If you don't know about skins here is the basic idea. They are compression clothing that help increase circulation (both oxygen and blood) to working muscles. This helps you not only push a little harder, or fade a little later. It also helps you recover faster. I am not going to go into all the Independent studies you can find those at skins.net, I am going to tell you how they help me train. What I notice am I faster, do I recover better, etc.
Why is working harder and recovering faster good. Well if you can add a small percentage of performance into your workouts you become stronger, faster, healthier. If you recover faster, you can get and move at higher rate of performance than someone who hasn't fully recovered from the last workout.
As someone who is training for an Ironman, a marathon runner, I push my body to my limits. I workout allot and if I am doing a 15kl run, a day after a 60kl bike and I have not recovered fully. I see the affects. I watch what I eat, I train hard, now I am going to add compression clothing to the mix.
Keep in mind I am not expecting to be a competitive Ironman. That is not the point. If you think compression is only for elite athletes you are wrong. The recreational athlete will probably see a bigger return in the use of skins. Why? A professional athlete puts all there time into training. They have spent years training, they have big bucks behind them, they have physiotherapist, nutritionists, coaches, sports massage, they take away any inhibition of performance. That is to give them every advantage to get them to perform at there peak.
I am a guy with a brain injury, who works part time, is married and doesn't have the same amount of time to put into training and recovery. I just don't have the time. I have a whole life outside of my Ironman training. The use of skins should help me get the most out of the time I do have.
I have received from the great people at skins. Thank you David Decker and Jaimie Fuller and all of the skins team.
I work at a shoe store and one of my co-worker and fellow cyclist had purchased two pairs of the skin socks.
I laughed at him, until I put them on. I actually put them on to make more fun of him. As I got busy I forgot to take them off. I noticed nothing overwhelming except that I was able to add some depth to my stretches (I have an IT Band issue) and I noticed an increase in the feeling in my feet. It was a "hard to explain" experience. I wound up taking both of his socks.
I played the DVD that comes with the skins, and I started to do my research. I was blown away. I saw the studies, the published papers and the reports. I then contacted the company and they supplied me with Sport Long Tights Pants and the Long Sleeve Shirt, a pair of the Half tights for training. I also received a pair of the recovery long pants.
So today I am going to jump on my bike and wear the pants and the shirt, and report later. I want to spend a few days using them to see my performance gains.
I also want to mention that I have had a great experience dealing with skins. They were responsive, eager to help and took the time to find out my specific needs. A special shout out to Jaimie Fuller for all his help. Without him this would not have happened. I will also be putting a skins sticker on my helmet!!
Thank you Skins.
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