The Ins and Outs of Compression Gear

For those of us training for a big spring race (or anyone who just trains like an absolute animal on the roads, in the gym, or in the pool), compression gear can be a great addition to our wardrobe. But what does it actually do for you?

So much CEP in one photo! The Marathon Sports/Runner’s Alley/soundRUNNER squad relied on compression socks to get them through Ragnar Reach the Beach 2016.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of it, there is one major concept you need to understand: our muscles use oxygen to function. Oxygen is delivered to our muscles through our bloodstream. The muscles use up the oxygen, and send the blood (now deoxygenated) back to the heart so it can clean up, resupply with oxygen, and begin the process all over again.

Your muscles like using oxygen to create energy. This is called aerobic respiration. But when oxygen isn’t available or is in short supply, the muscle switches to a different, less efficient process that does not use oxygen. This is called anaerobic respiration. Lactic acid is a byproduct of this process, and needs to be removed by your circulatory system quickly. A buildup of lactic acid causes soreness and that burning feeling when you’re doing a really hard workout.

Where are we going with this?

The longer your body can sustain aerobic respiration (with that nice oxygen-rich blood), the less muscle fatigue you’ll experience. And the more quickly your circulatory system can clear lactic acid and waste product out of your muscles, the better you’ll feel during your workout.

SOME KEY TERMS

Aerobic Respiration – the process by which your cells use oxygen to break down glucose and create energy. Aerobic respiration produces energy at a slow rate, but it can continue to supply energy to the muscle system for several hours or longer, so long as the fuel supply lasts.

Anaerobic Respiration – the process that takes over when your circulatory system cannot provide oxygen to your muscles fast enough to maintain aerobic respiration. Your cells break down glucose WITHOUT oxygen and produce a byproduct called lactic acid. Anaerobic respiration produces energy quickly, but yields significantly less energy than aerobic respiration

Lactic Acid – a byproduct of anaerobic respiration. When it accumulates in your blood, it causes muscle fatigue.

Graduated Compression – socks, tights, or calf sleeves that are tighter at the bottom and loosen slightly as you go up the calf and lower leg to fight the effects of gravity on bloodflow.

How does compression gear help?

The graduated compression  of products like CEP, 2XU, and CW-X gear does three things:

FORCES ARTERIES TO DILATE, increasing blood flow through them. Arteries carry oxygen and nutrient-rich blood from the heart to your muscles.

FORCES VEINS TO CONSTRICT. This is a weird one. I won’t dive into a wormhole of anatomy and physiology, but forcing the walls of veins to constrict actually makes the blood flow through them more quickly. Veins take the deoxygenated blood which is full of waste product away from your muscles.

REDUCES MUSCLE VIBRATION. When you strike the ground, the impact sends small vibrations up through the muscles of your lower body, making them work a little bit harder to stabilize themselves. Compression gear helps to offset that.

So more good stuff coming in, and more bad stuff going out – great! The same idea carries over to your recovery phase as well – muscles also need that oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to repair themselves.

All Marathon Sports stores carry compression shorts, tights, socks, and calf sleeves by CEP, 2XU, and CW-X. Visit your nearest Marathon Sports for advice on how and when to wear your compression gear!