Boost muscle endurance
Sports Back Support
Has your back ever started to feel sore and tired after a long run? While it's true that the legs do a lot of the work, your core muscles play an essential role in maintaining your posture and protecting your spine from impact shocks. So after a while (especially if your spine isn’t as used to running 15 ks as your legs are), your core muscles may tire out.
Studies show that compression knit helps delay muscle fatigue. A back brace does so in two key ways:
- It boosts circulation through your core. When the blood supply to the muscles increases, they get nutrients and oxygen at a faster rate, reducing the rate of fatigue.
- The compression weave communicates with muscle fibres, helping them transmit and receive messages to and from the brain. As a result, you can activate your muscles more efficiently.
Improve your running posture
Your running posture plays a crucial role in your overall running form. Even if the rest of your form is flawless, poor posture can negatively affect oxygen intake and muscle endurance, leading to injury.
As a compression back brace communicates with the muscles, it will remind your core to keep your spine in a neutral position. With good running posture, you’ll more evenly distribute impact pressure through your back. You’ll also be able to breathe easier, as your ribs and lungs will be in a more ‘open’ position.
Help you avoid back injury and pain
Training for a marathon involves a lot of running. Unfortunately, even if you follow a training guide to the letter and safely increase your distance over time, your back muscles and spine may still disapprove.
And as a result, you may experience tightening paraspinal muscles, sacroiliac or facet joint dysfunction, or even back tendonitis. Fortunately, as these conditions typically result from muscle fatigue or excess pressure from impact, wearing a back brace while you run can work wonders. Improved posture, muscle endurance, and pressure load distribution mean you’ll be less likely to develop these conditions.
Relieve back pain when running
SacroLoc Back Brace
If you’ve had to minimise your marathon training due to back pain, a back brace can help here, too. At the risk of sounding like a broken record:
- Back braces like our Sports Back Support and SacroLoc Back Brace incorporate special viscoelastic pads that massage painful areas as you move.
- Compression knit works with your muscles, helping them better support your spine.
- With improved posture and increased support, your disks and nerves will be under less pressure and subject to less stress as you run.
Learn more: Pain in Lower Back When Running? Here’s How to Fix It
Some things to consider
A back brace is an excellent piece of gear for a long-distance runner. But not every back brace is made equal. You must keep size, quality, and relative comfort in mind when picking yours out. Simply put, a back brace that is made of quality knit, fits like a glove, and has good breathability and moisture-wicking properties will be much more effective and easier to wear than the alternative.
Additionally, it’s always best to combine bracing with other methods when it comes to boosting performance and preventing injury. Core strengthening, leg stretching, and rest days are all instrumental in keeping your back safe, strong, and pain-free.
To sum up
Marathon training (and long-distance running in general) can put a lot of stress on your back. Fortunately, a good back brace goes a long way - especially when combined with other techniques. With Bauerfeind, you’ll reduce muscle fatigue, relieve painful symptoms, minimise the risk of injury, and improve performance.
