I’m in the yes category for several reasons. Okay, on to the personal take on the 2XU compression gear. However, having done the work, his take was yes, compression gear for recovery works. Now, to be fair, not every study came to those conclusions and Friel provides an even-handed review of all the assessments. The conclusions on the studies are fairly positive - things like “Wearing a full-body compression garment for 24 hours after a challenging, heavy-resistance strength workout enhanced psychological, physiological and performance markers of recovery when compared with non-compressive garments.” The use of compression wear seems to lower “post-exercise lactate,” and “improved all markers of recovery except creatine kinase.” 2XU also has done their own research studies, which are worth a close view. He states: “When it comes to recovery, however, I believe there really may be a significant benefit.” He goes on to say he could “sense some positive post-workout sensations when using the garments to recover.” In surveying all the relevant studies, Friel comes to a yes conclusion when the issue is recovery. In this case, he’s done an admirable job of digging into the data. Friel is a well-respected coach, he’s written over a dozen books on all facets for training, recovery and diet. To begin to answer that question, it’s highly instructive to take a look at Joe Friel’s extensive review of all the studies done on compression gear and its effect on performance and recovery. Would 2XU gear improve the performance of a hardcore 28 year old hammerhead who does Cat 2 races every other weekend and the 54 year old passionate guy who rides four days a week but also consumes an impressive amount of beer and wine? (By the way, the second category is mine.) Once you drop down from the pro level, the situation turns a little more cloudy. Last year’s Tour winner Cadel Evans and this year’s winner of the Milan San Remo one day classic, Simon Gerrans of Orica GreenEdge, both use 2XU gear. The smart teams like Garmin and Sky and BMC that look for every fractional gain in performance have used compression wear for years. It helps clear the lactic acid, promotes and speeds recovery and on the simplest level just reminds you’re in that “take it easy” mode. No matter what jury you pick, the general consensus at the pro racing level is that compression tights have a positive effect on recovery. 2XU offers a range of compression tights from $99 to $150 but before we get into personal opinion and experiences, let’s review what some experts have to say. We’ve been using 2XU Elite compression tights ($139) for recovery for three months and we’re in the yes camp. Your age, training, aspirations, personal physiology and a host of factors will also decide whether compression is worth investing in. The answer to the question of whether compression works for non-pros depends on which scientific study you believe, which you discount and what anecdotal research you put faith in. Any marginal gain in the pro ranks is worth the expense but everyone else naturally wonders if compression wear merits the price. While practically every ProTour racing team uses compression gear as part of the bag of recovery tricks, the tickle down use by serious amateur and weekend warriors has yet to really hit.
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