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NSWIS, Aussie sporting icons and IT Sports find the right fit - July 10, 2007 -

www.nswis.com.au/Tight-fit-at-NSWIS/default.aspx

the right fit article from July edition of the NSWIS 'Edge' magazine

By LISA HERBERTSON

NSWIS athletes will be dressed more than just to impress when IT Sports’ compression tights hit the streets in July.

Often sports clothing is more about aesthetics than functionality. But the new sports compression tights to be released by IT Sports in July have certainly tested the boundaries of science and come up trumps.

According to NSWIS athletes Ben Kersten, Craig Stevens and Alicia McCormack, who have been involved in the testing process, this new product works magic for training and recovery needs. “They are very comfortable to wear between sessions and at night,” Stevens said.

“They help me to perform at my optimal level at each session by reducing recovery time and muscle fatigue.”

Australian water polo player McCormack agreed with Stevens. “Institute Tights are like a security blanket for me. I don’t go anywhere with out them.” she joked. “They help me train harder, lift heavier weights and recover painlessly and effortlessly.

“I started wearing the tights in the gym because I felt they gave me the confidence to lift heavier weights.

“Now I wear them to all my training sessions and if I need good recovery I will even wear them to bed.”

But the athlete testing is just one part of the process undergone by IT Sports to ensure they have the best product possible.

IT Sports Directors Carl McDonald, Graeme Langlands MBE and Steve Small have an impressive combined knowledge of sport in Australia. With 34 Tests for Australia and 195 goals Graeme ‘Changa’ Langlands MBE is a Rugby League Immortal.

Small is a NSW cricket legend having played and coached for the blues. McDonald is actively involved with training the Australian rugby sevens. McDonald and the other two directors decided there was a need for a compression tight that helped with performance and recovery.

The Directors of IT Sports approached NSWIS Applied Research Program Director Kenneth Graham in 2006 for his advice with the design of their compression tights.

Graham and his team discussed the key design criteria for the new product and this has resulted in a product that matches the way the body moves and operates in sport.

IT Sports’ thorough approach included consultation with tailors, sports science experts, and athletes and the result is very impressive. “The tights have a very high lycra content and heavy stitching to create anchor points,” Graham said.

“It’s a multi-functional design that allows for the disparate body positions that occur in sport.”

Graham said that his involvement with the tights had increased his knowledge of lycra, materials and stitching more than he imagined possible but that it was these finer points and IT Sports’ attention to detail that was integral to what he believes is a winning design.

Cyclist Ben Kersten agrees.

‘As I’m on the road so much, the tights have greatly improved my ability to recover, particularly between sessions and on long flights to competitions,” Kersten said. “I also believe that they have increased my maximum strength in the gym leading to improved performance when training and competing’.

Athletes like cyclist Ben Kersten who have been trialling the product are happy to get any help they can, and are convinced that IT Sports new tights could well give them the extra edge they need.

With the tights beginning to hit the market place the directors of IT Tights are hoping to design even more compression garments. And with products such as these on hand to help NSWIS athletes improved performances and recovery are sure to follow next.

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Tights may give runners a lift

Sydney Morning Herald - June 14, 2006 - 8:29AM

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 6 minutes off that time.

But, he told Reuters Health, the average jogger could also get a performance boost from the apparel - as long as the size is right.