ADDYY Squeeze play for health [The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.]

Squeeze play for health [The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.]Knight Ridder/Tribune "Business News "
Nov. 13--A hot trend in athletic clothing has nothing to do with color, logo or style. It is a function called compression.
In theory, compression clothing helps an athlete recover from a workout faster. Some clothing items are said to prevent certain types of muscle cramps or strains. Most compression clothing is designed to wick moisture away from the body.
The snug-fitting clothing includes shirts, tights and more specialized pieces such as underwear, leg sleeves and socks.
Most of the major athletic wear companies now offer a form of compression clothing. Under Armour was the first to introduce it. Nike and Adidas have their own lines.
A smaller, Miami-based concern, Zensah (www.zensah.com) also has several compression offerings. Recently, it introduced a set of running calf/shin recovery sleeves made with the company's proprietary fabric. The company claims the sleeves have a significant influence on athletic performance.
The sleeves reduce the risk of shin splints, a painful condition runners get after they run longer distances on hard surfaces such as a road or sidewalk. The sleeves also provide better blood flow, which aids in recovery, the company claims.
But does compression clothing work?
Under certain conditions, it does, says William J. Kraemer, a sports medicine specialist at the University of Connecticut'sHuman Performance Laboratory who studied compression clothing effects.
"The bottom line is that you need the proper amount of compression," says Kraemer, who first studied the effects of compression clothing on athletes when he taught at Penn State University.
Too much compression restricts blood flow and two little compression offers no benefits, he says.
Kraemer says the clothing does help facilitate blood flow, especially in a person's legs.
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