Is compression gear science or fiction?

I admit, I'm both skeptical and intrigued by compression gear. I'm not sure if the benefits are real or imagined, but I love the idea of going for a long run in compression socks and waking up in the morning ready to do it again. Although the personal anecdotes for and against compression garments are split, science tends to favor compression tights. This new study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research is pretty compelling.

(This synopsis is reposted from Wired.com.)

Can the clothes you wear after exercise help you recover more quickly? That’s the claim that makers of compression gear have been making for several years — that wearing tight gear can help increase blood flow, allowing the waste products that build up after you exert yourself to be flushed from your muscles, helping you feel better and stronger after exercise than if you didn’t wear the gear.

I’ve been using compression tights after hard cycling rides for a couple of year, and do feel a difference in my recovery and soreness. Among professional cyclists, compression tights are standard gear almost any time they’re off the bike. But there haven’t been a ton of scientific studies that try and quantify the effects of compression on recovery.

A study in the new issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research used 20 subjects in a randomized study to see if using compression helped in recover after they did a weightlifting workout. The results:

A whole body compression garment worn during the 24-hour recovery period after an intense heavy resistance training workout enhances various psychological, physiological, and a few performance markers of recovery compared with noncompressive control garment conditions. The use of compression appears to help in the recovery process after an intense heavy resistance training workout in men and women.

This is very good news for makers of compression garments, who can now point to a pretty solid looking study. The subjects who wore compression garments not only reported feeling better, but they did better in some more rigorous measurements of recovery, including swelling.

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Read more about the research.
Here's another first-hand perspective on compression gear.

Newton's laws for running

Years ago, Runner's World ran an article about realizing your potential as a runner. It included a sidebar called "Newton's Laws," which I clipped out and taped to my bathroom mirror. I used to read it every day, but now it's just white noise. I'm so used to seeing it there, that I never *really* see it.

So this morning I reread it and was amazed how timeless it is. Newton's Laws are courtesy Joe Newton, one of the most storied high school cross-country coaches in America. In more than 50 years of coaching, he has led his teams to 26 Illinois state titles and has often said that success stems from a positive mental attitude (PMA). Coach Newton describes PMA as a combination of motivation, persistence and preparation.

Newton's Laws

1. Make running a lifestyle -- Get enough sleep, eat a nutritious diet, and seek advice from more experience runners.
2. Commit to excellence -- Commitment is the key word. For you, excellence may be meeting a particular time goal or training pace, or completing a certain distance.
3. Do your best with what you have -- Build on your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses. If you're naturally fast, focus on shorter races. If you're short on speed but long on endurance, tackle longer distances.
4. Be persistent -- Develop a strong work ethic. Don't take the easy path in training, competition or goal-setting.
5. Have a race plan -- Keep your goals in mind, so you don't lose focus. Bring your game face and don't lose sight of your race goals until you cross the finish line.

(For an extra kick of motivation and advice, check out these clips.)
On positive mental attitude
On secrets of success
On discipline