Men's Compression Tights

Men's compression tights that run from the waistband to the ankle, so your calves get the same hold as your thighs.

• Length: full length, ending at the ankle.
• Fabric: a 240 GSM Quick Zone knit of 80% polyester and 20% spandex.
• Sizes: S to 2XL; check the men's size chart before you order.
• Colours: Moonless Night (black) or Shadow Slate (dark grey).

Compression tights, leggings or pants: what is the difference?

For men's training wear there is none: all three names describe the same waist-to-ankle layer that grips your legs. Sports brands mostly say tights, and plenty of men search for compression leggings or compression pants when they mean exactly the same thing. The name matters less than the fit. A compression piece holds tight from the waist to the ankle, while a training pant or a jogger hangs loose around your legs. These are tights in that sense, and the rest of this page calls them that.

What do compression tights do to your leg muscles?

Research on compression tights found they reduce how much your thigh and calf muscles have to work to hold steady while you move. In a 2019 study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 14 recreationally active men moved on a treadmill at three steady speeds in three brands of waist-to-ankle compression tights and in loose shorts. All three tights lowered the electrical activity of the thigh and calf muscles at every speed, and the best of them also cut how far those muscles wobbled. Oxygen use did not change, so the effort itself was no cheaper. Some of the authors had research funding from one tights maker, which the paper declares.

So the tights keep your legs steadier with less muscle work spent on holding them still, but they will not make a hard set feel lighter.

Should you keep compression tights on after training?

Yes, if you want your legs back sooner for the next session. A 2010 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology had 17 young, active women do a hard session of drop jumps from a 0.6 m box, then either rest as normal or wear full-leg compression garments for 12 hours. Over the following days the compression group lost less jump height and less thigh strength, and rated their legs less sore. A blood marker of muscle damage did not differ between the groups.

The study tested women in full-leg compression, not men in these tights, so read it as what compression did for tired legs. Keep them on through the evening after a hard lower-body session, and wash them before your next one.

How do you put compression tights on?

Gather each leg down to the ankle first, then work the fabric up a hand-width at a time. Step in, set the ankle where it belongs, and ease the fabric over your calf, knee and thigh in turn. Pulling them up from the waistband stretches the top and leaves loose folds behind the knee, and a fold under tight fabric is where pressure turns into a pinch. Once they are on, run your hands down each leg to smooth out any twist in the seams.

What fabric goes into these tights?

These tights are 80% polyester and 20% spandex, knitted at 240 GSM. The spandex is the stretch that lets them go on over your calves and knees and then hold; the polyester gives the knit its body. Quick Zone means the fabric is made to keep its shape and last. The 92 logo sits just above the left knee, and the waistband carries the NINETY TWO name. For how polyester compares with nylon, see the compression wear page.

What goes well with these tights?

For a full set from shoulder to ankle, add the full sleeve compression shirt. On warmer days, swap to the compression shorts.

Made in Tiruppur. Style code: T3M24