Compression clothing for sports

People who go in for sports for a long time periodically experience discomfort in their legs - heaviness, fatigue, pain. This is due to the fact that physical activity (running, lifting weights) significantly affects the state of blood vessels. In addition, often women's legs are prone to varicose veins, regardless of whether she visits the gym or not. However, even if you are faced with such a nuisance, this does not mean that you have to leave sports activities. To improve the condition of the vessels, there is a special compression clothing for sports, which facilitates the work of the circulatory system.

What are compression garments for? In order to ensure the normal circulation of blood in your extremities. The fact is that nature intended for the human body to work like a Swiss watch, but under the influence of adverse factors, the system fails. For example, ideally, the blood flow in the legs is carried out without delay. The blood circulates from bottom to top, and the valves of the vessels help it in this. They "open and close", pushing blood to the heart, preventing it from accumulating in the veins. If for some reason the vascular valves stop working normally, then people experience swelling, veins swell and blood clots can form.Usually, the cause of swelling in the legs is a long standing position (sales assistants), serious running loads (football players, athletes), weight lifting (bodybuilders, fitness and crossfitters). Edema is dangerous because it puts a significant strain on the cardiovascular system, the pulse increases rapidly, and blood pressure rises.

Sports compression clothing was created in order to exert the right degree of pressure (compression English data compression - compression) on those parts of the body that are under heavy stress; help the vascular valves to push the blood without delay.

"Compression" is divided into two types: competitive and restoring.

Competitive compression clothing is used by athletes to train, making it easier for blood vessels and muscles to work, reducing the risk of injury and improving the quality of training. These clothes are class 1, which can be bought at a sports store or pharmacy. It is in the public domain and does not have any therapeutic effect, only preventive.

Clothing grades 2-4 are sold only by prescription and are "medicine". It is used for recovery after operations and serious injuries. And also "written out" by doctors to those who play sports at a professional level.

It is worth noting that any clothing with a compression effect is only suitable for those who are on the move. If you go in for sports once or twice a week, do not give yourself heavy physical exertion, do not walk at least 7 km a day, then you do not need compression clothing. On the contrary, it will have the opposite effect: it will disrupt the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

Compression clothing exists in all varieties: golf socks, shorts, t-shirts. Each athlete can choose the right accessory.

• When buying, first of all, it is worth remembering that clothes are taken strictly according to size. There should not be any “for growth” or “I’ll lose a little weight and fit in”. If the clothes are more than necessary, then the desired effect will not be, if less, then it will strongly squeeze the blood vessels, which will cause disruption of the cardiovascular system. In addition, the price for it is quite high, the service life is a maximum of a couple of years, so it's a shame to waste money. It also makes no sense for women who are losing weight to buy underwear with compression: firstly, psychological stress arises (tightening “imperfect” forms), and secondly, in a month or two the woman will lose weight and the sports uniform will have to be changed;
• Before you buy the right clothes, you should know exactly for what purpose you need it. If you run a lot, but do not aim to break the bench press record, then you do not need a compression tank top or t-shirt, but knee-highs and pants. If you are engaged in rowing, tennis, volleyball, then you will need not only shorts and leggings, but also sleeves with a compression effect;
• When choosing, you should not completely surrender to advertising. Many manufacturers write "compression" on the labels, but in fact the clothes are not. The maximum that it is capable of is to remove moisture during training, working as a thermal underwear. Medical compression clothing for women and men is marked with the RAL-GZ 387 standard.
• When choosing clothes, you need to focus on the manufacturer.Currently, many sportswear manufacturers have opened their lines with compression uniforms, but it is better to give preference to those firms that deal only in compression clothing: Skins, CEP, Venum and others.

Anyone who wants to get +100 to running speed, endurance, strength and health with the help of compression clothing will have to be disappointed - these are all myths that are not confirmed by research.

But it is not all that bad! It has been scientifically proven that running in compression socks or gaiters lowers an athlete's heart rate (pulse) by several beats per minute. The use of special underwear during a 10 km run reduces the possibility of leg pain the next day by up to 14%. Wearing underwear for 24 hours after a hard strength training session (by professional athletes, not fitness center goers) increases the rate of muscle recovery.

I would like to repeat once again: first class compression clothing is a "supplement" that is used to help the body during intense sports activities. It is not suitable for daily use, without movement will only harm the heart.