Latest news with #recovery
Bloomberg
8 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley Says Hong Kong's Housing Sector Is Bottoming Out
Hong Kong's residential property market is poised for a recovery after enduring a seven-year downturn, according to Morgan Stanley. Home prices in the city are set to bottom out, driven by an influx of mainland Chinese buyers, improved capital markets and a recent plunge in interest rates, analysts led by Praveen Choudhary said in a report dated June 19.
CTV News
12 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Sleep Country co-founder reveals crack cocaine addiction in candid memoir
In 1996, Canadian entrepreneur Gordon Lownds was in the midst of two of the most pivotal moments of his life: The launch of the uber-successful Sleep Country Canada business, and the beginnings of an all-consuming drug addiction. In Cracking Up, what Lownds describes as an 'unlikely addict's memoir,' the Toronto-born entrepreneur recounts his first ever experience with drugs aged 48, his quick descent into addiction and his subsequent recovery less than three years later. The memoir, written a year after recovery, differs from others in that Lownds' experience was as intense as it was brief. The addiction essentially lasted 1,000 days, he remarks, and had come after a lifetime abstaining from experimentation. 'I think I've been drunk like 10 times in my entire life, and I can remember each one of them,' he says from his home in Vancouver Island's Black Creek. 'Booze was never a big thing with me, and I'd seen people's lives get destroyed with drugs … and I just, I just never thought I would ever be in that situation.' Lownds recounts his first experience with drugs as one that had been suggested and then egged-on by his then-girlfriend Annabelle, an exotic dancer from the United States. Just two years short of turning 50, the businessman was at the pinnacle of his career in the midst of expanding Sleep Country Canada's four initial stores in Vancouver to include over a dozen more across the country. 'I was divorced. At the time, my family had moved back to Toronto. I was on my own in Vancouver. I got involved with a stripper from Seattle, which is obviously a bad decision,' he says. Lownds recalls how he let Annabelle move into his penthouse apartment, against his 'better judgment,' only to discover she had a hidden addiction to crack cocaine. One afternoon, after another row over her reluctance to complete the treatments Lownds had attempted to enroll her in, she requested he experience the drug to better empathize with her struggles. It was an 'ill-advised experiment' that saw him hooked on the substance within six months. Within the year, he was injecting the substance intravenously. 'It was a very rapid descent into the worst possible parts of an addiction,' he says. Lownds transformed from being a lofty businessman terrified of stepping foot in the Downtown Eastside to becoming someone embroiled in the scene to such an extent that sex workers and drug dealers were comrades. Now, he laughs, he could 'give tours' of the DTES. Throughout the three-year period of addiction, Lownds estimates he spent over $700,000 on cocaine and the associated lifestyle that comes with it. Yet he describes himself as a high-functioning addict, professing his addiction didn't impair his ability to drive the Sleep Country Canada business. 'From a business point of view, the world didn't know that I had a problem,' he says. Even in the midst of his recovery journey, spurred on by hitting 'rock bottom' via an overdose and an arrest two years in, he was able to create the successful hearing aid retailer Listen Up! Canada. 'The recovery probably took me 10 years to get back on my feet, and within three or four years of getting clean, I started that second company, so I was functioning well enough to do that,' he says. 'And that turned out quite well.' Lownds deters from the common tropes of addiction memoirs when he discusses his recovery. Instead of waxing lyrical about the treatment plans, he details the negativity that permeates the 12-step meetings and the tendencies attendees have to seek apologies for their past mistakes rather than genuine recovery. Such people are the reason why he abandoned meetings in favour of working with his own, personal psychiatrist, he says. The book is honest, brutally so, and Lownds describes his drug and sex escapades in such an expletive-laden manner that he feels obliged to chime in at certain points to directly address the reader – he doesn't 'want to offend,' he assures. When asked whether he is concerned over the potential shifting of his public image in light of the book's release, he seems unbothered. 'I've spent many, many years in business. I've made friends and I've made enemies, and I'm not particularly concerned about the people who might find this subject matter, or my story within that subject matter, offensive,' he says. Lownds' primary concern with exposing his experience so publicly was the effect it would have on the individuals who do matter – his daughter, his ex-wife, his business associates and close friends. It took time to 'fix those relationships,' and now that trust is regained, 25 years on, Lownds says he feels comfortable publishing his story in the hopes that it will help others. 'It's useful to share stories where some people have managed to conquer their demons and come out of it doing OK,' he said. 'It's basically to give a sense of hope and deliver the message that, no matter how messed up you are, how screwed up your life is, it's never too late to turn things around and fix things.'
CTV News
13 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Ontario to provide ice storm recovery funding for businesses, municipalities
Ontario Premier Doug Ford arrives in Barrie, Ont. on Friday, April 4, 2025 to inspect the damage from the ice storm and thank front-line workers and volunteers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Drost The Ontario government says it's introducing two financial assistance programs to help municipalities and businesses recover from a severe March ice storm. The storm in late March left nearly 400,000 homes and businesses with power outages and damaged property as freezing rain covered parts of Ontario in layers of ice. The province says it will launch two one-time financial assistance programs to help with ice storm recovery, including one to help municipalities pay for emergency response and cleanup costs such as clearing fallen trees. The other program will provide up to $5 million for small businesses, small farms and not-for-profit organizations to pay for storm-related cleanup and essential repairs not covered by private insurance. Related Articles The province did not specify how much money it has set aside for the programs, but said final amounts for business assistance will be based on the number of applicants and eligible costs, while municipal funding will be based on the eligible emergency response and recovery costs. The province says eligible businesses and municipalities will have until Oct. 31 to apply for the funding. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ontario to provide ice storm recovery funding for businesses, municipalities
The Ontario government says it's introducing two financial assistance programs to help municipalities and businesses recover from a severe March ice storm. The storm in late March left nearly 400,000 homes and businesses with power outages and damaged property as freezing rain covered parts of Ontario in layers of ice. The province says it will launch two one-time financial assistance programs to help with ice storm recovery, including one to help municipalities pay for emergency response and cleanup costs such as clearing fallen trees. The other program will provide up to $5 million for small businesses, small farms and not-for-profit organizations to pay for storm-related cleanup and essential repairs not covered by private insurance. The province did not specify how much money it has set aside for the programs, but said final amounts for business assistance will be based on the number of applicants and eligible costs, while municipal funding will be based on the eligible emergency response and recovery costs. The province says eligible businesses and municipalities will have until Oct. 31 to apply for the funding. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. The Canadian Press
Gizmodo
a day ago
- Health
- Gizmodo
Nike and Hyperice's $900 ‘Recovery' Boot Lives Up to the Hype
If you're an athlete, then you remember all too well that the time between 2015 and 2020 was when recovery tools really took over. While hard to believe, there was, in fact, a time when a hard workout or a weekend long run didn't end with a session in Normatec Legs or a bout with a massage gun. But in 2025, athletes of all ranges, from pro to amateur level, and in nearly every sport, have made recovery a key component of their training. In line with this notion are the novel tech and tools that athletes now have access to. Think Normatec boots and Hyperice massage guns, yes, but also at-home portable cupping, red light therapy, TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) devices, and infrared sauna blankets, to name just a few. The latest in this lineup is the Hyperboot, an extremely high-tech pair of recovery boots that are priced at $899. The Hyperboot is somewhat of a mashup between an ultra-comfy and supportive recovery shoe—which many sportswear companies have released in the past several years—and a compression boot, but one specifically designed to provide recovery support to the foot and ankle. They're a collaboration between Nike, which is responsible for the bulk of the shoe design, including the mid and outer soles, and Hyperice, a company that makes high-end recovery tools for athletes. Hyperice x Nike Hyperboot Nike and Hyperice's Hyperboots will make your feet feel fresh and relaxed after working out, but $900 is steep for the specialized recovery shoes. Pros Remarkably relaxing Remarkably relaxing Easy setup Easy setup TSA-approved for carry-on Cons Bulky, weird-looking Bulky, weird-looking Very expensive What Do They Do and Why Do They Look So Weird? The Hyperboot is not discreet. They are big and bulky and look like they are meant to accompany an astronaut on a moonwalk. Though by now, most runners, casual and professional, are used to colossal-sized running shoes, these are larger still—and by a lot. The reason for the chunkiness, and the secret sauce of these recovery shoes, is that they have the same built-in air compression technology that you'll find in the Normatec boots (Hyperice bought Normatec in 2020). Better known as intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) devices, they use a system of air pumps and chambers to inflate and deflate in a regularly repeating pattern. The idea behind this is that by expanding and collapsing in a systematic way, blood flow and the movement of lymphatic fluid increases, allowing for better circulation and removal of waste, and, theoretically, faster recovery—all while you are seated, resting and relaxing. In addition to this squeezing technology, the Hyperboot added one more feature: heat. While you are getting your feet and ankles squeezed, the device heats up. Because heat is known to relax muscles, adding it in with the compression technology should enable even more blood flow and fluid movement; also, heat just feels really nice. What Do the Boots Feel Like? Unfortunately, I don't hate them. I say unfortunately because truly, who actually wants to fall in love with a $900 recovery shoe? Unlike the Normatec boots or similar compression sleeves from other brands, the Hyperboot is meant to be both a recovery and warm-up device, meaning that to get the most benefits from them, the shoes should be worn both before and after a workout. Runners and other athletes often fall into three camps: they are warm-up stans, recovery devotees, or both. I fall into the oft-forgotten fourth category: I despise—and purposefully forget about—both. But for the sake of this review, I pretended I belonged firmly in the third category. During my two-week stint wearing the Hyperboot before and after every single run—I promise!—which ranged from easy three-to-five-mile runs, a couple faster interval workouts, and an 8-mile longer run on the weekend, I found myself looking forward to my workouts solely because that meant I got to spend some time in the boots. Having spent a decent amount of my free time in Normatec Legs during numerous marathon builds circa 2018 through 2022, I know the 'fresh legs' feeling these devices can create. It's an undeniably gloriously light, airy experience. The new Hyperboots did not disappoint on this front. And the addition of heat created this feeling of stepping into one of those foot baths with a massager, but without the added messy water setup and cleanup. The setup of the boots themselves was straightforward. The boots are charged via two USB-C cords that are plugged into a wall charger. The charge will last for about 1.5 hours (that is plenty of time in the boots; see below.) There are four buttons: an on/off button, a compression button, a heat button, and a start/stop button. Both the compression and heat buttons have three ranges of intensity. Once you've strapped in and turned the device on, the Hyperboots will compress to each foot. Pressing the start/stop button will begin the sequential compressions and heat. At first, I turned both settings—compression and heat strength—up to max. While the intense compressions were not bothersome (rather the opposite), the heat quickly became unbearable. The heat ranges in intensity from 111-degree Fahrenheit on the lowest level to 125-degree Fahrenheit on the highest level. Be warned: the highest level was so hot that I had to remove the shoes mid-session (though not so hot that I had to run them under cold water or I got a burn, don't worry). I've since learned that either I'm a wimp when it comes to heat or the boots are simply too hot. Either way, I was only able to tolerate the shoes on the lowest possible heat setting. Even with that setting though, the feeling of a hot water bath comes through just fine. I was surprised how much the shoes made my feet and ankles feel fresh, relaxed, and equally refreshed to begin a workout, as well as restored if I had just recovered from one. The main concept behind the boots, according to Hyperice and Nike, is that your ankles and feet are important but both forgotten and tricky areas to treat. Technically, the Normatec Legs do cover your feet and ankles, so if you already own a pair of them (and they are the exact same price as the Hyperboot right now), you might be wondering what more the Hyperboot can provide. Having tried both, I will say that the Hyperboot provides a more targeted compression of the ankle compared to the Normatec Legs, and once you've finished, you can really feel the difference. The Hyperboot made my ankles feel light, airy, and ready for my next workout. Just as significantly, the addition of heat was not insignificant. It made a notable difference—subjectively!—to how I felt after wearing them. Technically speaking, the shoes are designed so that you can stand, walk, sit, or travel all while getting the compression and heat benefits. On that note, the shoes are TSA-approved for carry-on, according to Hyperice. But also on that note, if I am being blunt, I had a lot of trouble forcing myself to leave my apartment in these shoes. Inside my apartment, I could wear them for hours all while cleaning, cooking, and doing other housework. The midsoles are extremely comfortable and the boots, in general, have a propeller-like feel similar to the feeling of wearing carbon plate racing shoes. However, I did feel like I got the most benefit from them just by sitting down, relaxing, and letting the compression and heat work. And, because I care deeply about my readers, I forced myself to wear them outside twice: once to get coffee and walk around my neighborhood and another time to a grocery store. Many people looked at my feet. Nobody asked questions. Do They Actually Help You Recover Faster? What Does the Science Say? It's undeniable that these shoes make your feet happy. But how does that translate into true recovery? And what evidence do we have to back that up? That's where things get trickier. The compression device technology was originally developed for bed-bound hospitalized patients to prevent blood clots. The periodic compressions mimic what would happen if someone were to, say, walk the length of a hospital wing, which is probably the same distance as one city block or less. Doctors knew that prolonged immobility increased the risk for blood to clot, so by mimicking movement, these boots would reduce the risk of these dangerous clots in a person who couldn't move. Later on, the founder of Normatec, a doctor named Laura Jacobs, further refined these devices to specifically help people dealing with postoperative lymphedema in breast cancer. Her device was then introduced to the athletic community as the Normatec Legs. If it can help blood flow and lymphatic drainage in immobile, hospitalized people, then it might help athletes, too. But there's a catch to this. The difference between an athlete—from elite to amateur—and an immobile patient in the hospital recovering from surgery is that an athlete can walk a city block. And unfortunately, there's still little evidence to suggest that these compression devices do anything more for recovery than a walk can provide. The Hyperboot is new, so there aren't independent studies on its effectiveness. However, since the Normatec Legs came out, there have been a number of studies looking into whether these devices help in recovery. A 2020 study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science followed 10 distance runners (five female and five male runners) and monitored how they felt after runs that ended in a session with compression boots (Normatec Legs or ones similar) and runs that didn't include a post-run session. The study concluded that 'there appear to be no substantial benefits of IPC in promoting recovery.' A 2024 meta-analysis, which pulls together a bulk of studies all on the same subjects and looks for overall trends, published in the journal Biology of Sport, looked at 17 studies, which included a total of 319 participants, and concluded that the boots provided 'a trivial to moderate effect' on pain and muscle soreness markers and 'a highly variable effect' on markers that look at muscle damage. The authors found that this technology 'might be a method with potential effects for recovery in sports, mainly reducing perceived soreness.' The problem is that, as Christie Aschwanden, author of Good to Go, about the science of athletic recovery, told Runner's World, it's really hard to measure what recovery is or means as 'there's no single physiological measure—not heart rate, body temperature, or hydration status—that will tell you whether or not you're recovered.' In fact, 'How do you feel?' is a common way to monitor recovery. In that vein, the Hyperboot did make me feel good. I felt better after wearing the boots than I did before putting them on. This was true every time I wore them. And I looked forward to wearing them, so much that they made me look forward to harder workouts that I otherwise was somewhat dreading. However, at $900, if I could get the same benefit that the Hyperboot provides by walking to and from the park where I run instead of starting my run as soon as I leave my apartment, I'd probably opt for that. Though it wouldn't be as relaxing or fun.
