Why do you need a compression T-shirt? Why do you need compression sportswear?

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Why is it needed? compression clothing for Sport?

If you are actively involved in sports, then your blood vessels need additional support. Otherwise, the risks of various diseases may increase. Therefore, to help your blood vessels, you need to use sports compression garments. For many years, this type of clothing has been used to improve the performance characteristics of the athlete and increase his level of comfort. Today we will tell you why an athlete needs compression clothing.

Compression clothing comes in socks, pants, leg warmers, T-shirts and other options. First you need to understand how compression garments work. The principle of operation is to compress the veins with to varying degrees and vasoconstriction. As a result, blood flow accelerates and work becomes easier. circulatory system, the muscles are enriched with oxygen and nutrients, and breakdown products are removed from the body.

The main function of sports compression clothing is to compress the limbs and help blood vessels function correctly and withstand heavy loads.

In medicine, there are 4 classes of compression. However, you can only buy and select compression sportswear on your own with compression class 1; otherwise, you need to consult a specialist. Compression class 1 is preventative. It should be used if you find yourself with enlarged saphenous veins or spider veins.

The effect of compression sports clothing.

Professional and amateur athletes often use compression sportswear during training and preparation for competitions. What is it for?

• Prevention of thrombosis and additional stress on the cardiovascular system, since a person is under excessive load, the vessels lose their shape, and the functioning of the valves is disrupted;
• Injury is reduced, as vibrations are reduced and additional support is provided to the muscles;
• The sensation of the body in space increases;
• Training becomes comfortable, since sports compression clothing has good thermoregulation and elasticity;
• The outflow of venous blood is stimulated;
• Blood circulation improves;
• The process of tissue restoration is accelerated;
• Efficiency and endurance increase;
• Swelling of the legs decreases;
• Prevents the appearance of calluses;
• Coordination improves and muscle reaction time is reduced due to increased proprioceptive sensitivity.

In addition, scientists in Auckland from Macy University showed that only 14% of athletes who ran 10 km in compression socks experienced delayed muscle pain. By comparison, 93% of athletes who ran 10K without compression socks experienced shin pain the next day.

When to wear compression sportswear?

• During prolonged exercise;
• If you are predisposed to varicose veins;
• For recovery after competitions or heavy training.

However, it is not recommended to wear compression sportswear all the time. Because there may be an overdose effect. Remember that with constant pressure, blood vessels may no longer maintain their natural tone. And this will cause the same problems as with insufficient compression.

We also draw your attention to the fact that sportswear with a compression effect, it should fit tightly and get dressed with difficulty, but at the same time, without restricting movement.

Contraindications for sports compression clothing:

• Atherosclerosis;
• Orthoarteritis;
• Endoarteritis;
• Thromboangiitis obliterans.

If you still don’t know why compression clothing is needed for sports, then pay attention to its main advantages: additional muscle support, accelerated recovery and reduced injuries. All these factors are very important for both a professional athlete and an amateur.

If you have to stand often and for long periods of time, if you lift weights or run a lot in preparation for competitions, then the load goes to your blood vessels. If you are predisposed to edema or varicose veins, you can help your blood vessels with sports compression garments, and at the same time reduce health risks.

How compression clothing works

Compression underwear (socks, leggings, pants, overalls and other options) is so called from the word “compression” - pressure, compression. The essence of the work of any “compression”: compression with varying degrees (depending on the location of the body part) of your limbs along with the vessels located in them - to facilitate the functioning of the circulatory system.

Rising upward from the lower extremities, the blood, overcoming the force of gravity, passes through a series of valves. In normal mode, they function completely calmly, passing a portion of blood upward with each beat of the heart and not allowing it to accumulate below, inflating the veins or forming edema or even thrombosis.

However, under the influence of excessive load (for example, when a person is constantly in a standing position) or, for example, with significant running loads, the vessels may lose their shape and the operation of these valves may be impaired. Thrombosis may appear and develop, and the cardiovascular system is additionally loaded.

Actually, the function of compression garments is to compress your limbs under a certain pressure, either to help damaged blood vessels function correctly, or simply to help them withstand heavy loads without consequences for your health. Spending the whole day on your feet or running a marathon is easier and more enjoyable in compression socks.

In properly made compression garments, for example, sports socks, the load distribution is calculated. The lower, the stronger the compression; closer to the knee the pressure decreases. This is because it takes more force to lift blood up from the lower part of your limb.

The “correctness” of compression garments is confirmed by various standards. In Europe there is a standard RAL-GZ 387. Its logo can be found on the packaging and on the label sewn into compression garments of some brands, mainly specializing in medical compression garments.

Medical "compression"

Doctors write, and we retell it to you: there are 4 classes of compression of medical underwear, but without a doctor you can only look at the first. First class underwear can be bought at a pharmacy - it is for prevention. Doctors recommend it to anyone who has found spider veins on their legs, has found enlarged saphenous veins, or is irritated by swelling at the end of the day. The remaining classes of underwear will still not be sold to you without a doctor’s prescription, and we would never risk giving advice without the advice of specialists.

Nevertheless, the point of this chapter is to talk about contraindications: do not wear compression garments if you have atherosclerosis, thromboangiitis obliterans, endoarteritis, or orthoarteritis.

Does compression make it faster?

All the sources we found sing in unison about compression clothing for sports - it “supports muscles by storing and returning energy when muscles stretch and contract during physical activity” and “allows you to feel better in space.”

A study from Newcastle University found that lower-torso compression garments increased blood flow and decreased heart rate during high-intensity endurance running. This, in theory, should confirm the theory that compression stockings or leggings should improve performance. However, this same study did not prove that compression clothing actually makes runners faster.

So scientists have not yet confirmed the dependence of the result on compression garments. Perhaps this is due to the insignificance of the advantage, lost in statistical error. The debate on increasing running speed using compression has not stopped for decades.

It has been scientifically proven that compression training lowers an athlete's average heart rate. A test was conducted in which the frequency of contractions was measured during physical activity. The heart rates of athletes wearing compression garments were on average 2-3 beats per minute lower than those of participants wearing regular clothing.

What does “compression” do: pain reduction, rapid recovery, prevention of vascular diseases

But in terms of health and comfort, there are positive results. Scientists from Macy University in Auckland found that 24 hours after a high-intensity 10km run (using compression socks), there was a reduction in long-term muscle soreness. 93% of athletes who ran without compression socks experienced calf pain the day after the race, while only 14% of subjects who ran with compression socks also experienced such pain.

Even the simplest compression socks from leading brands are not cheap.

Scientists at the University of Exeter assessed the effects of compression clothing on muscle recovery. Tested by repeating three strength exercises 1, 2, 3, and 4 days after the painful activity. Wearing compression garments for 24 hours after exercise was found to improve performance in all three endurance tests and reduce subjects' soreness.

If we add here medical indications for the prevention of long-term negative effects from heavy loads, then the benefits of compression garments are obvious. However, you should clearly understand how much you need it and wear it thoughtfully.

When to wear sports compression garments

For example, during strong, prolonged loads. An additional risk factor is a predisposition to varicose veins - spider veins, enlarged veins, edema.

For example, to prepare for a triathlon, I was offered to use sports socks from the Australian company 2XU (as I was told, the “Mercedes” in the world of sports compression, and even triathletes compete in this brand). I wear it for all heavy cycling and running workouts, especially as the load increases. Actually, with enlarged veins on my legs, I definitely need such underwear for high loads.

A separate topic is recovery; top manufacturers have lines of recovery clothing after hard training or competitions. And, based on the results scientific research, we can recommend compression for these purposes.

Top brands have lines of compression garments “for recovery.”

But you should not constantly wear “compression” precisely because of the excessive effect of their main positive effect. An “overdose” of compression can be as harmful as too little: your blood vessels may stop maintaining their natural tone, which can also lead to the same problems that such underwear cures. Therefore (if you have no other indications for use) you should not wear compression garments when the load is familiar to you.

Study carefully size chart compression clothing and follow the manufacturer's recommendations exactly. The compression garment should fit tightly (like a second skin), put on with difficulty, but not restrict movement.

Use compression garments wisely and to the benefit of your health and results. And may the force be with you.

Beginning athletes have repeatedly heard from other athletes about a miraculous training form that helps improve endurance, improve tone and eliminate damage to muscles and joints during intense sports. Compression clothing for training has indeed, in a short period of time, managed to gather many fans who tell others about the effectiveness of such uniforms for sports.

It's time to get acquainted

Naturally, all newcomers to the world of sports want to quickly find out what compression clothing for training is, why it is needed, what its principle of operation is. Since the word “compression” implies compression, it is better to start with the fact that the unique sports uniform not only fits tightly to the human body, but also puts significant pressure on the skin, squeezing muscles and joints.

It is quite difficult for beginner athletes to understand why they should wear uncomfortable clothes that will compress the body throughout the entire workout, because, on the contrary, many beginners tend to wear loose uniforms in order to feel more comfortable during training. It's simple - in the process of intense or power loads pressure in the veins and capillaries increases, which inevitably leads to bloating of blood vessels in weak points(limbs of legs and arms). For some athletes, this is beauty, emphasizing a powerful, developed torso. And for other people, this is the first step to diseases such as varicose veins, blood clots, heart failure and similar ailments.

It's better to start from the beginning

Many athletes will be surprised to learn that compression training clothing has been on the global market for over a century. Why was it invented and why didn’t many people know about it before? The answer is obvious: there was no demand among athletes, but something had to be done with the ailments of people suffering from diseases of the cardiovascular system. The principle of action is unchanged - to compress muscles and joints, preventing blood vessels from swelling.

Still in hospitals in the post-traumatic period, after complex operations, prescribe or socks. It is thanks to compressive clothing that many people have managed to maintain health, improve their shape and prevent the blood in the body from clogging blood vessels. In fact, the need for compression accessories in medicine completely destroys all the stereotypes that have been created by people who claim that the benefits of compression clothing are just another myth from sports equipment manufacturers.

The main thing is that the suit fits

Do not neglect the recommendations of the seller, who offers a fitting before purchasing. The fact is that it is the correctly chosen size of underwear that determines the effectiveness of using sportswear. There are compression clothing for training for women, men and children, and in addition to size, they also differ in class. The classification determines the degree of compression. The sports market mainly offers 1st class products (with the lowest compression). But it is quite difficult to buy high-rise clothing without a doctor’s prescription, and a novice athlete does not need such a uniform.

Market of current accessories

Compression sportswear is quite common on store shelves: T-shirts, pants, shorts, socks, elbow pads and knee pads - there is nothing on the market to satisfy customers. The only thing that confuses us is the price, which, at first glance, is several times too high compared to similar products that do not have compression qualities. But this is not so bad; before buying, a beginner needs to know that the clothing material is short-lived - literally a year or two of active use, and washing will force the athlete to go shopping again.

It is logical to assume that pants can also be considered best buy, because they completely envelop the athlete’s body. Yes, this is a fact, but many other questions arise, because all athletes have different loads, which means the approach to purchasing should be individual. Pants with socks are for runners, T-shirts are for weightlifters, and shorts are useful for fitness classes.

Substitution of concepts

Adidas compression clothing for training has managed to attract the attention of potential buyers in just a few years. And this is understandable - a serious brand has created a sought-after sports uniform, which, in comparison with the manufacturer’s usual clothing, has an affordable price and excellent appearance. What else do demanding buyers need?

It's only confusing detailed description compression products, which is present on the manufacturer’s official website - in addition to compressive properties, clothing can wick away moisture, maintaining temperature human body within normal limits. These are the properties that thermal underwear has. And if you get acquainted with all the manufacturer’s products, the buyer will see that the same product can be offered under the guise of both compression clothing and thermal underwear. Here it is up to the buyer to decide whether to trust their health to such a universal product.

Now I’ll try to tackle an even more controversial question. Many people love compression clothing, many consider it pure marketing. Many people use it, many consider it too expensive. Many people rely on it for better recovery, many use it in competitions. There are a lot of contradictions, so I will try to minimize subjectivity and analyze the available materials on the topic. Of which there really are not many.

These guys have already approved compression in a circle and do not understand our doubts.

Unfortunately, information on the topic is on average of very low quality. The gold standard for checking various information with supporting links is Wikipedia, but it will simply stun anyone interested in the topic of compression. Let's open the site, read it, open our eyes even wider and close them. The material was written without a single supporting reference and with such harsh and ambitious statements that you involuntarily begin to feel sad. Are there any normal studies on the topic?
Judge for yourself.

Maximizes strength? Enhances movement? Ugh. What’s interesting is that absolutely the same thing is said about sportswear. At the same time, compression clothing costs quite a bit, and if you also noticed that they periodically lie on the Internet, this information is unlikely to be enough for us to buy clothes.

Research.
There are two pretty famous test compression clothing, which were carried out in 2003 and 2007.

The first test by Doan, Newton and a crowd of others in 2003 tested the performance of 20 athletes in the 60-meter sprint and high jump. At the same time, they looked at the athletes’ movements, pulse and body temperature. The test involved 10 men and 10 women, comparing loose and compression clothing during exercise.
The test results showed no improvement in sprint speed. However, some differences were noticeable. The authors claim that compression landings reduced muscle vibration and concluded that it was beneficial in minimizing muscle injuries. The athletes’ movements also changed slightly, which is easily explained by the psychological effects of compression clothing. And in the compression suit, the temperature of the skin increased faster, which is also generally obvious. In principle, that’s all that’s interesting.

The second test by Duffield and Portus in 2007 was more technologically advanced. Ten male athletes were tested and tried three different brands of compression clothing. Each athlete spent a 30-minute training session wearing 4 different types of equipment: compression clothing from 3 brands and loose clothing. The sport was cricket, 20-meter sprints, throwing accuracy tests were carried out, and the researchers had a blast using additional equipment. Before and after the exercise, blood was taken for lactate, pH and pressure were monitored, and tests were performed 24 hours after these workouts. What is important is that in this case the compression was tested not only during exercise, but also during rest after it.
The results repeated the previous ones, but many new things emerged. There was no difference in sprints and total distance during training - they ran the same amount and at the same speed. The accuracy of the throws has not changed. And, what’s funny, there was no difference in the effect of compression socks of different brands both during training and during rest. Checkmate premium brands.
What did they find? The skin temperature in the compression suit again increased faster than in loose clothing. Obviously. But what's really important is that the researchers noticed a drop in creatine kinase levels during a 24-hour period of rest in compression clothing relative to loose clothing. This could mean either less damage to muscle cells or more efficient recovery. It's not very clear how this was determined, but the authors also reported less muscle pain. Bottom line - they recommended compression clothing to reduce muscle damage during exercise and for better recovery, but they do not recommend it to improve the athletic performance in the competition.

Citizen Stickford from a medical center in Dallas came to similar conclusions (compression clothing does not work on the results, the results increased in two athletes out of 16 who believed in the effectiveness of compression clothing), recovery was not tested. And in 2013, more recently, Born, Spirlich and others conducted a much larger study in which they concluded that compression clothing may provide small improvements in both sprint and long-distance performance, and also reduce muscle damage and slightly speeds up recovery.

It was all practice. Let's now look at how this difference may appear.

It looks good, as you can see. There are also compression garments in the photos.

Theory.
Oddly enough, but there is just very, very little of it. Almost everyone talks about improving blood flow, articles in popular magazines are rampantly citing the above tests, but why... there is a problem here.
They decided to cover this issue most accurately on the website runlab.ru, however, even there, the entire explanation in the middle of a huge article was reduced to 1 picture and 1 paragraph of text. Here they are:

“Human veins include special valves that help move blood to the heart. When the health of the veins is compromised, and this includes ordinary leg fatigue and varicose veins - regardless of the severity of the situation, the same principle remains - the vein expands. When it expands, the valves form a gap that interferes with blood flow and disperses it. The principle of operation of vein valves is similar to the principle of pressure in a hose with water, because everyone knows that when the tip of the hose is pressed with a finger, the pressure of the water gushing out of it is stronger. Likewise, in order to speed up blood flow, it is necessary to “tighten” the valve of the vein, that is, to narrow it. Compression clothing puts pressure on the leg and compresses the vein.”

We have doctors on our website who, I am sure, will be able to provide counterarguments. If so, please speak up.

From all of the above, the following pros and cons emerge:

Pros:
maintaining constant muscle temperature
reduction of trauma and pain
speeding up the recovery process

Popular pros in online articles that partially contradict test results:
reduced fatigue
increasing body endurance
increasing muscle efficiency
improved coordination

Minuses:
increase in muscle temperature (in competitions in hot weather)
clothing care (usually very delicate washing)
price

Possible disadvantages (Ranlab introduces several more disadvantages, but does not confirm them with strict conclusions):
Not for people with poor circulation, diabetics, smokers, hypersensitive skin or open wounds. In general, if you have a complete set (we definitely have those) - just get up and leave the class. Well, you understand.

Reviews.
They are exactly the opposite. When this article was announced, several people reported that they use compression and it helps them. However, there are actually quite a few reviews. Let's bring some close to our cycling topic. As you understand, I can’t vouch for objectivity, but I’m collecting it for you to have a broad range of opinions.

Mikhail Sumar: “I’ve been using it for five years now, I have a different brand but also with brakes on top, they provide excellent relief after a race or a hard workout, I also wear it on flights and long trips behind the wheel, my leg is as fresh as a May rose upon arrival.”

From various cycling forums:
“Used X soxs socks. The foot actually gets less tired.”

“About compression garments and varicose veins. Regarding compression garments. First, go to a phlebologist and consult with him. Incorrectly fitted compression stockings or socks can only make the situation worse.”

“Works great for recovery and on long epics, more than 130 km. You put it on in the middle of the trip and it takes the fatigue off your legs.”

Zhenya Shipilov: “I always believed that compression stockings were needed for recovery, I myself use them only for this.”

I hope that you will write your feedback, no matter whether positive or negative, in the comments.

And now the important additions.

Compression clothing is expressly prohibited by UCI rules. It sounds like this:
“It is forbidden to wear non-essential items of clothing or items designed to influence the performances of a rider such as reducing air resistance or modifying the body of the rider (compression, stretching, support).”

According to UCI rules, the choice of clothing should be determined by the weather and not by an attempt to improve performance. Also strictly limited maximum height socks And the racers actually walk on the razor's edge. We saw this in downhill, we see it throughout modern clothes on the highway. In fact, constrictive clothing exists; it helps reduce air resistance, and probably no one except the rider knows how strong the compression effect is. In addition, the rule of using compression is regularly violated and is normally used only at top road races and races at the World Cup level and above. For example, in enduro, compression stockings are widely used by riders at European Cup stages, where UCI judges stand at every start and finish.

An example of a topic with a height limit for socks/shoe covers.

There is another point that is rarely talked about, but it definitely exists. Psychological. Honestly, this is why compression is in last years I use it. Valya Popov told me the same thing about himself. When you put on a compression suit, you begin to feel strongly that you are wearing clothing. If we are talking about enduro and you are not wearing protection, then this effect helps dull the feeling of fear on the descent. Closed elbows in DH and enduro, closed knees in cross-country. For me personally, this gives a noticeably greater feeling of protection, which in fact has not increased one gram. That is, it helps morally and there is absolutely no thought in my head that this will somehow help the result through better blood circulation.

Well, here's my personal review.
Now I have 2XU clothes on test, which I replaced with the photos of girls above. I will write a story about it, but I’ll say right away that the quality of compression clothing, taking into account past tests about their equal effectiveness, is probably fair to evaluate not by the effect on the body. Because it’s normal that we won’t check it anyway. But there are quite clear parameters - the quality of the seams, comfort, the presence of problem areas in the models (and in my experience they happen more often than it seems), whether the fabric deteriorates from wearing (and it deteriorates in many compression suits!), etc. In addition to 2XU, I have already used Skins, Nike, Craft and even, out of curiosity, a couple of representatives of the Chinese no-name. And the problems are surprising in their diversity.
In general, this is ahead and there is a separate post about what to pay attention to.