A little more than a month ago I was asked if I wanted to review some compression gear made by McDavid, a Woodridge based company that makes a variety of products for athletes. I was familiar with the company for their football equipment but not running gear, and with all the training for Mooseman I needed all the help I could get!
I got a package with compression socks, shorts and leg sleeves. Right out of the box you’ll notice a difference in the feel of the material compared to my other gear. The shorts are a bit thicker, the socks a lot thinner and the leg sleeves, well I don’t know because I’ve never used leg sleeves!
Off the bat I assumed the shorts were going to be too hot, but there is really only one way to find out! So on one of our 90+ degree afternoons I put them on and went of a run.
I was surprised at how breathable they were. I did about 10 miles and they felt great. They held in place and didn’t ride up my leg like some other pairs I own.
During long runs and especially brick workouts I also tried the leg sleeves. I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t real excited at first. Not because I was weary of the product, but because I think leg sleeves look really stupid. But hey let’s give it a shot!
OH MY GOD BEST INVENTION EVER!
On my longer workouts my legs often feel fatigued before the rest of me. However with the leg sleeves they kept my muscles firing long after my run should have switched from a jog to a shuffle. I wore them for every bike to run work out after that!!!
And I’m not one who likes to change my routine, but I also wore them during the run at Mooseman! They have quickly become my new favorite product!
And last but not least I tested the compression socks. I don’t workout or race in compression socks. But I do lounge around in them after long workouts and on recovery days.
As I mentioned before the socks were a significantly thinner material than my other pairs, but after putting them on you’ll see they definitely do the job! They’re tight enough to help speed the recovery process and light enough that they’re not uncomfortable to wear around all day after you’ve just raced 70.3 miles!
McDavid’s products don’t just stop at running and triathlon, if you check out their website you’ll see they offer a TON of gear for a variety of sports and sports medicine.
My only question for McDavid was how exactly do you make this stuff? Well they were nice enough to offer me an invite to visit the facility and get some insight on the R&D that goes in to this gear. So keep an eye out for a followup to this post!
Thanks again to McDavid for letting me try out your gear!
Phil Castello 