New Recovery Top And Tights Aid Recovery And Help Fight Jet Lag
Skins has introduced ‘RY400’ – a new pair of recovery tights and its first-ever recovery top.
The garments supersede Skins’ popular ‘Travel & Recovery’ tights - a mainstay of its range since 2005 and one of the company’s original products that was endorsed by the Australian Physiotherapy Association.
RY400 kit has been created using the same sophisticated measurement techniques used in the development of Skins new 2010 triathlon, cycle and golf ranges. This has involved taking and assessing 800,000 individual measurements and 400 key body-fitting points on hundreds of athletes - both serious amateurs and professionals.
Wearing RY400 garments after running or prolonged training can help eliminate muscle soreness and improve muscle recovery time. Skins recommends wearing them for at least 3 hours to get the best results – they can also be slept in.
As with T&R tights, there is no muscle mapping required in either of these garments – unlike Skins products designed for active use. Also, but unlike T&R, the new RY400 tights don’t feature foot stirrups as a new stretch fabric on the knees eliminates any ‘twist’ in the material.
In addition, the tights are a great way to help combat some of the debilitating effects of jet lag.
Most people know about the impact of flying long distances on our internal (Circadian) clock, but less know about another key factor in Jet Lag – that of oxygen starvation, due to there being 20-25% less oxygen in an airplane cabin than our bodies are used to.
The RY400 tights minimize swelling and dehydration by directly countering this oxygen starvation – something which many of the Australian and British athletes who travelled out to the Beijing Olympics appreciated. The influential, non-profit, Aviation Health Institute (see note 1) believes that lower levels of oxygen play a significant role in Jet Lag and actually recommends the use of Skins (the NHS Direct web site (2), also points to reduced amounts of oxygen playing a role in Jet Lag).
Furthermore, a study of Qantas pilots and passengers published in the Medical Journal of Australia(3) in 2006 found that wearing Skins’ T&R tights significantly improved circulation and decreased leg pain:
| Ankle swelling down by 2cm |
Leg pain down by 60% |
| Leg swelling down by 45% |
Energy levels up by 18% |
| Alertness levels up by 13% |
Ability to concentrate up by 12% |
It’s anticipated that the new RY400 tights will prove equally, if not more, effective than T&R.
RY400 tights (RRP £69.99) are available in graphite, the RY400 long-sleeve top (RRP £59.99) in graphite and white. Both come in male and female sizings. For stockists, go to www.skins.net/locator.
Notes
- The Aviation Health Institute was founded in 1996 by the medical author Farrol Kahn at the suggestion of Professor Sir David Weatherall, Regius Professor of Medicine, University of Oxford. The AHI is the world's first independent non-profit body dealing with aviation health issues.
- “The oxygen levels in an airplane cabin are also thought to play a role in jet lag. Because air pressure is relatively low in an aero plane cabin, it means the amount of oxygen you have in your blood is reduced”. Source
- The Qantas Study referred to above is available here
