Marathon Running and Muscle Soreness

In February 2007 The Journal of Sports Science published the results of the first study to examine the use of graduated compression socks (GCS) during and after the participants performed a fast-paced continuous 10-km road run.

There was a marked difference in the frequency of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) 24 hours after the exercise.

“A staggering 86% of the participants wearing GCS experienced no DOMS at all,                                            compared to just 7% wearing regular ankle socks.”

This study has probably been more responsible for the explosion of knee high compression socks among elite triathletes than anything has.

In an article titled: Compression Socks Make an Impression, The New York Times coverage of the 2008 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii reported that

“415 of the 1,677 competitors in the run portion of the race wore the graduated compression socks … to increase blood flow and more evenly distribute muscle strain.”

By now you’re getting the picture that the pro’s running and recovering in Energizing Socks with graduated compression are getting some serious advantages. Now imagine the advantages of wearing Energizing Socks with graduated compression for your roadwork, racing and recovery periods.

I have been researching the subject of compression for a long time and have put my combined findings into a downloadable report: The Running Insider Report. This is a detailed report citing actual clinical studies and explains all of the advantages of wearing SmoothToe Energizing Socks. Just click on the link for your free copy.

If you’re quick, you’ll also get a FREE Sample to try out!

Enhanced Calf Muscle Oxygenation

Twelve sportsmen regularly involved in endurance training were measured wearing compression tights on their legs and compared to wearing simple elastic tights or shorts (no compression) in a study undertaken by The Faculty of Sports Science, University of Montpellier, France.

“They found that compression tights compared to elastic tights, have positive effects on calf muscle oxygenation and venous pooling in quiet resting positions.”

Wearing shorts with no compression had no positive effects on calf muscle oxygenation or venous pooling during resting periods.

This was hardly a surprise, as compression stockings have been the accepted treatment for venous conditions in hospitals for decades. In fact, SmoothToe Energizing Socks have been dispensed on the vascular ward at Mayo Clinic for over six years for all kinds of vascular insufficiencies. However, it had only been surmised that athletes would gain similar benefits by wearing Energizing Socks with graduated compression.

This was mainly due to the results that were being achieved with medical patients suffering from venous insufficiency, and from an earlier study of the effects of wearing graduated compression socks (GCS) on blood lactate following an exhaustive bout of exercise.

That study found that blood lactate values were significantly lower throughout the recovery period for those wearing graduated compression stockings during both the test and recovery periods, compared to test subjects wearing compression during the test period only or not wearing compression at all.

In fact, compared to not wearing compression at all, results of both experiments (wearing GCS during test and recovery & during test only) showed recovery lactate values to be significantly lower with the use of GCS.

Running faster is all about managing your recovery, so you can train harder and back up again the next day and go again. Nobody runs faster when they’re hurting.

Get all of the secret training tips in our Running Insider report by clicking any of the links in this article. The report is free and there’s a $35 gift for the first 99 people to download it. What are you waiting for!

Muscle Soreness Makes You Slow!

Let’s take a look at a few sobering facts about your training and (lack of) proper recovery … and how Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) affects your running performance (you’re slower than you should be!). And then we’ll discuss what you can do about it.

1. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) makes you … well, sore.

2. Sore heavy legs are reluctant to work.

3. Sore heavy legs are slow … painfully slow.

I think you’re probably all too familiar with the catch 22 outlined above – it’s not exactly breaking news. What is news though is how you can simply and easily avoid all of this.

And you can do it without employing an entourage of physical therapists or swallowing enough ibuprofen to kill a moose, and shredding your intestines in the process!

Read on, because the results from the latest studies prove it.

In January 2009 The Journal of Strength Conditioning Research published the results of a groundbreaking study conducted at the Institute of Medical Physics, University of Erlangen-Nurnberg in Germany.

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of graduated compression socks (GCS) on running performance in men runners.

Both the time under work load and total work output were significantly higher with compression socks, when compared to wearing regular socks, as were the running performance at the anaerobic and aerobic thresholds.

The study concluded that “socks delivering constant compression in the area of the calf muscle significantly improved running performance.”

Read those few paragraphs again.

This is the first clinical study that was specifically designed to test the effect of wearing GCS on running performance – not recovery or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.

There’s a good reason why a third of competitors at the 2008 Ironman World Championships were wearing them!

Understandably, this study has added real weight to what was already known about the effects on muscle recovery gained from wearing compression socks.

You can almost certainly run faster. Though, you’ll probably need the professional edge found in our FREE Running Insider report. You’ll find the cure for running muscle soreness and more. Click on a link to get your copy.

It’s free … and if you hurry there’s also a $35 gift!