Men's Compression Shorts

Men's compression shorts that hold your hips and upper thighs tight, for leg days, sprints and long runs.

• Fit: one layer, close to the skin, ending above the knee.
• Fabric: Quick Zone, 77% polyester and 23% spandex at 240 GSM.
• Colours: Moonless Night (black) and Shadow Slate (dark grey).
• Sizes: S, M, L, XL and 2XL.

What do compression shorts do for your legs?

Research on compression shorts shows they steady your thigh muscles when you land, help you hold power across repeated jumps and warm you up faster. In a 2003 study in the Journal of Sports Sciences, 20 university sprinters and jumpers, 10 men and 10 women, were tested in custom-fit compression shorts and in loose gym shorts. In the compression shorts their muscles vibrated less on landing, they jumped higher, their skin warmed up more and faster during the warm-up, and their hips bent through a smaller angle. Their 60 m sprint times did not change.

The same team tested the fabric on its own. Its stretch added force at the very end of the leg's range of movement, which they suggest may help your hamstrings control the leg at the end of each sprint stride. The researchers suggested these changes could carry over into better performance and fewer injuries.

A 1996 study by Kraemer and colleagues of 36 university volleyball players, 18 men and 18 women, found the same pattern over time. Their single best jump was no higher in compression shorts, but across ten jumps in a row their average force and power stayed higher than in loose shorts. So expect compression shorts to help you hold your power late in a set, not to lift your best single jump.

Are compression shorts good for running?

Wear them for a snug base layer that keeps your inner thighs covered, not for a faster time. In the 2003 study, compression shorts left 60 m sprint times unchanged, and the compression wear guide covers what research says about race times. What a runner gets is a layer that stays put under running shorts, so the inner thighs are covered where skin rubs on long runs.

Are compression shorts worth wearing in the gym?

Yes, on leg days most of all. Worn on their own for squats, lunges and deadlifts, they hold your hips and thighs with no loose fabric in the way, so you can watch your knees track over your toes in the mirror. Skin warmed up faster in the 2003 study's warm-up, a small edge on a cold morning before your heavy sets.

How do cricketers and footballers wear them?

As a close base layer for sports built on sprints, dives and sudden stops. Under your whites or training trousers, they stay close through a long day of running between the wickets and diving in the field. Under match shorts, they hold steady through sprints, tackles and turns. The hamstring finding from the 2003 study, force added at the end of each sprint stride, is the part of the research closest to both sports.

Can you wear compression shorts under other shorts?

Yes. Because these are a single layer, they go under any running or gym shorts you already own. A 2-in-1 short stitches a compression layer inside a loose outer short, so the two are always worn and washed as a pair. With separate compression shorts you choose the outer layer for the day, or skip it on leg day and train in the compression shorts alone.

What are these compression shorts made of?

Every square metre of this fabric weighs 240 grams, and nearly a quarter of it is spandex. That is what 240 GSM means: grams per square metre. Spandex is the stretch in the fabric; the rest is polyester. Weight and stretch are the two numbers worth checking on any compression short before you buy. Quick Zone means the fabric is made to keep its shape and last. The elastic waistband carries the NINETY TWO name, and a small 92 logo sits on the left leg.

How should compression shorts fit?

Tight from waistband to hem, with nothing rolling, riding up or bunching when you move. The waistband should sit flat without folding over when you bend. The legs should stay above the knee through a deep squat instead of creeping up your thighs. If the hems ride up, try a size down; if the waistband digs in or leaves marks, go a size up. Check the men's size chart before you order.

Polyester or nylon compression shorts?

These shorts are polyester. If you already like the feel of nylon training wear, look at the nylon half-length compression shorts instead.

What should you wear with them?

Pair them with the half sleeve compression t-shirt for a full compression set. For cover to the ankle on cold mornings or long recovery days, choose the full-length compression tights.

Made in Tiruppur. Style code: T3M23