i dont know about racing/training but they do work for me, especially while flying, my feet dont swell nearly as much
.
My personal experience is that they do what they are suppose to do…help maintain arterial structure so that blood can get in to feed the muscles and help clean out the crap when pushing hard in a endurance workout. If you have problems with chronic calf issues, they are worth a try. I love them so much I wear them on long bikes and all runs.
Recovery too, with feet elevated and a good show on TV. Not all the time because I’m often a post-workout lazy stretcher and blow it off simply because I’m not thinking of it. But after a while, you know the twinge and you know when you need the help. Knowing the consequences, Mr. Lazy wakes up in a hurry, and I leave them on and hydrate. It has made a difference for me.
I use Skins. Don’t hesitate on the stirrup…good chance you’ll never know it is there. One drawback…it is not long before you are folding them over below the knee because they stretch eventually (sooner than I’d like at $39 a pop). But even then, compression seems to be very good, and the fold does not affect you.
LG has them coming out very soon I heard. Is there a rep here to confirm that?
I wear them during the day standing in surgery and occasionally post-recovery. I’ve done a couple of easy runs in them and they did feel great on the downhills. Definitely for plane rides. Did a hard bike ride yesterday in them (with shorts - taking SERIOUS flak from my roadie buds - good thing I was on the tri bike pulling for 37 miles 
) Didn’t notice any difference when cycling.
In short, I’d say post hard effort recovery and even better, pre-race/workout would be best.
Compression socks are most effective because you’re dealing with venous return. If you simply wear a calf sleeve you will likely trigger swelling in the foot during a long run. Your veins bring the blood back to the heart and if you have more compression on the calf than you do the ankle you could do more damage than good.
Wearing compression socks, especially CEP because we measure calf circumference, you will get more compression in the ankle and optimal compression on the calf. The foot in our sock does have compression but it’s design is to simply bring the blood from the ankle area into the calf and allow it to move back to the heart faster. Your perforated veins are in the bottom part of your leg and these are what transfer de-oxygenated blood into the deep vein to be pumped back into the heart for oxygen and nutrients. You will get the lactic acid out of your leg faster.
Another benefit of CEP is how our compression is different from any other sock on the market. We have a patent compression on the calf and it improves arterial circulation. Click on the link to check out the studies we have done regarding these topics. It’s quite impressive:
http://www.cep-sports.com/Studies.8625.0.html
Overall you should definitely wear a compression sock that has more compression starting from the foot/ankle and gradually decrease as it goes up the leg. And with CEP you get this effect along with an added benefit in the calf for arterial circulation = more nutrients and oxygen to the muscle while you run = easier, faster run with quicker recovery. You can compression socks at the drug store but they are over the counter compression. CEP is MEDICAL GRADE COMPRESSION, 20mmHG. This will guarantee you get the effects of compression and dramatically improve your circulation while running and recovering.
CEP vs SLS3: CEP has a left and a right, padded achilles and foot for blister reduction, sized by calf circumference and is guranteed to last 6 months. Plus CEP is owned and manufactured by the WORLD LEADER IN MEDICAL COMPRESSION STOCKINGS, MEDI. (German Company)
I hope this helps 
CEP Compressoin Socks
www.trisports.com
www.cepsports.com
Compression socks are most effective because you’re dealing with venous return. If you simply wear a calf sleeve you will likely trigger swelling in the foot during a long run. Your veins bring the blood back to the heart and if you have more compression on the calf than you do the ankle you could do more damage than good. Most tights go by height and weight or shoe size etc. How do you know the comrpession you’re getting if they don’t measure circumference?
Wearing compression socks, especially CEP because we measure calf circumference, you will get more compression in the ankle and optimal compression on the calf. The foot in our sock does have a little bit of compression but it’s design is to simply bring the blood from the ankle area into the calf and allow it to move back to the heart faster. Your perforated veins are in the bottom part of your leg and these are what transfer de-oxygenated blood into the deep vein to be pumped back into the heart for oxygen and nutrients. You will get the lactic acid out of your leg faster and improve arterial circulation with CEP.
Another benefit of CEP is how our compression is different from any other sock on the market. We have a patent compression on the calf and it improves arterial circulation. Click on the link to check out the studies we have done regarding these topics. We improved arterial circulation 40% while running with CEP and 30% at rest! It’s quite impressive:
http://www.cep-sports.com/Studies.8625.0.html
Overall you should definitely wear a compression sock that has more compression starting from the foot/ankle and gradually decrease as it goes up the leg. And with CEP you get this effect along with an added benefit in the calf for arterial circulation = more nutrients and oxygen to the muscle while you run = easier, faster run with quicker recovery. You can compression socks at the drug store but they are over the counter compression. CEP is MEDICAL GRADE COMPRESSION, 20mmHG. This will guarantee you get the effects of compression and dramatically improve your circulation while running and recovering.
CEP vs SLS3: CEP has a left and a right, padded achilles and foot for blister reduction, sized by calf circumference and is guranteed to last 6 months. Plus CEP is owned and manufactured by the WORLD LEADER IN MEDICAL COMPRESSION STOCKINGS, MEDI. (German Company)
I hope this helps
CEP Compressoin Socks
www.trisports.com
www.cepsports.com
Hmmm, joined up just to post a ‘cut and paste’ from the no doubt hundreds of pages of marketing dept scrutinized “research”. Wonder if somebody spotted a chance at free advertising.
CEP is just starting to make it in the U.S. and actually I just registered tonight and was reading through some of the posts. I felt I could help clarify a few things. This is a discussion forum and we’re hoping to educate athletes on the benefit of our product.
What’s wrong with me copying a post to answer another??? I don’t know about you but I’d rather save 5 minutes of typing.
“Hundreds of pages of marketing dept. srutinized research???” you say… did you read the studies? They’re credible and backed by the WORLD LEADER in Medical Compression. We set the standard for compression and have for 85 years.
Marketing isn’t our goal here. Educating athletes on the differences so they can make a decision is our goal. Everyone has an objective… what’s yours?
CEP is just starting to make it in the U.S. and actually I just registered tonight and was reading through some of the posts. I felt I could help clarify a few things. This is a discussion forum and we’re hoping to educate athletes on the benefit of our product.
What’s wrong with me copying a post to answer another??? I don’t know about you but I’d rather save 5 minutes of typing.
“Hundreds of pages of marketing dept. srutinized research???” you say… did you read the studies? They’re credible and backed by the WORLD LEADER in Medical Compression. We set the standard for compression and have for 85 years.
Marketing isn’t our goal here. Educating athletes on the differences so they can make a decision is our goal. Everyone has an objective… what’s yours?
What’s the difference between the CEP socks and the mediven socks I have currently? Mine are 20-30mm/hg and are the “active for men” style that are closed toe and calf high. I’ve got 7 pair, wear them to work or in long commutes, but almost never while working out. They’ve lasted very well, for over a year now.
Have you ever tried them?
No.
I have seen no hard reaserch that they help improve performance. There is some argument that they help recovery and thus may be worn post workout for recovery purposes.
I was at the IAAF World Cross Country running championships last week in Edinburgh, Scotland - perhaps the largest gathering of the absolute best middle and long distance runners in the world each year, and I noted almost none of these great runners wearing them - I counted one woman in the senior womans race and one in the senior mens race - both were well back in the field!
If the socks are so good, why is it that almost all of the absolute best runners in the world don’t use them?When aero bars first came out I had 2 pro bike racers tell me that aero bars were a fad.
Try em for yourself and make up your own mind.
.
Ironically none - I am a physician - I know how to read and critique articles - believe me - my practise and my career depend on making new decisons with regard to the current scientific evidence. I have been a fan of medical compression for years - I have presented and published on it. And I own a pair of CEP socks. What I object to is marketing hype on discussion forums. There are plenty of people in the industry on here - Fleck is perhaps the best example of someone who is obviously promoting a product that he sells, but manages to do it without resorting to blatant reproductions of marketing statements. Recent medical lawsuits in the US and elsewhere are full of big companies losing a lot of money because people bought into the hype of amazing new discoveries based on “journal articles and rock solid evidence” only to find out at best they didn’t work or at worst they caused harm. My objective is unbiased research and athletes making decisions based on that.
Our product came to the U.S.A. 2 months ago.
In Kona 2007 there were hundreds of athletes wearing them. A lot of them were from Europe because CEP is based out of Germany.
It’s one of those items that until you try you won’t understand. Trust me I know from experience. The first time I tried them I was amazed. Just even standing around you can feel the benefit. I wear them mainly for recovery and to keep my legs feeling cool and fresh. Each person’s experience is different and with the feedback I’ve gotten so far in the U.S.A. every person I’ve given a sample to or that’s bought them has positive feedback. Some are wearing them during the run some aren’t. Either way we have the data that shows you could experience the same results. It’s up to each person to assess their own experience.
Some of those athletes you saw might be wearing them for recovery only. But I promise you that in the next 2-3 years you will see more and more compression socks.
Good luck!
The active is Mediven’s Men’s line and is “Graduated Compression.” Meaning there’s 100% compression in the ankle and it decrease as the leg goes distal to proximal; as you may already know.
With CEP Socks our compression is different in that it’s 100% at the ankle and decrease to the calf area and then we have a consistent 80% compression on the calf. We found that you can increase arterial circulation with the right amount of compression. Up to 40% while running and 30% at rest. If you have venous disease or DVT you will get the benefit of the CEP sock but you might like the CEP better or you might like the Mediven Active more.
I wear both as well. Only the 16-20mmhg in the Active. I like it but I love the way the CEP feels. I guess it depends on your diagnosis or reason for wearing compression stockings.
I hope that helps. Feel free to read more about CEP’s studies: http://www.cep-sports.com/Studies.8625.0.html
The first one is on Arterial circulation
Each athlete is different but I’ve had several people in the last month email me their feedback after buying our product. Most say they feel wonderful in them when running. Whether or not it will translate to faster times I think that’s relatively subjective but if you feel better when running it can make the race easier and mentally less challenging.
Read our studies we have from different Physicians and Sports Med docs in Europe: http://www.cep-sports.com/Studies.8625.0.html
The first article shows the improvement of arterial circulation. 40% more in while running with CEP socks and 30% more blood in the arteries at rest with CEP on. = Easier, quicker run with a faster recovery.
I market to Physicians every day and there’s many opinions on the effects of compression. However, most all agree that compression will help venous return. Our CEP Socks have a different type of compression that was proven to increase arterial circulation. Check out these studies:
http://www.cep-sports.com/Studies.8625.0.html
Medi is the world leader in medical compression and we have a pretty good idea what we’re doing. We’re not claiming that this is the “Magic Sock” and you are guaranteed to run faster in it. We’re just giving customers honest data that comes from different sources. Our compression is 18-20mmHg. The contraindications for this compression level is none.
If someone has pain, swelling, a DVT or serious venous disease they should consult a physician.
What type of doctor are you?
This is definitely a hard forum post to get through b/c of all of the long text. I skipped 90% of it so I can post that I do have compression socks that I got for international plane flights and I now also wear them for post training recovery. I don’t like them during training/racing but I like them for recovery until bed time. They constrict my feet too much during exercise. Around the house and sitting on a plane for hours they are great.
Maybe the models that cover only the calves and not the feet would be better. I haven’t tried them. By the way, I have very narrow feet, so I probably am more of the norm than the exception.
Yeah… my wrist is killing me from typing. This is a post I set an hour ago. It might give you a better idea about compression. FYI: There’s a lot of compression socks out there. The ones at the pharmacy are usually lower quality. You’ll find that the sport socks on the market have softer material. WHether you run in them or wear them for a flight the CEP are reallly comfortable. We have a 30 Day guarantee so if you buy them we’ll gladly give your money back with a reciept and original box. Buy them on www.trisports.com
FYI:) Good Luck out there!
Compression socks are most effective because you’re dealing with venous return. If you simply wear a calf sleeve you will likely trigger swelling in the foot during a long run. Your veins bring the blood back to the heart and if you have more compression on the calf than you do the ankle you could do more damage than good.
Wearing compression socks, especially CEP because we measure calf circumference, you will get more compression in the ankle and optimal compression on the calf. The foot in our sock does have compression but it’s design is to simply bring the blood from the ankle area into the calf and allow it to move back to the heart faster. Your perforated veins are in the bottom part of your leg and these are what transfer de-oxygenated blood into the deep vein to be pumped back into the heart for oxygen and nutrients. You will get the lactic acid out of your leg faster.
Another benefit of CEP is how our compression is different from any other sock on the market. We have a patent compression on the calf and it improves arterial circulation. Click on the link to check out the studies we have done regarding these topics. It’s quite impressive:
http://www.cep-sports.com/Studies.8625.0.html
Overall you should definitely wear a compression sock that has more compression starting from the foot/ankle and gradually decrease as it goes up the leg. And with CEP you get this effect along with an added benefit in the calf for arterial circulation = more nutrients and oxygen to the muscle while you run = easier, faster run with quicker recovery. You can compression socks at the drug store but they are over the counter compression. CEP is MEDICAL GRADE COMPRESSION, 20mmHG. This will guarantee you get the effects of compression and dramatically improve your circulation while running and recovering.
I used a pair of compression socks at IMAZ and they got wet and absolutely destroyed my feet. Added about 2 hours to my run time due to walking…it sucked.
I wear mine when I want to feel sexy
.
I remember watching Paula Radcliffe break the world record in the marathon for the first time in London(i think).
Anyway she wasn’t wearing compression socks(from memory).
Maybe she did wear them in training. They may help a bit but they won’t be turning any ironman athletes into a ‘Haile Gebrselassie’ in a hurry.
Will be surprised to ever see runners using them in a cross country, especially if there is mud around.
Personally I think some of the top athletes wear them because they are paid to. And the woman wear them because they look sexy(brings back my memories of the Winter highschool uniform). I could see socks like this getting heany with sweat and falling down. All that said, maybe they could help a very little bit in training. 
A 2hr 48min run set up Marc Pschebizin to take out the ‘Challenge Wanaka’ 2008 title, pictured here about 200meters from the finish line.
Mind you I was impressed with above. compliments of http://www.triathlonshots.com/...lengeWanaka2008.html
If I have shoe size 49, which sock should I then pick?
BR David