Compression tights may give runners a lift

NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) Running tights designed to support the muscles and boost runners' performance may actually work as advertised, a small study suggests.

Known as compression tights, the apparel is marketed to distance runners as a way to make their muscles work more efficiently -- expending less energy to do a given amount of work. In the new study, French researchers found that the high-tech pants allowed 12 male runners to expend less effort during their runs compared with shorts or traditional low-tech tights.

This implies that the gear could delay muscle fatigue and permit runners to go farther or burn less energy to reach their usual performance level, according to study co-author Dr Stephane Perrey, of the University of Montpellier's Motor Efficiency and Deficiency Laboratory in France.

The findings are published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine.

Compression tights have strategically placed bands of sturdier fabric that are supposed to support the leg's major muscles and limit excess muscle motion as a runner strides along. This protection against muscle ''oscillation'' may be what allowed runners in the study to move more efficiently, according to the researchers.

In addition, they note, the extra-supportive tights may facilitate blood circulation back to the heart.

The study included trained male runners who volunteered to test the performance effects of three types of sportswear clothes -- compression tights, standard shorts and conventional elastic tights.

The researchers measured the runners' efficiency using portable monitors that gauged their oxygen needs during the run.

In the initial experiment, in which the men were asked to run a short distance, both compression and conventional tights helped the runners to move more efficiently compared with when they wore ordinary shorts.

During more intense, 15-minute runs, the compression tights performed best, trimming the runners' oxygen use.

Perrey estimated that, for a marathoner who normally clocks in at 3.5 hours, compression tights could shave about six minutes off that time. But, he told Reuters Health, your average jogger could also get a performance boost from the apparel -- as long as the size is right.

REUTERS SRS PM0916