FitView By: Efren Martinez
Ready, Set, Compress!
Being an entertainer, you might say that I prefer to be a bit flamboyant. (you think?) So when I stumbled upon a Zensah compression sportswear website one day, the florescent yellow, green and pink socks defiantly caught my eye. I just had to have them for my flashy look at my races. 2012 was my best racing year ever. In fact, in all the competitions I competed, I either won or placed outside of two. Incredible. My times were starting to be screaming fast and in one race I actually took the over all win in the 1 mile with a 5:29 fallowed by taking the over all win in the 5K with a time of 17:59.
It was then that I started to really pay attention to the science behind compression. Little did I know that the benefits from these compression socks would totally outweigh the flashy look I was shooting for. To my amazement, I learned wearing compressions garments not only enhanced my performance during a run, they also helped me recover much faster. According to the research I found online, the benefits included; enhanced blood circulation as a result of improved venous return, faster recovery, reduced muscle oscillation/vibration and increased muscle support. WOW! So as I kept reading various studies on compression wear, I started to understand the science and it all fell into place as to why I was able to have such a great racing year in 2012.
Today, I not only consider myself a Zensah Compression Athlete, but I try to encourage others to experience the many benefits of using compression wear at their races, in their training or even at work. Work? Yes work. After noticing the many benefits from my compressions leg sleeves including the reduction of the bulging veins after a hard run, I decided to buy my wife a pair for work. My wife is in customer service and according to her step counter, putting on 5-miles in an 8-hour day is about the average per workday. Since she’s been wearing her compressions leg sleeves, her legs aren’t as bothersome as they would have been without wearing them. For more information on my preferred compression wear, visit Zensah online at www.zensah.com<http://www.zensah.com> thequakedj@hotmail.com www.facebook.com/QuakeFitness<http://www.facebook.com/QuakeFitness>
Fitness Run Tip On the road: Use different landmarks to mark your walking and running intervals. You might run to a tree, mailbox, telephone pole, or stop sign. Then walk. Once you catch your breath, pick another landmark to run to. Then walk to recover. Repeat the cycle two or three times.
