First up?
One of my (new) FAVORITE things:
Several weeks ago I was contacted by Jordan at Tommie Copper about doing a blog review and giveaway. I am a fan of compression garments but this was a whole NEW twist on the concept of any traditional compression product I have used:
Until now, compression wear was designed primarily for athletes to be worn for short periods of time to increase performance, enhance recovery and alleviate pain.
Today everyone can tap into these benefits with Tommie Copper's Cu29 Copper Compression products. The product line is enhanced with copper infused yarn and engineered to be worn all day, everyday. It acts as a support to aching joints and muscles, and delivers the benefits of copper at the point of your discomfort.
Unlike ordinary, bulky compression wear, Tommie Copper is made from a revolutionary, proprietary fabric.
-Ankle
-Calf
-Knee
-Elbow
-Ladies and Mens compression shirts
-Ladies and Mens compression gloves
Deciding which type of compression garment to test was an easy choice; with the amount of running, biking and weight training I has on my training plan, I was going for the calf sleeves.
Do you remember back in January when I started going to Jared at OAPT and we changed a lot of my running bio mechanics (you can read about it here)? Well in my case, we eliminated the heel strike from my running and now I run using a mid-foot strike--the results mean the muscles that are now being used to RUN really engage the calves and the hamstrings. After long runs or hard runs, I would notice some soreness and tenderness especially in the calf.
I am skeptical about claims of magnetic bracelets for this ailment or those hologram bracelets for balance etc. so I was not really sure how copper infused fabrics would help with recovery. But, I really wanted to keep an open mind on this review and decided to give this test a full two weeks.
I received my package from Tommie Copper with two (very good looking) calf sleeves and I was immediately taken aback by how light, soft and silky the fabric was! This was nothing like the compression fabrics I had felt before.
So for the next two weeks, after each workout I would wear my calf sleeves for several hours. There were a couple workouts where my legs were really fatigued so I would wear them longer or even overnight to bed. They were so comfortable that I did not notice that they were even on.
I take an indoor cycling class on Tuesday mornings and starting a couple weeks ago, the class focus shifted to form based classes with lots of drills. These drills include one foot pedaling and candence drills. For those of you who are triathletes or cyclists, you know that spinning at 120+ rpm is a killer workout on the legs--especially when done with proper form. So, I started wearing my sleeves to class.
I was really pleased with the results I was seeing. My calf fatigue was MINIMAL and I found my recovery was a lot quicker. The only "problem" with this?
My calves felt great but the other leg muscles were not quite at "happy" (ie quads, hammies, glutes, hip flexors). I tweeted to Tommie Copper about this and I was told that some compression shorts are in the works! (Totally getting a pair once they do!!)
I gotta say the biggest test of the Tommie Copper sleeves came unexpectedly.
Last Saturday, my bestie Dawn and I got out for a 7 mile trail run on a cold, windy day. I am new to trail running so I am still learning my way around a tree root. I also wore an older pair of running shoes because I did not want to destroy some of my newer kicks with mud (yes, vain--I know). When I returned home from this run, I noticed I had a pain in a shin muscle. This pain was very reminiscent of the shin pain I suffered last summer and shut my running down for several weeks.
I put on the calf sleeves right away and wore them the rest of the afternoon and to bed that night.
I woke the next morning to ZERO pain, no soreness, nothing. My shin felt good as new. It was at that moment that I was totally sold on these calf sleeves. Just the difference in the muscle recovery between my upper leg and lower leg while wearing the sleeves was enough to convince me that they were working BUT this once incident sealed the deal for me.
So why Tommie Copper compression?
-their copper infused compression garments stimulate conductivity direct to the muscle
-increases circulation
-reduces inflammation
and they are MADE IN THE USA!!
I am so happy to share the Tommie Copper love with all of my readers and here is a chance to get YOUR OWN Tommie Copper product!
How to do you enter for a chance to win your own Tommie Copper compression garment?
First, you MUST be a follower of my blog!
If you are not already a follower, go ahead and click the FOLLOW button on the right.
Then there are four ways to earn an entry-
Please leave a separate comment for each entry!
1) Like Tommie Copper on Facebook and tell them Jen from Miles Muscles & Mommyhood sent you. Tell them which compression item you would pick and why!
2) Follow Tommie Copper on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway.
Please include @milesmusclesmom and @TommieCopper in your tweet!
3) Visit the Tommie Copper website and sign up for their newsletter--be the first to know when they officially launch!
4) Leave me a comment telling me which sleeve you would pick and/or a time when you wish you had some compression gear to help YOU!
I will accept entries until Saturday, May 1st at midnight and then a winner will be selected at random from all eligible entries.
Disclosure: I was sent this product by Tommie Copper for my honest review and did not receive any type of compensation for my positive review. All opinions expressed here are my own, and those of my happy calves.
