2XU - An Introduction on their compression garments

An Introduction of 2XU and their Compression:

2XU (pronounced 'two times you') are a high performance sports brand based in Melbourne, Australia. Launching with a single minded determination to make sporting garments without compromise, 2XU have within just a few short years been adopted by countless sporting institutions and athletes. There are scores of current and past world champions wearing 2XU from disciplines as broad as kayaking to triathlon, mountain running to cycling, football to wind surfing.

2XU are a preferred supplier into the likes of the NZ Academy of Sport, AIS and VIS, equip a number of national body sporting teams, and continue to strive to make the most evolved sporting product available in the market. 2XU is distributed throughout Australia and New Zealand, N.America, and many parts of Europe and Asia.

In approaching product development from an obsessive athlete and results driven background 2XU have sourced and developed fabrics using the finest filaments and yarns. This process has ensured that the quality of 2XU fabric is unrivalled, combining with best practice construction techniques to ensure the athlete is cloaked in the most advanced training or racing product.

Although 2XU did not initially set out to make a specific compression range, many of our athletes and institutions were heralding the benefits of a good compression garment, especially compression tights. Certainly compression is nothing new - medically it has been used post surgery with bandages or stockings for over 150 documented years - however until recently there has been a clear demarcation between the quality of medical compression product and garments suitable for prolonged sporting use and recovery.

With a background in high quality pattern making for aquatic garments and an obsession with fabrics, 2XU embarked on the project of developing the best sporting compression garments in the market.

Eighteen months later - with many evolutions and countless feedback sessions from athletes and physiology experts - 2XU launched a compression garment that set the standard in compression performance and quality. 2XU compression garments already have a long list of supporters. From the official supplier status with the New Zealand Academy of Sport, AIS, and Victorian Institute of Sport to equipping Nicole Cooke and her world champion UCI Raleigh cycling team and Olympic board sailing gold medalist Tom Ashley, the list of global 2XU compression advocates is simply too long to detail here.

In NZ we have a number of high level athletes wearing 2XU compression as an essential training and recovery tool - including numerous Olympic athletes, footballers, and high performing NZAS athletes.

What is the benefit and why is 2XU the best? :

There are two elements to a quality compression product. First is the general containment which applies external pressure to the muscle groups, the second is an encouraged venous return achieved by a graduated  pressure reducing from the limb extremity back toward the torso/heart. This second cardiovascular consideration separates out the quality compression garments from the general pack. Without beginning a long lecture or citing the countless articles supporting the passive recovery benefits of compression (more than happy to share reference material and studies) the key benefits of a high quality compression garment are:

• Improved recovery post exercise deriving from both the enhanced circulation and lactate flushing as well containment and pressure encouraging a faster muscle repair process
• Muscle stability which reduces fatigue during exercise through reduced muscle oscillation. With muscle vibration the body expends energy trying to stabilize the muscle group.

There are a number of other less documented but still claimed compression benefits that include:

• enhanced agility through better proprioception (the bodies understanding from receptors as to where limbs are replaced)
• reduced injury risk through muscle containment and wrapping which reduces soft tissue damage from impact in contact sports
• improved circulation leading to faster muscle warm up and even improved oxygen circulation

A quality compression garment is not just a good tool for training and recovery, but is also advisable as a travel/flight tool to prevent the onset of DVT and reduce the stiffness associated with long haul flights and the cramped environment.

Like any garment the building block and first opportunity to effect quality and performance is with the materials. Most competitors of 2XU in the sports compression space utilize existing "stretch" fabrics that offer a limited amount of compression and lose their strength and integrity over a relatively short time. Sports companies often shroud their fashion fabrics with lots of marketing terms and try to create a perception of technical expertise and quality. We just make the best fabric and the best garment. For the record we have evolved a proprietary circular knit, 50 denier, prime Lycra fabric especially for the compression purpose. What does this mean?

• The circular knit we utilize is far superior in its ability to provide a uniform and powerful compression compared with the tradition tricot knit structure almost all other competitors use
• The denier rating is the thickness of the yarn. Where many competitors use a thinner 30-35 denier, we use a more powerful and durable 50 denier rate yarn
• Stretch yarns are predominantly elastanes. The highest quality elastane on the market is DuPont's Lycra. We use this more expensive and longer lasting yarn compared with many competitor's cheaper (and thinner) elastanes like Roica etc.
• The overall combination of this yarn and knit structure has emerged a 2XU fabric that provides the best and longest lasting compression performance
• Finally the detail of our block and the graduated cut ensure a garment that offers not only superb containment but an excellent graduated pressure for maximum cardiovascular benefit

Without comparing and profiling every other competitor garment we can confidently list these benefits for 2XU compression which separate out 2XU and have us winning every comparative quality test an athlete, sports club, or institution has made. If people have worn sports compression before, they always switch to 2XU when they compare!

For more information www.2xu.com

The physiological and performance effects of lower-body compression garments in high performance-cyclist

Effectiveness of post match recovery strategies in rugby players

Aerobic energy costs and sensation responses during submaximal running exercises - Positive effects of wearing compression tights

Graduated compression stockings: Physiological and perceptual responses during and after exercise

Additional Information