Of Compression Tights
For those who don't know what compression tights are, these are basically tight fitting er... tights that are currently gaining popularity in the various sports for supposed improved performance and faster/better recovery. (known throughout HCult as skins, though "skins" are only one of the many brands of compression tights).
Accompanied Yang Xuan to acquire a pair of half-tights (ending above the knees) on Monday, as he wanted a pair of tights to bring into NS to prevent abrasions during road marches, as well as for frisbee obviously. Even though there are many brands of compression tights, the 2 main brands in Singapore are 2XU and Skins. Trawling through Velocity and Queensway Shopping Centre for quite some time, these were the 2 brands that were most stocked (while I do recall some brand called Body Science or something and another brand that is more suited for hiking and all as it has thermal protection).
Asking the various store owners as to the advantages and disadvantages of 2XU and Skins respectively, we garnered rather vague responses and were not very much helpful, with the exception of the guy at Newton Running at Queensway, who said that 2XU has better compression (especially their elite compression tights which go up to 70 denier at certain areas), while Skins has this ice function that basically cools your body better. Furthermore, 2XU also has another line of compression tights that are for recovery only, meaning you wear those for sleep instead of when doing ur exercise, to aid in the recover process and reduce muscle soreness, etc. I recall isidoree recommending 2XU and UnderArmour over Skins, while Mr. Yeong (yes the elusive Raphael) replied Yang Xuan's sms by saying that it is down to personal preferences.
Since I'm definitely going to get a pair sometime in the near future, but am currently not getting one yet (as I'm not going to use them for at least another few months), I decided to do some research as to whether 2XU or Skins is the better brand and so on. However, halfway through my research, I discovered that the bigger question was whether these compression tights actually aid in performance and recover at all. So here are some links that I found:
A runner's review on compression tights:
runtrails.blogspot.com/2009/06/compression-tights-and-clothing-worth.html
Basically he found them quite useful for performance as well as recovery, and specifically recommends the 2XU tights and Opedix tights, which have added knee support feature)
Some doctor/triathlon dude:
bvickers.typepad.com/bills_blog/2009/06/index.html
It's a rather long blogpost, but he basically says that even though compression tights may seem to help recovery, there is no real scientific evidence that they really help athletes. He ends off by saying that there seem to be some benefits to wearing them, but it is highly dependent on the individual's preference.
Some professional coach and expert:
home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/triathlon/compression-socks.aspx
Ok basically he repeats what the above guy said by saying that there is not much scientific literature on the subject at the moment, and even research done on people with vein problems show contradicting results as to the benefits of compression tights.
Another expert guy:
blog.trainingpeaks.com/2009/02/ask-the-experts-ben-greenfield-on-compression-socks.html
Finally someone with actual research of compression tights on athletes, which shows significant improvement in performance in those wearing the tights, but the sample size is rather small (as noted in the article), so it's not really conclusive.
So I guess it mainly boils down to buying a pair and trying them on your own. Many athletes may swear/attest to their great benefits and all, but those may be due to the placebo effect (as the second guy pointed out). If you wear something that you believe will aid your performance, your performance will increase, and if you wear something that you believe will help you recover faster, you will recover faster. But I guess it is still really unknown whether compression tights do really help (contrary to what many advertisements may say. Seriously, the way 2XU advertises their compression tights on their website, you'd think you can wear them and just burn/sky anyone on the field -.-).
But eventually I think I will still get a pair. Why? Well, the placebo effect may be good and all, plus full length skins make you look zai/cool! :D But if you fail in them then sad la, so I must improve first before considering getting a pair, haha. As to which brand to get, 2XU seems better overall, but Skins comes in cooler/nicer colours (actually, by the very fact that it has a colour other than black, it already surpasses 2XU in that aspect). While the Opedix knee support thing looks really helpful (as I experience knee pains now and then), it doesn't seem to be available in Singapore and shipping a pair of tights will have to wait till my pockets are deeper.
So I guess I'll go for... black 2XU full leg tights for the compression and red long sleeve upper body Skins tights for the coolness factor....
A most sexy combination!! :D
nah just joking. I just hope that 2XU has other colours by the time I decide to get a pair.
Hope this was useful for others looking to get a pair as well. Oh mentioning our (ex?) coach's name at some shop can get us a discount so that'd be cool! (:
Accompanied Yang Xuan to acquire a pair of half-tights (ending above the knees) on Monday, as he wanted a pair of tights to bring into NS to prevent abrasions during road marches, as well as for frisbee obviously. Even though there are many brands of compression tights, the 2 main brands in Singapore are 2XU and Skins. Trawling through Velocity and Queensway Shopping Centre for quite some time, these were the 2 brands that were most stocked (while I do recall some brand called Body Science or something and another brand that is more suited for hiking and all as it has thermal protection).
Asking the various store owners as to the advantages and disadvantages of 2XU and Skins respectively, we garnered rather vague responses and were not very much helpful, with the exception of the guy at Newton Running at Queensway, who said that 2XU has better compression (especially their elite compression tights which go up to 70 denier at certain areas), while Skins has this ice function that basically cools your body better. Furthermore, 2XU also has another line of compression tights that are for recovery only, meaning you wear those for sleep instead of when doing ur exercise, to aid in the recover process and reduce muscle soreness, etc. I recall isidoree recommending 2XU and UnderArmour over Skins, while Mr. Yeong (yes the elusive Raphael) replied Yang Xuan's sms by saying that it is down to personal preferences.
Since I'm definitely going to get a pair sometime in the near future, but am currently not getting one yet (as I'm not going to use them for at least another few months), I decided to do some research as to whether 2XU or Skins is the better brand and so on. However, halfway through my research, I discovered that the bigger question was whether these compression tights actually aid in performance and recover at all. So here are some links that I found:
A runner's review on compression tights:
runtrails.blogspot.com/2009/06/compression-tights-and-clothing-worth.html
Basically he found them quite useful for performance as well as recovery, and specifically recommends the 2XU tights and Opedix tights, which have added knee support feature)
Some doctor/triathlon dude:
bvickers.typepad.com/bills_blog/2009/06/index.html
It's a rather long blogpost, but he basically says that even though compression tights may seem to help recovery, there is no real scientific evidence that they really help athletes. He ends off by saying that there seem to be some benefits to wearing them, but it is highly dependent on the individual's preference.
Some professional coach and expert:
home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/triathlon/compression-socks.aspx
Ok basically he repeats what the above guy said by saying that there is not much scientific literature on the subject at the moment, and even research done on people with vein problems show contradicting results as to the benefits of compression tights.
Another expert guy:
blog.trainingpeaks.com/2009/02/ask-the-experts-ben-greenfield-on-compression-socks.html
Finally someone with actual research of compression tights on athletes, which shows significant improvement in performance in those wearing the tights, but the sample size is rather small (as noted in the article), so it's not really conclusive.
So I guess it mainly boils down to buying a pair and trying them on your own. Many athletes may swear/attest to their great benefits and all, but those may be due to the placebo effect (as the second guy pointed out). If you wear something that you believe will aid your performance, your performance will increase, and if you wear something that you believe will help you recover faster, you will recover faster. But I guess it is still really unknown whether compression tights do really help (contrary to what many advertisements may say. Seriously, the way 2XU advertises their compression tights on their website, you'd think you can wear them and just burn/sky anyone on the field -.-).
But eventually I think I will still get a pair. Why? Well, the placebo effect may be good and all, plus full length skins make you look zai/cool! :D But if you fail in them then sad la, so I must improve first before considering getting a pair, haha. As to which brand to get, 2XU seems better overall, but Skins comes in cooler/nicer colours (actually, by the very fact that it has a colour other than black, it already surpasses 2XU in that aspect). While the Opedix knee support thing looks really helpful (as I experience knee pains now and then), it doesn't seem to be available in Singapore and shipping a pair of tights will have to wait till my pockets are deeper.
So I guess I'll go for... black 2XU full leg tights for the compression and red long sleeve upper body Skins tights for the coolness factor....
A most sexy combination!! :D
nah just joking. I just hope that 2XU has other colours by the time I decide to get a pair.
Hope this was useful for others looking to get a pair as well. Oh mentioning our (ex?) coach's name at some shop can get us a discount so that'd be cool! (: