When I started talking about the evolution of tight-fitting and compression suits, I had to talk about the NBA.
Since when do boys like to wear a pair of compression pants under their sweatpants, whether in the gym, basketball court or outdoors? Actually, that's when it started.
In the 2005-2006 NBA season, a new trend whirlwind suddenly blew on the court-wearing an ankle-long "tights" under sports shorts. Carter and Kobe can be said to be the pioneers of this trend. Under the demonstration and leading role of these stars, this trend quickly swept the entire NBA field, and even college leagues.
Subsequently, tights and hand guards appeared in the players' competition equipment, and some of them also had the function of pressurization.
With the popularity of NBA, these equipments quickly entered our daily sports.
Faced with the choice of tights and compression suits, many people have doubts. What's the use of wearing tights? What's good about compression clothes? What's the difference between them?
There are many such problems. Today, we will talk about the origin and evolution of tights and compression garments and the differences between them.
The origin and evolution of tights and compression garments in 1886, the word "Lotard" originally refers to the close-fitting clothing covering the upper body (including the crotch), but excluding the legs and arms. The costumes worn in ballet performances are the most typical representatives.
The word "lothar" commemorates the French acrobat Jules lothar, who was the pioneer of trapeze performance. 1859, 165438+ 10 month, 12, Lotard, who has just made his debut, designed a suit for himself that is convenient for activities and can show off his muscles. This is the prototype of tights.
In the following decades, tights quickly became the standard clothes in circuses and acrobatic performances because of their exposed figure and convenient activities, and even some professional dancers such as Broadway showgirls began to try them. The significance of tights at that time was more as a performance costume for better appreciation.
(Image from Odyssey)
During this period, the ornamental function of tights as performance clothing was gradually recognized and understood by everyone.
It was not until the emergence and application of elastic fabrics such as spandex that this situation changed (Lycra, which most people are familiar with now, is also a kind of spandex, and only the spandex produced by DuPont in the United States is called Lycra). Since then, tights no longer exist only for decorative purposes, but more for functionality.
Tight pants made of new fabrics can make them fit the human body better, reduce muscle vibration, wind resistance and injury probability, absorb moisture and sweat, and keep the wearer's skin comfortable.
These effects also determined that compression suits were first used in racing events. In the 1990s, tights first appeared in the track and field, causing a sensation, and then tights appeared in various sports.
It is obvious to all that equipment is added in sports competitions. For example, the "Shark Skin" swimsuit (an application of tights) was born in 2000, and the 10 world record was abruptly upgraded to a higher level. 20 10 was banned by FINA because it was too powerful.
In such a progressive environment, people will certainly not be satisfied with tights, so the birth of compression suits is logical. Its inspiration first comes from compression clothing in the medical field, which is more common in compression socks or leg covers.
Compression socks are specially designed to relieve and prevent venous diseases (such as edema, phlebitis and thrombosis, economy class syndrome, etc.). ). Simply put, the principle is to reduce the diameter of blood vessels and increase the speed of venous blood flow.
(Image from Wikipedia)
Because of its good application in the field of medical rehabilitation, many people began to look forward to its application in the field of sports-since it can alleviate some problems in the legs, can it also help the body to exercise better?
With the continuous upgrading of fabrics and knitting technology, compression clothing with stronger compression performance, stronger sports performance and faster recovery performance has appeared than tights.
The difference between tights and compression suits Let's talk about the characteristics of ordinary tights and compression suits:
Reduce muscle jitter during exercise, and the corresponding consumption during exercise will also be reduced; Breathability and perspiration are better than ordinary sportswear.
Compression suits are more like "upgraded tights"-enhance stronger athletic performance, provide better protection and support for muscles, and recover faster after exercise.
The content of spandex can be checked by simply distinguishing tights from pressure equipment. Compression equipment will use a lot of spandex materials, so its content is generally much higher than that of tights.
The intuitive feeling brought by the increase of spandex content is "tighter and more elastic", and it will feel more close to the body than ordinary tights. Breathability and perspiration are much better, and tight elastic materials better support abdominal, back and arm muscles.
Another difference between tights and compression suits lies in knitting and cutting techniques. Through different weaving or cutting, the fabric exerts different pressures on different parts of the body to achieve the effect of gradient compression.
* Gradient compression means that the farther away from the heart, the stronger the compression force, and then gradually decrease.
These fabrics are based on the temperature control characteristics of materials, weaving methods and embedding different fabric elements-a total of 32 variants! The choice of fabric varies with different sports.
Enlarged details of different fabrics
Detail enlargement of patented fabric PWX
In particular, we should mention PWX fabric, which is a patented 2XU fabric, and is mostly used for compression garments. PWX is the abbreviation of three words, namely: P= power, W= weight and X = expansion.
The most obvious difference is that the arms of tights are easier to be pulled apart than compression suits, and it is easy to lose elasticity and become loose after a long time. The arm of the compression bag can obviously feel more pressure, and it is more difficult to open it, and the tightness lasts longer.
The benefits of gradient compression are: accelerating blood circulation through different compression strength of limbs, thus accelerating the delivery of oxygen to the exercise muscle groups, stimulating the vitality of muscle groups, accelerating the elimination of lactic acid, reducing the accumulation of lactic acid and accelerating the recovery of the body.
But for many ordinary people, its recovery effect may be more obvious than the improvement of sports performance (especially after high-intensity exercise).
As for the compression performance, how much can you improve?
Some tests show that elite athletes can improve their performance 10.6 seconds by running 5 kilometers in compression pants, but for most ordinary sports enthusiasts, this improvement may be more subjective, such as "wearing more comfortably", "feeling strength more effectively" and "being less sore the next day"
To sum up, there are three main differences between compression suits and tights:
Compression suits have higher spandex content and are "tighter and more elastic". You will feel more close-fitting than ordinary tights, and your breathability and perspiration are much better. Tight elastic materials can better support abdominal, back and arm muscles. Different fabrics will be added to the compression suit, and special knitting and cutting techniques will be used to achieve the effect of gradient compression and reduce fatigue during exercise. Wearing it after exercise can accelerate muscle recovery and reduce pain. While ensuring elasticity and stretchability, it can better wrap muscles. Wearing it during exercise can reduce the risk of injury and improve sports performance.