Runner’s World, Triathlete Magazine & USAT’s Triathlon Life have all written articles in their most recent publication about compression socks. (Note: Sleeves, tights also get lumped in) From what I gather in the articles and based on my own experience, they are talking more about graduated compression and not just compression. The “graduated” in the name doesn’t mean they have a degree from a university (but that might help!) it means that the tightness varies throughout the garment in an effort to help blood flow back to your heart. I know I am way oversimplifying the “science” of compression garments with that last sentence, but the last time I checked there were no PHD’s after my name.
First off; here’s my personal take on plain ol’ compression (not graduated) garments: Love ‘em. I love the feeling of a garment encasing my muscles like a second skin, holding my muscles in place and maybe keeping a little of my fat from jiggling so much when I run. Whether it’s psychosomatic or not - feel stronger & faster with compression garments on my legs/hips (tights or compression shorts) and stronger in my chest and arms with a compression top. One caveat to the top is that I don’t like running with anything too tight on my ribs, I always unzip/remove my top in tris after the bike leg or during the run. Whenever I do anything that requires running (sports, workouts, etc.) I’ll have a pair of compression shorts on. I like to think that the shorts are massaging my quads and ITB while I’m running — it seems to work for me!
The good thing about plain ‘ol compression garments is that they are relatively cheap. Now that Wal*Mart (Athleteic Works) and Target (Champion C9) have inexpensive versions of the big brands (UnderArmor, Nike, etc.) you can pick up a some garments for $10-15 and be satisfied with the performance.
Now graduated compression comes into the picture… Here’s how it happened from my point of view:
A little less than a year ago, I read an article with someone poking fun at a couple Ironman athletes wearing compression socks. (It may heave been in Triathlete Magazine, but I’m not sure). The article went on to essentially say that there didn’t seem to be any medical value to them, and that they looked strange anyway. Well, I decided to give ‘em a shot and went on a journey to find some “Graduated Compression Socks”. According to my Google search, the only ones that were available were medical grade socks for folks with poor circulation in their legs. Every article I read was about diabetes or elderly care and the graduated compression that would help. I also saw a few mentions of the socks being good for preventing deep vein thrombisis in frequent travelers. Most of the socks were made of cotton or wool, there was nothing about any “wicking” materials or even lycra/spandex content. So, I didn’t purchase any online and abandoned my search.
In one fine Saturday June, I found myself at the San Diego Rock ‘N Roll Marathon expo after driving almost 6 hours from Phoenix. Thinking about my lack of training and recent bout with cramping at a 70.3 in New Jersey, I decided to look into some compression socks — I figured I’d find a bunch at such a huge a race expo! I checked every vendor that had socks and got a lot of blank faces, or “Um… no, never heard of those”. When I checked at the Gizmo Wear booth they said “We’re looking into those”. I continud my search with no luck until I asked at literally the last booth in the farthest row from the entrance. “We’ve got these from 2XU” and the guy reached under a table and pulled out a pair of stirrup compression sleeves. On the package it specifcally states that the stirruped variety are for “sports requiring a shin guard or stirrups” and gave examples of soccer, baseball and football. I was a little hesitant to put a stirrup in my shoes and run 26.2 the next day, but he didn’t have any others available. Actually, these were the only ones he had as they were shipped by 2XU by accident with a shipment of tights. I also balked at the price: $49 for these? I handed ‘em back to the guy and canvassed the expo floor again. I figured if he had those under a table, then someone else may have a non-stirrup pair… No dice.
$50 later, I had my new “secret weapon” to wear at R’nR San Diego. A guy next to me at the potty line asked me about them, as he was wearing something similar (and ower tech) for his shin splints. His looked like old braces strapped to his legs, and mine were these tight black spandex thingies with a bic “X” across the shin. I was wondering why they said “2XU” on the inside, then realized they were on the wrong legs. (OK, I realized AFTER the race) It’s a rule - NEVER wear something for the first time on race day… so of course I did. The first 8 miles were fine, then I felt a little bit of irritation on the instep of my left foot and it seemed to be right where the stirrup was. At mile 10 I pulled the stirrup out of my shoe and let it hang out the back (there was no danger of it getting caught, it just looked stupid). I realized it wasn’t the stirrup, it was my insoles riding too high on my arch… that was the source of a nice blister! almost (3) 10k’s later I was all done, and was really - REALLY - pleased with the way my calves felt. Here’s the important part: I wore them all the way home on my 6+ hour drive back to Phoenix that afternoon. I remembered the whole “deep vein thrombosis” article and how compression sleeves helped, and I figured I was going to be stuck in one position for 6 hours (I would’ve been home sooner if it wasn’t for the 90MPH speeding ticked on the CA/AZ/Mexico border!). The sleeves performed marvelously, and I didn’t have much at all in calf pain during the following days.
Since then, I’ve worn the calf sleeves (with the stirrups, they don’t bother my feet at all) at (3) triathlons (70.3, International & Olympic distances) and several times in training. (NOTE: I did NOT wear them for R’nR AZ this year because I wore tights and I really wish I had worn the sleeves too!) These things are great, and worth $50.
My final thought: After talking with James @ Live Your Passion, we wondered why the cost was so high on these garments. Even the high-tech Nike Marathon socks are only $9/pair - why are graduated compression so expensive? Shouldn’t they be $25 or so instead of $50? I’ve read a few articles about guys cutting off the legs of womens nylons and wearing those under running pants… maybe that $2.99 solution is worth looking into?
P.S.: This year at The PF Chang’s Rock ‘N Roll Marathon there were several booths DEDICATED to compression garments; a big change from none last year!