The purpose of compression garments is to stimulate blood flow especially in the legs and feet. The body suit Serena wore was an extreme form of the normal compression methods recognized. Most associate compression with socks or stockings. The socks or stockings are tighter around the ankle and become less constrictive as they work up your body.
Due to gravity the blood at the bottom of your body works harder to flow back to the heart. Compression socks are designed to gently squeeze the tissue to improve the blood flow to the heart and limit swelling. If you have poor circulation or other conditions such as deep vein thrombosis or blood clots, this helps the blood from pooling and reduce swelling.
How does it help you recover? Runners started wearing the compression socks for longer runs to not only provide extra comfort but reduce lactic build up which causes muscle soreness. Studies have shown that wearing a compression garment during a workout increased oxygen delivery and blood flow and decreased the jarring, vibration and stress to the muscles to prevent soft tissue damage such as shin splits from plyometrics or sprint training.
When you work on building muscle you actually tear muscle tissue before it rebuilds itself to become stronger. Improving circulation with compression garments helps heal these tears and build muscle faster. On the other end of the spectrum, if you tear your muscles too much and end up with a sprain or strain the increased circulation combined with a pain reliever will help heal these aches and pains sooner.
While you’ll notice professional athletes wearing compression garments during their sport, the best time to utilize their healing benefits is after the activity. And while Serena’s catsuit was a unique form, compression garments are evolving. They come in different levels of tightness, some wick sweat, some are encouraged to wear when sleep and they cover every muscle group to take advantage of the recover benefits from everything from calves and biceps to glutes and hamstrings. There are even compression boots that uses a pulse system to squeeze and massage the muscles and increasing the blood flow through your muscles.
Serious training requires a serious recovery method and, however you use it compression has become a trend for the recovery movement. Utilizing compression garments will ensure you don’t have to skip a gym day and keep you focused on those gains!
