For quite some time QM Sports Care QM2 Hot Embrocation has been Cyclo’s default muscle rub – a ridiculously complex name, but we’ve always found it hits the spot when it comes to aching legs and exhausted muscles. Enter though Hot Ginger Muscle Rub from relative new kids Natural Hero – a ‘superpowered’ recovery product boasting 98% natural ingredients, which, coming from the makers of the excellent Cool Peppermint Muscle Spritz (review here), we felt compelled to put to the test.
Hot Ginger Muscle Rub boasts a range or natural ingredients including ginger root oil (obviously), fennel – a ‘vasorelaxant’, which aids absorption, rosemary leaf oil, which apparently just smells nice, and borage seed oil (starflower), which is a rich source of essential fatty acids to aid muscle repair. To each their own on the perceived efficacy of any of these ingredients, but what we can say for sure is two things: the sensation of heat is extremely mild and it’s absorption rate was middling. If you’ll forgive the excess of detail, our testers overly hairy legs still looked like a matted spaniel even after many minutes of vigorous massaging.
If you are wondering about the 2% synthetic ingredients they are benzyl alcohol and the emulsifier sodium stearoyl glutamate – nothing in the least to worry about, but curious that Natural Hero didn’t got the whole hog on the natural front…
Okay, so QM still retains the title as far as Cyclo is concerned (despite being ridiculously difficult to source) but Hot Ginger Muscle Rub is a great alternative for those looking for a less ‘sciency’ or industrial approach to rubbing away those post-ride aches and pains. Natural Hero Hot Ginger Muscle Rub retails at £9.99 (100ml) with details and online purchase at naturalhero.co.uk
