Whether you love cycling, running, boxing or workouts in your home gym, every fitness enthusiast can benefit from compression clothing. So, how does compression clothing work, how does one wear it, and what are the benefits that it has to offer? Learn all this and more with rebel now.
What is Compression Clothing?
Regardless of whether you’re a fitness junkie, or just someone who likes to workout every now and then to stay in shape, you’ve likely seen those so-called “ultra” athletes running along the boardwalk, jogging in the park, or cycling down the street in those funny-looking elastic ensembles, right?
Well, you might be surprised to know that there is a very good reason for why those athletes are wearing those clothes—because they can make a significant impact on performance. They’re called compression clothes, and they make a big difference when working out, training, or competing in a sport.
How Does Compression Clothing Work?
Before we can talk about what compression clothing does, let’s talk about what it is. Compression clothing is essentially a form of clothing designed to hug the skin and compress your muscles. Typically, athletes wear compression clothing underneath their uniforms and equipment to ensure increased blood flow throughout their training session or competition. This, in turn, is said to elevate performance.
Now, where exactly does compression clothing come from? Well, compression has been used in hospitals for post-operation recovery for centuries. Additionally, some people even use compression clothing when they fly on a plane to reduce the risk of developing blood clots.
You see, when you apply evenly distributed compression to your body, it actually helps to facilitate the acceleration of blood flow. When your blood moves through your body faster and more efficiently, your muscles are able to receive more oxygen-rich blood more quickly, which could ultimately provide you with a hefty performance boost.
What Are the Benefits of Compression Clothing?
Compression clothing can help to accelerate blood flow throughout your body—this is a tremendous benefit not only to prevent blood clots from prolonged sitting, but also because it helps to ensure that your organs and muscles receive oxygen-rich blood at a steady and efficient rate.
In terms of performance and recovery, increased and accelerated blood flow is critical. When you’re performing at the highest level, your muscles are being pushed and pushed harder than you’ve likely ever pushed them before. Adrenaline will certainly come into play, but at the end of the day, your muscles require oxygen to keep pushing.
And then, what happens when your competition is over, and your muscles are fatigued and tired? They’ll need oxygen again to help them recover and get back to their resting form.
Does Compression Clothing Really Work?
If you ask a professional athlete or a runner, they’ll certainly tell you that it does, indeed, work. In fact, there have been a ton of studies done to gauge the effectiveness of compression clothing and so far, those results look pretty promising. For instance, compression clothing has been said to:
- Increase muscle performance
- Improve muscle support during physical activity
- Increase breathability
- Reduce muscle recovery time
- Reduce soreness
The way we see it, if you feel as though compression gives you a bit of added support and assurance when you’re training or competing, then why not substitute that pair of socks for a pair of 2XU calf tights?
Compression Clothing – Is It for Me?
Anecdotal evidence points to some significant success stories for athletes and fitness enthusiasts who use compression clothing for training and performing.
However, it is always important to remember that compression clothing or not, sleep and rest are the primary recovery methods. And when you combine those with compression, you can nurse your muscles back to strength faster.
Help take your workouts to the next level with our range of compression clothing at rebel now.