Once compression socks become the topic of conversion, the main attribute that has been made aware is the benefits of wearing compression socks during sport activities. The benefits of not having achy or sore legs while going for a night run or long bicycle ride. But there is so much more to compression socks!
In case compression socks are a new term you may not be familiar with – graduated compression stockings are designed specially to help promote circulation in your legs, including to prevent serious blood clots, known as venous thromboembolism or VTE (Thrombosis UK). Something that may not be known to the general public is that compression socks are a popular recovery aid for distance running athletes especially.
A randomized controlled trial
A study by Armstrong, SA, Till, ES, Maloney, SR, and Harris, GA. (2014) was published of ‘Compression socks and functional recovery following marathon running: a randomized controlled trial’. They believed that even though some physiological markers have shown compression socks to influence, there is scant evidence that exists about the recovery benefits.
The aim of their research was to shed light on the big question if compression socks do really help with recovery after any sort of sports activity. The study consisted of athletes competing for a run to exhaustion 14 days on either side of a marathon. They were split into 2 groups, one wearing compression socks for 48 hours after the marathon and the other not. The performance of the two groups was then compared in terms of how their performance in the post-marathon run to exhaustion compared to the one they had run beforehand. Their results confirmed their hypothesis as the athletes showed a significant improvement in their run time to exhaustion compared to a group they had with placebos (Armstrong, SA, Till, ES, Maloney, SR, and Harris, GA, 2014). ‘Analysis of the data showed on average a 3.4% decline in post-marathon treadmill tests in the placebo group (not wearing the compression socks) and a 2.6% improvement in post-marathon treadmill endurance in the compression group. This would indicate that the compression group had recovered fully from the marathon and the actual marathon, or enforced rest following the event, had improved their fitness capabilities’ (Armstrong, SA, Till, ES, Maloney, SR, and Harris, GA, 2014).
Test it yourself
So here at Fitlegs we want to help raise awareness of the benefits that are not often spoken about. We propose if you work by standing all day or having to walk a long distance or even if you sit all day, try our Fitlegs Everyday compression socks during and after those long days. If you feel like achy and sore feet and legs have become a new norm for you, then maybe it’s time you take control of having relaxed and rested feet once you put your feet up.
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Reference
Armstrong, S.A., Till, E.S., Maloney, S.R. and Harris, G.A., 2015. Compression socks and functional recovery following marathon running: a randomized controlled trial. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 29(2), pp.528-533.