• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

Full Body Track Speed Suits and Compression Suits

You are here: Home / Other Sports / Swimming / Full Body Track Speed Suits and Compression Suits
6
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

July 18, 2010 by Jimson Lee 2 Comments

After all the hard training and countless hours of drills to perfect your running technique, the difference between winning and losing may come down to the difference in the food you eat and TECHNOLOGY.  Namely, your track spikes and the clothes you wear.

First, we had had the sprinter’s full body suits for aerodynamics.  We saw Sanya Richards with the arm bands in Beijing 2008.  It was later revealed they were to cover up her skin lesions from Bechets disease. 

Often you see full body suits – long sleeves, full leg lengths and even a hood – similar to a  speed skater.  Canada’s Tyler Christopher or Australia’s Cathy Freeman frequently wore these type of full body suits (pictured below).

Bahamas Chris Brown (L) crosses the finish line followed by Canadian Tyler Christopher in the 400m competition at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 25 July, 2007. AFP PHOTO ANTONIO SCORZA (Photo credit should read ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images)Then we had full body suits for swimming.  That was to prevent drag with water and assist in floatation.  These are now been banned by FINA.

Then came the compression pants.  And shirts.  Tyson Gay and Jeremy Wariner – both with Adidas – talked about the benefits of these suits in past videos and articles.  Bobsledders were the first to try these compression pants to stay warm.

And finally, I won’t even get into the silly bench press suits…

What are the advantages of full body suits?  compression for circulation?  helping muscle tone?  optimizing the actin and myosin distance in the muscle fibers? (Creatine, a cell volumizer, does a good job at this) decreasing wind drag?  psychological advantages?  vanity?

On a cold day, I can certainly see the advantage of a full body suit.

Compression Suits and Full Body Suits

I wrote about Mens Athletic Compression Shorts and Benefits and The “Wondershirt” – Men’s Compression Shirts in previous articles.

See also  Reiti 2012 Highlights, Videos

The research is mixed.  Here are 3 recent examples with a brief snippet for the executive summary:

The Effects of Whole-Body Compression Garments on Prolonged High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise

The current data demonstrated that wearing WBCGs likely increased physical performance, possibly because of improvements in muscle oxygenation and associated metabolic benefits.

Therefore, wearing WBCGs during PHIIE may benefit the physical performance of team-sport athletes by likely metabolic changes within the muscle between high-intensity efforts.

Compression clothing and athletic performance — functional or fad? at the Indiana U. research at the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting

LOWER LEG COMPRESSION SLEEVES

Laymon’s study found that lower leg compression garments did not impact a runner’s oxygen consumption, which meant there was no change in running economy or efficiency. The study also found that calf compression garments did not have an effect on running mechanics.

"Overall, with these compressive sleeves and the level of compression that they exert, they don’t seem to really do much," Laymon said. "However, there may be a psychological component to compression’s effects. Maybe if you have this positive feeling about it and you like them then it may work for you. It is a very individual response."

UPPER THIGH COMPRESSION GARMENTS

Eckert’s study found that compression garments — compressing specifically the upper thigh — did not improve one’s jump height during the vertical jump. Many compression garments come with manufacture claims that their product will increase a consumer’s performance.

"I didn’t buy into that," he said. "To think there is something you can just put on and immediately you are better at what you do, just seemed too good to be true."

As more research is required, I’ll leave it up to the readers to spend your hard earned dollars on high tech clothing.  I’ll take hard work and injury free training any day!

See also  How to Race the Indoor 600 meters

Category iconSwimming,  Technology,  Track & Field

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. john doe says

    February 21, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    Does any one know were I can get the tyler christopher’s suit.

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      February 23, 2011 at 11:19 am

      @John Doe – The full body suit that Tyler wears was custom made from NIKE.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}