Compression - Great for kids too.

Before getting into the science behind compression gear it important to understand why your muscles get sore in the first place. Whether your little athlete is shooting goals on the soccer field or scoring goals on the netball court your child is bound to complain over sore muscles. Compression gear is not only great for adults but it can significantly help with children’s’ recovery as well. Not only are your little ones incredibly active they are growing and achieving excellence at such a rapid rate. Soon enough you will be watching your child in the grand stand!

First, let’s focus on why your muscles get sore in after training or a work out. Although your children love getting out and going to practice and games they may not realize the impact they have on their muscles and fitness, which is important for you to understand so that you can care for them properly. Basically, small tears in the tissues surrounding your muscles are the cause behind your muscle soreness. This is also known as delayed onset muscle soreness, the pain generally hits anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after the workout. The soreness will usually subside in about 72 hours however, there are things that you can do to help with muscle recovery. The tears in the tissue are your body's way of protecting itself against further movements that it thinks could cause further damage, since the pain makes you slow down or stop. The tears occur during eccentric movements.

Furthermore, your body performs two different move eccentric and concentric movements. What this means is that an eccentric movement happens when your muscles elongates and the concentric movement occurs when your muscles shorten. For instance, when your child’s leg reaches a full extension while kicking a soccer ball would be an eccentric movement and when the leg extend downward would be the concentric movement. Muscle soreness is the response of eccentric movements and activity. While you can’t eliminate eccentric movements there are ways to recover sore muscles with the proper post recovery care.

It is very important to take care of your children so that you can ensure that they can train harder, better and faster than the day before. As discussed, it is important to fuel your child accordingly, a blend of protein and carbohydrates in beneficial post training to help repair muscle tissue. Warming up your muscles and cooling down with various stretches after training is also vital in helping with muscle recovery. In fact, muscles are more likely to sustain injuries when they are cold. Another way of helping with muscle recovery during and after training is with compression gear. You have may have seen them on the field or at training sessions before but they are very effective for muscle recovery.

Under Armour has a great range of compression gear for children. Compression gear comes in various styles such as leggings, shorts and short sleeve shirts.  Compression gear can be worn during or after training and are recommended for those transitioning from an inactive to active lifestyle. Also, amateur athletes may see physiological improvements through using compression.

Following From: http://www.zensah.com/science-compression.html:

The many benefits of compression include:

-Courtesy of Natalie Wolfsdorf. Author of NatAttacks.Wordpress.Com