Why Compression Baselayers?

For years, standard fitted sportswear has been the first choice for athletes worldwide however; due to scientific research and the innovation of sports clothing companies, in recent years compression garments have become increasingly popular with athletes trying to improve their performance.

So why have compression garments become so popular and how can they improve your performance?

Blood flow is important during exercise as red blood cells carry oxygen around the body. Higher compression isn’t necessarily better for you. It’s about having the right amounts of compression in the right places. The further away from the heart, the slower the flow of blood is. If levels of compression are higher at the calves and forearms, blood flow back to the heart is increased. This is known as gradient, or graduated compression. The best way to think of it is by squeezing a tube of toothpaste at the base.

 

Research has suggested one of the benefits that compression garments can have is focusing the direction of the muscle fibres by reducing muscle oscillation, which can hinder the alignment of muscle fibres when moving, reducing the function of the muscle (Kraemer et al., 1998). Therefore reducing muscle oscillation can prevent injuries and keep muscles functioning for longer periods of time.

Proprioception is your awareness of how your body moves, whether it’s running, cycling, playing golf or simply walking up a flight of stairs. Compression garments help to activate the proprioceptors which are specialised sensory receptors found in the muscles, tendons joints and inner ear. These receptors relay information back to the brain about what exact movements are being carried out by your body.

Enhancing proprioception can improve your balance, technique, and can also prevent your body from getting into awkward positions that may lead to injury.

Compression garments aren’t going to make you into an elite athlete overnight. What they will do is support your muscles, improve your blood flow and generally make you feel more athletic.  This is what will keep you going that little bit longer.

Testing the SUB RX

The SUB RX compression baselayer is one of our newest garments. We believe the RX is up there with the best compression garments on the market, but before we could release it, we wanted to make sure that it had the best levels of graduated compression. We went down to Progressive Sports Technologies to see if they could test it out.

Progressive Sports Technologies, based at Loughborough University, have some of the world’s leading sports scientists who have worked with some big name brands.

To test the RX, they carried out the Hosy compression test using British standardised leg forms and human participants with varied leg size. The results gave a mmHg (mercury millimetre) compression rating which shows how much compression is applied to certain points on the leg form. Ideally the rating needs to be higher at the extremities, then gradually decreasing back towards the heart.
The results show that the RX consistently provides the optimum amount of graduated compression in order to accelerate blood flow to and from the heart, keep muscles supported and to ensure you perform for that little bit longer.

What makes us sweat?

When the temperature rises, our 2.6 million sweat glands start to produce perspiration. Sweating is the body’s natural way of reducing our internal body temperature. Some sweat evaporates from the skin, taking heat with it. The rest runs down the face and body.

In high humidity the rate at which sweat evaporates is reduced because the air cannot absorb any more moisture. This means our bodies won’t cool as efficiently.

When performing under pressure, the body releases stress hormones that increase heart rate and blood pressure, raising the body temperature which leads to sweating. The sweat by itself is virtually odourless, but when microscopic bacteria that live naturally on the skin mix with sweat, they multiply quickly.

Excessive sweating is also known as hyperhidrosis. This is when the body’s cooling system is so overactive that it produces four or five times the amount of sweat that is needed. About 3% of the population has excessive sweating.

While doctors don’t know why hyperhidrosis starts, they have successfully linked it to over-activity in the sympathetic nervous system; specifically the Thoracic Sympathetic Ganglion chain. This chain controls the glands, known a the apocrine and eccrine glands, responsible for perspiration throughout the entire body. Depending on which part of the chain becomes overactive, different parts of the body become affected.

Moisture Wicking Process

When clothing gets wet from perspiration it sticks to the skin and hinders the evaporation process. Some baselayers on the market are designed to wick as much moisture away as possible however; some experts see this as interfering with the sweating process too much and that it can be very dangerous. Losing too much sweat can lead to circulatory problems, kidney failure and heat stroke. The best baselayers on the market only wick away the excess sweat on your skin, keeping you dry and comfortable throughout exercise.