Harald Herzog about compression in sports

What benefits do the socks have besides healing injuries?

“Many people think that you should only wear compression socks to prevent injuries, but the socks can also be used to promote performance and to recover faster from exercise. But many physiotherapists now also use our socks to treat injuries. The latter in particular is an important function for runners. When running, 3 to 4 times your body weight is absorbed with each step. So every step is an attack on your body. The socks then function more or less like the bandage I wore at the time to keep the calf muscles firmly together. The jerking and vibrating of the muscle mass of the lower leg with every step is counteracted very effectively, which minimizes pulling forces on the Achilles tendon and the membrane around the shin. An important effect is also that muscle damage is reduced. Muscle damage sounds serious, but it is a natural consequence of intensive exercise from which you recover relatively quickly. However, too much muscle damage means that you retain fluid in the space between the cells and that has a negative effect on the muscle microcirculation, so on performance. Fortunately, our socks can be worn in almost any sport.

You can see that, not only runners but also volleyball players, basketball players, handball players, korfball players, tennis players, etc. wear our socks nowadays. Unfortunately, cyclists are not (yet) allowed to wear them during official competitions, due to their performance-influencing effect. Our socks are therefore more or less seen as a kind of doping. But the recovery-promoting effect is recognized by many cyclists. Our socks are worn by the professional cycling teams DSM-firmenich PostNL, Baloise Trek Lions and Cycling Team Alpecin-Deceuninck with Mathieu van der Poel. Particularly after exercise and during travel by bus or plane. This recovery-promoting effect is achieved because the socks have a decreasing pressure profile from distal to proximal (from far from the heart to the heart) or in other words, from the ankle to the knee. This decreasing pressure gradient ensures that the blood containing the waste products of the combustion process is removed more quickly and therefore the supply is not obstructed. The effect is improved blood circulation in the muscles.”

Are all sports compression socks with an elastic band good compression socks?

“Nowadays there are many different brands that offer sports compression socks. Most brands simply offer their socks based on shoe size or thickest calf circumference. That's actually quite strange... I often make the following comparison: a muscular football player with shoe size 43 has a completely different calf circumference than a wiry marathon runner with the same shoe size. Both athletes can therefore never wear the same compression socks. Sizes S, M, L and XL are therefore absolutely insufficient. With us it is very different. Herzog's size range consists of no fewer than 54 ready-to-wear sizes. Herzog stockings are measured at 5 points, so that you can be sure that the compression optimally follows your individual leg contour. This also makes Herzog's socks a bit more difficult to put on, because the highest compression is at ankle level, but the diameter of the sock is smallest there. It is proof of the right amount of compression and compression progression.”

Where can you purchase a Herzog Sport Compression Sock and how does it work?

“Herzog sports compression socks can be purchased at all running specialty stores in the Netherlands and Belgium. In the meantime, many general sports stores, such as Intersport and Sport 2000 stores, also have Herzog socks in their range. In the store, your leg will be measured by the sales employee and based on this the right sock will be selected. Of course we demonstrate how to put on the compression socks. That is very important, because it means we can be sure that the operation is optimal.”