Take a step back, stretch your muscles: Blackroll launches new recovery shoes

When you come home after a long day’s training or a gruelling day at the office, there’s really only one thing you want to do: put your feet up. Blackroll suggests a different solution – and it involves heading downhill.

With the Recovery Slopes Core, the Swiss company is launching the second generation of its recovery shoes. The principle sounds counterintuitive at first: the sole is angled downwards by 3.7 degrees towards the heel – in other words, it’s effectively designed the ‘wrong’ way round. That’s precisely the point. The so-called ‘negative heel’ shifts the body’s centre of gravity backwards, relieves pressure on the forefoot and stretches the rear leg muscles – all without the need for a yoga mat or stretching instructions from a trainer.

The design is complemented by the Dynamic Rocking Sole, a rocking sole designed to promote a natural gait, activate the leg and core muscles, and boost blood circulation. In short: the shoe does the work whilst you’re simply shuffling over to the coffee machine.

Footbed upgrade

Compared with the previous model, Blackroll has made improvements, particularly on the inside. The redesigned ergonomic footbed combines three elements – a toe grip, longitudinal arch support and a heel cup – which together are designed to provide greater support and lateral stability. This should put an end to the unwanted forward slippage inside the shoe, a classic comfort issue with slides and clogs. Cushioning and softness have also been improved compared to the first generation.

“Blackroll Recovery Slopes Core are for anyone who wants to do something good for their body as part of their daily routine – without it feeling like a training programme,” says Matthias Werz, Product Manager at Blackroll. The idea is that this moment of reset should fit naturally into the day: step by step.

For those who wish to take this literally: Blackroll recommends gradually increasing the duration of use. During the first week, you should use it for 15 to a maximum of 45 minutes a day; from the second week onwards, you can extend this to one to two hours – provided the stretch in the backs of your legs feels comfortable. Recovery is also a skill that needs to be learnt.

Three colours, one channel

The Recovery Slopes Core are available in Saturn Sand, Mercury Black and Earth Green – planetary system included. They can only be purchased via the Blackroll online shop. The price is 69.90 euros.

Editor’s assessment:

It’s an exciting idea. Stretching can aid recovery. And that’s exactly what the new RECOVERY SLOPES CORE from BLACKROLL are designed to do. We’ll be finding out soon whether you can actually feel a real difference in practice.
BIKE editor Laurin Lehner