shared the images on social media. Professional and collegiate athletes have replaced ice bags with Game Ready cold therapy machines.

Athletes rely on the equipment to recover more quickly from grueling workouts and be ready to compete at a high level sooner. A Woodland couple brought the equipment to Vancouver so local athletes can enjoy the same benefits as the pros.

“Our goal is to help the local athletes reach their full athletic potential,” said Robbie Wilbur.

Wilbur and his wife, Destiny Schang, and his in-laws, Lori and Scott Schang, opened the athletic recovery lounge, Recharge, near Pearson Field in November. Since its opening, the lounge has been used by middle and high school athletes, as well as college and professional athletes and adults who play sports, run and compete in CrossFit and triathlons.

“We wish this stuff would have been around when we were in high school,” said Destiny Schang. “I fought a lot of injuries, and I didn’t know anything about recovery.”

Wilbur and Schang came across a Recharge lounge while on vacation in Bend, Ore. They had never seen anything like Recharge and, as athletes themselves, loved the idea. The couple asked the owners — professional runner Renee Metivier Baillie and her husband, Austin Baillie, a massage therapist — if they were interested in expanding.

The Bend Recharge opened two years ago. Since then, a lounge has opened in San Francisco and now at 223 East Reserve St., Suite 107, in Vancouver.

Recharge offers day passes, 10-day passes and monthly memberships — all of which give people full access to all of the recovery equipment. The first visit is free. A sports massage therapist recently joined the team, and Recharge will also soon add a smoothie and juice bar.

‘Proven benefits’

The lounge has a variety of recovery equipment — all of which visitors are trained to use themselves.

The NormaTec system uses compression sleeves on the legs, arms and hips to push out inflammation and lactic acid and circulate blood.

“It’s like putting a blood pressure cuff on your whole leg,” Wilbur said.

The Game Ready machine flushes 34-degree water through a compression wrap to reduce pain and inflammation. Hospitals offer the same equipment to patients recovering from surgeries on shoulders and knees, Schang said.

Recharge also has a far infrared sauna used to penetrate joints, muscles and tissues to increase circulation and reduce soreness and LaserTouchOne pens, which combine laser therapy and electrical stimulation to promote healing. The Rapid Release handheld massage tool, an inversion table, hot and cold therapy tubs and several other tools are also available.

“It’s an ethical advantage to training,” Wilbur said. “This is equipment that has proven benefits.”

Wilbur and Schang both competed in sports through college. Wilbur ran cross country and track at St. Martin’s University in Lacey; Schang played basketball and golf at the same school. In addition to her athletic background, Schang has long had an interest in health and nutrition and has a degree in fitness training from Clark College.

Schang and Wilbur hope to use their passion for sports and fitness to teach others about the importance of the recovery process.

“If you want to train harder, be the best, then recover like the best,” Schang said.