Natural Hero Hot Ginger Muscle Rub

Natural Hero Hot Ginger Muscle Rub is a natural warming balm to aid the recovery of tired legs after a ride.

The rub is made from 98% natural ingredients, with no parabens, SLS (I'll save the looking up for you, that's Sodium Laureth Sulfate, an anionic detergent and surfactant found in many personal care products) or petrochemicals, so it smells delightfully pleasant and not like a sport's locker room as is traditional.

While we're on the happy smiley feel good stuff all Natural Hero products are tested not on animals but athletes, they're an award winning ethical company, are also a member of '1% for the Planet' and all their products are made in the UK. If all that sort of huggy thing informs your buying choices.

The warming effect of Natural Hero Hot Ginger rub is down to its blend of active botanicals known as rubefacients, it says here. I'm going to trust their word. Apparently those are herbs that have an unique counter-irritant effect when applied to the skin. As well as the eponymous ginger there's sweet fennel and rosemary which contribute to the pleasant smell.

The Hot Ginger Rub is easily absorbed thanks to being non-greasy and pH balanced, and you don't need to squeeze a lot out to cover a leg. Once rubbed in the ginger aroma is incredibly pleasant, even if you do smell a little bit like a Chinese meal being made.

The warming effects come through softly and gently, not in an angry rush like other embrocation, and it's all really rather nice. It gives a comforting warm glow to the legs, something that's especially pleasing after a cold ride, although Natural Hero say it also makes a good pre-exercise warm up cream.

It's difficult to accurately assess Natural Hero's claims that their cream gives super-powered recovery. I tried rubbing it on one leg and not the other to see if they felt any different the next day and the only effect was it feeling a bit odd at the time with one warm leg and one cold one.

I suspect that any anti-fatigue and stiffness benefits would come from giving your muscles a therapeutic little massage as you rub the cream in, and the psychological feel good effects of having nicely warmed legs after a ride.

Verdict

Pleasant smelling and comfortingly warming post exercise balm whose super-powered recovery claims are probably down to giving your legs a bit of a rub.