What Is Compression Clothing?
Compression clothing is pieces of clothing that fit tightly around the skin. In medical contexts, compression clothing provides support for people who have to stand for long periods or have poor circulation. These come in varying degrees of compression, and higher degree compression sleeves, such as sleeves that provide compression of 20–30 mmHg or higher, typically require a doctor’s prescription.
Compression clothing worn on the legs can help prevent deep vein thrombosis and reduce swelling, especially while traveling.
Compression clothing can also be used for post surgeries, to help with the healing process. In sports, form-fitting compression sportswear, usually made of spandex, is commonly worn by athletes and in exercise to prevent chafing and rashes.
How Does Compression Clothing Work?
The working principle of the compression garment is to apply different pressures to different parts of the body through gradient compression, that is, the farther away from the heart, the greater the pressure, which speeds up blood circulation, thereby speeding up the delivery of oxygen to the sports muscles, stimulating the vitality of the muscles, accelerating lactic acid digestion, reducing the accumulation of lactic acid and speeding up the body’s recovery. In addition, because the compression garment has greater compression strength, it can more effectively prevent muscle tremor during exercise, thereby reducing unnecessary energy loss.
Compression
The feeling of compression reaction to the body is a sense of tightness, which can improve the key muscle strength of the muscles, relieve the accumulation of lactic acid, and make the exercise more durable. Fixing the swing amplitude of the muscle can avoid the burden caused by ineffective oscillation and protect the knee to prevent cramps.
Support
Compression pants, taking CW-X as an example, can make the overall support of our body stronger through special material splicing and weaving methods. Especially when you are tired, this sense of support is stronger, and there is a feeling of having a layer of exoskeleton.
Recovery
Compression pants represented by Skins have the function of assisting the rapid recovery of muscles after exercise, and you can even wear them to sleep.
Differences Between Tights and Compression Clothing
Difference In Origin
Tights originated in 1886, and it was related to the old European advocacy of women’s tight waist dressing habits. On the eve of the outbreak of World War I, women’s status increased rapidly, and the number of women employed increased greatly. In order to facilitate work, they gradually abandoned this cumbersome and flashy way of dressing.
At the beginning of the 20th century, tights appeared more on acrobatics and circus performers; from the 1930s, tights that more closely matched modern shapes appeared-swimwear; at the end of the 1970s, tights appeared mostly in black and had more colors. In North America and Europe, exercise videos of celebrities wearing tights also indirectly promoted the popularity of tights, and more and more ordinary sports enthusiasts began to wear tights to exercise.
The initial role of compression garments was in the medical field, mainly used to treat diseases with “swelling” symptoms such as lymphedema; later, gradient compression stockings were found to have a certain auxiliary treatment effect on diseases such as varicose veins. Later, people in the sports industry became interested in gradient compression socks, and after conducting a series of research and analysis on it, they found that compression equipment can improve jumping ability to a certain extent. Later, the medical and sports circles began to study the impact of compression equipment on performance and recovery.
Difference In Performance
Leotards put pressure on all parts and can prevent muscle vibration, but they have no protective effect. The compression garment can provide different pressures for different parts of the muscles, play a protective role, and shorten the recovery time after exercise.
Compression clothing has higher spandex content, “tighter and more elastic”. After the upper body, it will feel more fit than ordinary tights. The breathability and perspiration are much better. The tight elastic material supports the abdomen, back and arm muscles better.
Compression clothing will add different fabrics and use special weaving and cutting techniques to achieve the effect of gradient compression and reduce fatigue during exercise. Wearing after exercise can accelerate muscle recovery after exercise and reduce soreness. While ensuring elasticity and stretchability, it wraps the muscles better. Wearing during exercise reduces the risk of injury while improving athletic performance.
Difference In Price
The tights are not as expensive as compression garments in terms of their functions.
Which Compression Clothing Brand Are Best?
In fact, there is no saying that compression clothing is better, and different brands focus on different technological points. It cannot be judged by a single “good” or “bad”, but more based on your actual needs. Just like the difference between Asics’s N, C, K, Tiger Go and other series, the customers themselves are not the same, and the functions are also different. It cannot be determined by price or brand alone.
SKINS
When it comes to compression clothing, SKINS is the one that has been pushed the most. This was originally an Australian brand, but later cooperated with Li Ning, and the production line of some products was still owned by Li Ning.
CW-X
CW-X is a compression clothing brand from Japan. Its popularity is second only to SKINS. Unlike SKINS’s numerous product lines, CW-X mainly emphasizes breathability and coolness, which is named in its few tops. The Ventilator can tell. At the same time, the strong support of CW-X is its most important buying point.
2XU
2XU is also an Australian brand. Its products mainly face the triathlon arena, but it is not very famous in the field of compression clothing, especially in China. But this does not affect its position in my heart. The X print on the forearm of the top is domineering, and the lower thigh is also designed accordingly. This is also one of the reasons why it became my first set of compression clothes. .
C3fit
It is also a brand from Japan. C3fit defines the function of a sports compression equipment as three Cs, Compression, Conditioning, and Comfort. All the designs of C3fit products revolve around these three eternals.
Due to channel reasons, the products currently available on the market are mainly its impact air light running compression garment. It also promotes support performance. The biggest difference from CW-X is that it adds the concept of “light running”.
In addition to the above brands, there are actually other brands of compression products such as Compressport, BV SPORT, SHOCK ABSORBER, etc. to choose from. It’s just that the initial or main product line of these brands is not a complete set of full-body wrapping compression garments, but more specialized in more lightweight, handsome, and comfortable compression sleeves and leg covers.