Benefits are also theorized to result from posture correction and alignment, as well as maintaining optimum position of vital organs. Further, compression garments serve as a slight obstacle, causing your body to work harder to perform exercises, which results in an increase in calories burned.

The majority of studies on compression garmets revolve around "workout recovery." Exercise can result in various degrees of physiological and psychological changes, including increased soft tissue damage (causing muscle soreness), increased fatigue, increased core temperatures, altered mood, etc. Your recovery is influenced by many factors such as genetics, diet, fitness level, sleep, environment, and more. The recovery processes is so important that historically legal and illegal techniques have been used by athletes, including anabolic drugs, over-the-counter drugs, electrical stimulation, supplements, vibration, hypnosis; basically anything to get an edge. Recently, compression garments have been studied for their potential to hasten recovery. Many professional athletes wear compression garments after their workouts for this purpose. Now, the overwhelming body of research has been conducted for the private company, UnderArmour. This is not to take anything away from the credibility of their findings; however, I would be remiss if I did not point out that these research agencies are in fact conducting their studies for a private company. (UnderArmour is an American retailer that creates compression garments for athletes. It was founded by a former professional football player who noted his improved performance and competitve advantage while wearing compression dressings. One day he went to a lingerie factory, bought lingerie material, and began making apparel out of it. This later grew into a corporate enterprise.) In any case, the research results are valid; I just wanted to make that disclosure. Side Note: The problem with research is it is VERY expensive. Someone has to pay for it. Unless a company stands to profit from having studies done, the research is simply not conducted (regardless of how many people it would benefit, i.e. DMSO). So UnderArmour, while a private company, has done a service to us all by funding this research. Sure, they have a financial interest in having studies to back up their claims about their products, but look around; their research is pretty much the only scientific findings available about compression garments.

In one study conducted at The University of Connecticut, the objective was to evaluate the influence of a whole body compression suit on recovery from a typical heavy resistance training workout. The participants, including both men and women, were all physically fit and placed on a diet regulated by a registered dietitian. The experimental group wore a compression suit for 24 hours following their workout. The control group wore non-compression clothing. In both men and women, muscle soreness ratings were significantly lower with the use of compression garments. The amount of swelling was significantly lower as measured by ultrasound, and the test results demonstrated that fatigue was also significantly lower in the compression garments groups. Vitality ratings were significantly higher with compression use compared to control group. No differences were statistically significant in any of the mood states, nor were the sleep quality differences compared to the control.

Source: "Effects of Whole Body Compression Garment on Markers of Recovery After a Heavy Resistance Workout in Men and Women," The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 24: 3 804-814. William J. Kraemer, Shawn D. Flannagan, Brett A. Comstock, Maren S. Fragala, Jacob E. Earp, Courtenay Dunn-Lewis, Jen-Yu Ho, Gwendolyn A. Thomas, Glenn Solomon-Hill, Zachary R. Penwell, Matthew D. Powell, Megan R. Wolf, Jeff S. Volek, Craig R. Denegar, and Carl M. Maresh.

While I am a Know-It-All, I do actually take professional opinions under advisement. I have a friend who is a doctor whom I spoke with specifically about the lack of research for using compression garments for aesthetic rather than medicinal purposes. Most research on compression garments revolves around the medical use of compression post-surgery, injury, illness, etc. However, as you may have noticed, there really isn't research studying the use of compression for actually shaping your physique (there are basically only testimonials). He stated that many physicians do take into account "case studies" and there are plenty of case studies for the use of compression suits in shaping the physiques of women post-partum as well as during and after dramatic weight loss. In our use of them, he advises that you should in fact be wearing them for a minimum of one hour following your workout; they should not be immediately removed once your workout is over. He restated the recovery reasons listed in the research above. For this reason, I will bathe after my morning workout, and then wear my "sleep" suit for an hour after working out (I'm too much of a germaphobe to sit in my sweaty workout suit for an hour after exercising!). He also believes that they should not be worn in lieu of performing toning exercises; rather, they should be used as a tool to enhance your results. Therefore, guys, the professional advice on this is that you continue your toning routine. The Callanetics DVD is pretty Type Z, so I'm going to go ahead and resume that, maybe in September when I start everything else. You guys can get her DVD or VHS on Amazon. Callan Pinckney also has a book that is 1 cent.