There are a number of companies marketing compression clothing to aid recovery: 2XU, Linebreak,CCC, Skins, Body Science etc. I understand that the principle of compression is valid but is there really any difference between a pair of Compression running tights and a standard set + other than about £10 to the price? Normal tights or long tri shorts seem to offer a level compression. Is there good compression and not so good compression?
If there is a difference how do the companys stack up - any recommendations on which to go for. I am currently carrying a slight injury after running on tight legs and would like to try and provent the same thing happening again. S any think that is likely to help is most welcome.
CW-X make awesome compression tights and shorts…pricey, but you are getting quality and technology based. Also if you are looking for compression socks the oxysox are great and aid in recovery as well as travelling.
I am the fabric guy here at 2XU and was interested to see the correspondence re compression.
I am the first guy to say I was very suspect re the claims being made before we embarked on the creation of our compression range, as were the majority of sports scientists we work with here in Australia, but the results have blown us away.
Firstly the difference between the brands is dramatic- the two main factors come down to the fabric and the the fit.
With fabric the power of the compression is based on the denier of the elastane used, the higher the denier the greater the power, many brands especially the cheaper brands utilise a lower denier elastane yarn, that is why they are chepaer, elastane yarns are very expensive(espesically Lycra 50Denier as we use), if the denier of the elastane yarn goes down to 40D or even 30D as some brands use, they are primarily a glorified tight and yes you may as well just buy a pair of run tights.
The fit is also vital as we have graduated fit, which means the fit is tighter at the extremeties of the body, so blood is pushed towards the heart, so faster removel of lactic acids etc. I read a review on this site about CW-X ,this is not a graduated tight, this is more about support of the limbs which is very different to what we along with Skins etc are promoting.
We have had Michellie Jones trialing ours before Hawaii and she was blown away by the performance, we are of cousre not saying she won because of the tights, we would have won regardless, but noticed big difference in recovery, especially worn at night.
I can write pages on this subject, especially how we are better than the others, we are an endurance brand and we make these for endurance athletes not football players, so have diferent requirements in regards to fit, stretch and weight.
Just try them, thats the best way to discover the benefits, anybody who dosn’t believe in our claims can send them back for a full refund. We ran a money back guarrantee here in Oz, not one pair came back.
All the best all
jamie
Check this site out, lots of good information: http://www.asicsamerica.com/asicstech/apparel/biomorphic_compression_tech.htm
Like Jamie, I was skepitical when ASICS introduced this last year. However, after trying it, I wear it as a base layer and to bed to aid in recovery. I can totally tell the difference. T-Racer also wears it quite a bit and I know ChadJ has had some good experiences with it, as well.
I can write pages on this subject, especially how we are better than the others, we are an endurance brand and we make these for endurance athletes not football players, so have diferent requirements in regards to fit, stretch and weight.
jamie
Well then, keep writing, and get more technical. What level of compression do you offer? In the medical community I believe it would be measured in mm/HG. The current socks I use, by Mediven, are 20-30mm/HG, and I’m very happy with them, but it would be the ultimate to have a full body suit from the neck down.
Endurance athletes come in all shapes and sizes, why would you suspect their needs to be different than another sports? I’m not trying to be argumentative, just want to know whatever you know on this subject.
I would love to write pages, but I am one of the owners here, so have about a million things to get done.
Am happy to answer specific things which are asked of me, like for example about fit and the various compression ratings like you mention, but this does open a can of worms.
The size of your calves versues your quads and vice versa, every bodies legs are different, as they are on there upper bodies.
In an ideal world we would manufacture for each persons body shape, we already have a number of sizes to try and cover our bases.
The most important element we specify is the degree of compression on the calf and forearms, these are the main blood pumping muscles in the body, we do recommend compression at around 35mm/HG, however some athletes go below this for training in and at this for recovery.
As we use a circular knit process compared to a tricot knit process our competitors use, we are able to incorporate a 50D and still manufacture a fabric at approx 210grms/sqm, whereas our competitors can only incorporate 40D, so lack the power to get up to the 25-35mm/HG.
Our compression is true medical compression, this is why at times we get frustrated at people passing themselves off as compression when they are clearly not.
I would love to write pages, but I am one of the owners here, so have about a million things to get done.
The most important element we specify is the degree of compression on the calf and forearms, these are the main blood pumping muscles in the body, we do recommend compression at around 35mm/HG, however some athletes go below this for training in and at this for recovery.
As we use a circular knit process compared to a tricot knit process our competitors use, we are able to incorporate a 50D and still manufacture a fabric at approx 210grms/sqm, whereas our competitors can only incorporate 40D, so lack the power to get up to the 25-35mm/HG.
Our compression is true medical compression, this is why at times we get frustrated at people passing themselves off as compression when they are clearly not.
thx jamie
Yes, it is frustrating that others pass themselves off as compression when they clearly are not. I think it would go a long way if you would actually state on your webpage the mm/HG of compression these garments have Heck, it would have gone a long way if somebody at Interbike could have answered this simple question. I’m assuming from the above you are stating that at the calves and forearms the compression is indeed 25-35mm/HG?
I haven’t done much research on the subject, so excuse me if the question seems rudimentary.
Is the compression a recovery/vascular aid solely? I understood it was largely a support mechanism for the muscle tissue itself, helping the muscle to retain shape with less effort, resulting in less energy expended. I could be way off on this, so feel free to correct if I’m on completely the wrong track.
You are 100% correct, compression started off being more for muscular support but as time goes on, we have discovered the other benefits, like increased blood circulation, increased (heightened) Proprioception. This is why we are often blown away by the amount of different aspects this can bring to sport, both during and after event.
yes, 25-35mm/hg can be acheived with our garments, again its a comfort thing, and as for recovery we strongly suggest this to our customers, for working out I also can tolerate the higher compression, but others do like a little less while working out.
jamie
Jamie…
first off. having a guy who designed Calvin Klein clothing may be one of the smartest things a company has done in a while… who would think, clothing that works and it looks good…
Seriously though… really nice stuff… to bad not more places sell it…
I just bought a membrane cycling jacket and it’s alot nicer, and warmer than my old one… which i’ll leave the name out, but they charge well into the 3 hundreds for their crap…
thanks for making great gear. I’ll be drining back to SBR in NYC to pick up one for my girlfriend.
I really like guys like you.
We really have tried to establish a brand that Triathlon has never really seen before.
The membrane jacket you mention, I know for the price point nothing comes close we have a moisture release of between 8-10,000 which is the highest in the industry even higher than the euro brands who charge twice the price.
The reason we can get products of the caliber we do to our customers is because we have great contacts in the fabric industry thus we are able to custom make most of our fabrics, selecting the yarns and identifying what different applications and enhancements we can make to hit a price point no one else can. Like for example on our membrane jacket we found the most advanced membrane, which was developed in the USA, then selected state of the art filament polyester yarns, and bought it together in a fabric mill. As we have developed the fabric, rather than the mill we can cut out big costs the mills put on it.
Thx for your support of the brand, we are working on distribution, we had an amazing interbike show, so you will see our dealer list grow.
SBR is one of main dealers and they go a great job of explaining our technology, a good bunch of guys.
all the best
jamie
yes, 25-35mm/hg can be acheived with our garments, again its a comfort thing, and as for recovery we strongly suggest this to our customers, for working out I also can tolerate the higher compression, but others do like a little less while working out.
jamie
I guess I’m a bit confused because I don’t see different ratings of compression for your garments. To achieve a higher compression are you just wearing a size smaller? For instance, buy a small if you want more compression and a medium if you want moderate compression?
Absolutely, our fabric is developed to give 25-35mm/hg, however if the fit is not correct your fabric may have the 25-35 but if its loose for example you are not making full use of the compressive power of the fabric.
So for a correct fit you will fall within this range. But you can tailor slightly depending upon your preference.
hope this helps jamie
Thanks for the reply - Funnily enough I brought a set of your tights and a l/s top to give it a try as it had been getting good reveiws from people on tritalk and one of the stockests is in my county. The look well made and are very comfy. I think though that maybe I should have gone for a smaller size - the tights are a close fit as per my normal running tights but I am not sure if they are quite tight enough (how much compression should you feel?). The top fits well except around my upper skinny cyclist arms so again maybe I should have gone for small rather than medium sizing.
P.s. what is it with Australia and compression wear - lots of the company selling it seem to be Aussie - maybe it is that they have had to come up with something to keep there Dad’s army cricket team on the pitch!
I can’t believe it an american who knows about cricket(or are you an englishman).
Compression in Australia is massive, every sportsperson from even children wear compression, we have been using it for years here, and people have understood the benefits. This we believe will also happen in the states. In the UK they are starting to catch on.
From your email I would definately sound like you should be a size smaller, what are your measurements?
CW-X make awesome compression tights and shorts…pricey, but you are getting quality and technology based. Also if you are looking for compression socks the oxysox are great and aid in recovery as well as travelling.
sean ------------- Ok… on the Oxysox compression socks. My lovely wife bought me running socks and bought these inadvertantly. They are high quality socks but they are the weirdest feeling socks I have ever worn. If you didn’t know better it is like wearing a sock that is 3 sizes too small…but not. What are the benifits and when should I wear them? Long runs? short runs? After running? These things have driven me crazy. I keep trying to wear them but they feel so odd and not knowing what they are supposed to be doing they end up back in the drawer.
Our overall philosophy is the same, we both believe in graduated compression. So the main difference comes down to the fabric, we have developed a circular knit process rather than s skin tricot knit The benefit is that we can incorporate a higher denier 50D elastane into a similar weight, whereas they use a 40D, so the power of the compression is greatly affected. Also we use Lycra from dupont, whereas they use an elastane from Japan called Roica , which does not have the longeivity and stretch memory as Lycra, also sweat affects Lycra alot less than roica, so will last longer.
In saying this we believe Skins have done a great job, they have eduacted the market very well, our main advantage we were able to see the areas where we could improve on the level of support and develop ours into a true sportcompression tight
Hi there - just wanted to validate what Jamie has been saying. I am, in fact - seriously - wearing them right now. I put them on right after I finished the Hawaii Ironman so as to facilitate recovery. I also wore them right after the 70.3 World Championships. Today, I wore them for my plyometrics circuit that I did at physio. I have one of the best physiotherapists in the world (Steve Hill) and he is so impressed by the 2XU product that he owns a pair and is selling them to his patients at his clinic. Medically, compression has been around for years but he has yet to support a product until now. He was pleased to see that the 2XU compression tights are endorsed by the AIS - Australian Institute of Sport. Dr. Mark Scapaticci - my ART specialist - wants to see them and has said he is going to recommend them to the Maple Leaf Hockey Team and the Blue Jays (he is the ART guy for both of those clubs).
Seriously - we spend lots of money on races and travel and gear and yet we don’t always take care of the engine. I think that the 2XU compression can help. I certainly think so everytime I put them on after a tough workout. Anyway - that is my 2 cents worth. Right now, I hope they are undoing the effects of my many 2006 training and racing miles. Happy off season!!!