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Should You Be Wearing Compression Gear?
By Dickson Mercer
July/August 2011
Compression gear companies claim that their medical industry-derived socks, tights, sleeves, and full-body suits enhance blood circulation and reduce both lactic acid metabolization and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Plenty of runners and triathletes, in turn, are starting to swear by them.
Neither compression companies nor compression-converted athletes, however, have any clear-cut proof that the garments actually work. The jury is still out: studies of the effects of compression gear on both performance and recovery, most of which have been published in the last couple years, have been mixed.
Even so, particularly when it comes to the knee-high, calf-gripping socks, anecdotal evidence could ultimately suffice. After all, who needs facts when you have Chris Solinsky and Paula Radcliffe?
Just ask Rockville’s Ryan Hanson, 23. All the Georgetown Running Company racing team member and employee needed to see to give compression socks a try was Solinsky “run out his mind.” By that, Hanson means watching Solinsky’s American record-breaking run at last year’s Payton Jordan Invitational, where he became the first non-African runner to break 27 minutes for 10,000 meters.
Just ask Ruth Morgan, who specialized in the 800 at Cornell University, graduating in 2006. The 26-year-old Rockville resident recalled how she and her teammates took to wearing Oxysox largely because Radcliffe wore them in her world record-setting marathon efforts of the early 2000s. Now her sister, Stephanie Morgan, a sophomore at the University of Illinois and a qualifier for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, wears Oxysox after workouts, races, and while sleeping.
At the Running Company and other area running stores, runners will find plenty of brands to choose from, including CEP and 110%. Hanson said he prefers CEP.
The main benefit that comes from wearing them, Hanson said, is faster recovery from tough workouts.
Robbie Wade, 29, of Arlington, VA, a triathlete and road runner who works and runs for Pacers Running Store, agrees, and thinks about it in terms of prevention.
“I use compression socks a lot to limit the muscle tissue damage during races so I don’t have to take an off day or light day after a race effort,” he said. “Being a triathlete I need to recover quickly and be ready for the next session, so recovery is key.”
Are Hanson, Wade, and other compression converts getting a recovery benefit that non-wearers are not?
At this point, there seems to be more evidence supporting compression gear as an agent of recovery than there is for the idea that simply putting them on will make you run faster. In short, if you want to get the most bang out of the $40 to $60 or more bucks you will spend on socks, for instance, you might be better off putting them on after your long run rather than before.
“Sleeping in them is the real trick,” said Hanson, who added that he does believe they decrease one’s perceived effort while running at higher speeds.
Wade, who likes both CEP and 110%, sleeps in compression tights before races and after hard sessions, especially after a hard afternoon or evening workout, in which case he will have less than 24 hours before his next training sessions.
Other local runners, including this writer, have sought out compression gear in times of injury. Arlington’s Dave Miller, 27, the footwear buyer (and former accessories buyer) for Potomac River Running, started wearing compression socks after dealing with some Achilles problems, a common nag for marathoners.
Since then, count Miller among those who believe compression gear can speed up recovery, even heal the body. Last winter, Miller wore Sugoi and Saucony compression tights every day, he said, and subsequently handled more miles in training than he had in half a decade. He finished 8th at the SunTrust National Marathon.
“I certainly think the gear is worth it for those who are concerned with performance,” he said.
Dickson has a marathon PR of 2:29:06 and is a regular contributor to Washington Running Report. You can read his race coverage of the Capital Hill Classic in out magazine.