The quest for effective weight loss solutions has led to a surge in various products and methods, including specialized clothing. Weight loss clothing, ranging from compression garments to weighted apparel, promises to enhance workout performance, boost metabolism, and ultimately aid in shedding unwanted pounds. However, the effectiveness of these garments is often shrouded in misconceptions and marketing hype. This article examines the science behind weight loss clothing, separating fact from fiction to provide a comprehensive understanding of their potential benefits and limitations.
The Truth About Weight Loss and Clothing
The common misconception that wearing lots of clothing increases weight loss is a correlation error, in that people wear a ton of clothes, sweat a lot, and mistakenly think that the water weight they have lost is equivalent to fat weight lost. Weight loss can only be achieved through a calorie deficit and staying active. For example, by creating a calorie deficit of an estimated 500-750 calories and exercising at least 30 minutes daily, you can lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. Wearing these clothes may not magically burn fat or turn you into the next Olympic champion, but they can help improve your workout and athleticism, which can help you make notable progress.
Compression Garments: More Than Just a Tight Fit
Compression garments are a particular type of clothing made from special fibers and yarns for the purpose of fitting very tightly on the body in order to compress and support the body and its underlying tissues. The garments won’t break easily when they’re stretched and they can snap back to the original sizing after stretching. As the name suggests, these garments are used in the healthcare field, where they offer compression for disease management and support. This type of clothing can be used for different functions such as prevention, improved function, and postoperative/rehabilitation support.
Medical and Aesthetic Applications
Compression garments have a history in medical settings, where they are used to manage conditions such as venous insufficiency. This disorder manifests as swelling in the legs, skin changes, and pain due to the high pressure in the veins. They are also used to aid in the healing process of hypertrophic scars. This is a type of scar that occurs when the skin suffers major trauma, such as from burns or even surgical incisions.
These garments can be used for aesthetic purposes to help give the wearer more shape. For example, women who’ve undergone breast surgery or men who’ve undergone the same due to something such as gynecomastia may be advised to wear compression garments for the chest. The garments can also be used after facial surgery, abdominal surgery, and other body contouring operations.
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Benefits for Athletes and Fitness Enthusiasts
In addition to medical use and aesthetic purposes, these clothes are also used by sportsmen and everyday gym goers when they participate in competitions or when they work out on a day-to-day basis. When working out, increased blood and oxygen flow to the muscles is essential. The more oxygen and blood a muscle gets, the better your athletic performance will be. In a study published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, researchers found that when basketball players wore compression garments - tights and shorts - their lower limbs had better muscle blood flow and muscle oxygenation than when they didn’t have them on. The acts of compression these clothing items provide boost blood flow and oxygen delivery to the tissues. This makes your workouts more efficient and less tiring. When you don’t feel completely drained after a workout, you’re more likely to feel encouraged to exercise again the next day. As they fit quite snugly around certain body parts, they make you more aware of how your body moves or feels as you work out. In a study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology, researchers found that when study participants wore compression sleeves during the experiment, their reaching accuracy increased. In weight loss, with better posture and technique, you’ll be able to target the muscles more accurately, thereby getting the most out of your workout routine.
People who are new to working out are usually quite keen to push themselves to the very limit of their endurance, hoping that this can boost weight loss results. As explained above, these clothes help increase blood and oxygen flow to the muscles, which automatically helps the muscles move and function better, thereby reducing the risk of injury. Exercising is tiring and also causes tears in your muscles, which need time and rest to repair and recover. Thankfully, research has shown that wearing these clothes during a workout will reduce perceived muscle soreness and swelling and enhance and accelerate recovery from muscle damage. However, just because you feel less sore doesn’t mean you don’t need to rest.
Choosing the Right Compression Garment
When choosing clothes, you may be tempted to go for big brand names, thinking that they’ll work best for you. However, it may be a good idea to look beyond the name when it comes to workout gear, particularly with body compression garments. As with your everyday clothes, your compression garments should be comfortable. This means they should be tight enough for you to feel compressed but not enough that you feel restricted. When doing many weight loss exercises, especially cardio, your lower body tends to take the brunt of these workouts. Some compression leggings are an excellent idea to help keep the blood flowing in your legs and prevent DOMS. These come in many options, such as sports bras, vests, and long and short-sleeved t-shirts. For larger-chested women, a compression sports bra may offer more support than a regular sports bra.
Who Should Use Compression Garments?
These types of clothing can be worn by almost anyone. However, with medical grade compression garments, we would urge you to first speak to your doctor if you’re dealing with an issue or ailment and you believe you need one. For example, people who are living with peripheral arterial disease may be harmed by wearing compression garments for too long. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, these garments are typically worn for between one and three weeks after surgery. However, it’s best to seek advice from your doctor as they will be best acquainted with your situation. Compression garments are generally safe to wear and have little to no disadvantages if they’re worn correctly.
Common Questions About Compression Garments
- Is it OK to wear compression clothing all day? No, it’s not.
- Do compression garments really work? Yes, they do. From the studies included above, it can be seen that these clothing options bring an advantage to the wearer.
- Do compression garments flatten the stomach? They may cinch your waist for a few hours, but they won’t flatten your stomach.
- Can compression garments reshape your body? They can, but only temporarily.
Conclusion on Compression Garments
Compression garments have their place in the fitness world - they can enhance performance and offer recovery and injury prevention. However, these clothes cannot be used as a substitute for a healthy calorie deficit diet and exercise for weight loss.
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The Role of Weighted Apparel in Weight Loss
Recently, the use of weighted apparel has gained attention as a potential strategy to enhance weight loss efforts. Weighted vests, ankle weights, and other forms of weighted clothing are designed to increase the energy expenditure during daily activities and workouts.
How Weighted Apparel Works
The premise behind weighted apparel is that by adding external weight, the body is forced to work harder to perform the same tasks. This increased effort can lead to a higher calorie burn and potentially contribute to weight loss over time.
- Increased NEAT: NEAT refers to the energy you expend in activities of daily living. It includes everything from walking around to fidgeting to maintenance of posture. As you lose weight, your NEAT goes down. Part of this is simply because you have less body weight to carry around. By using weighted apparel to replace lost body weight, you prevent this decline in NEAT.
- Maintenance of Total Daily Energy Expenditure: Similar to the decline in NEAT, there is a decline in total daily energy expenditure (activity + resting metabolic rate + thermic effect of feeding) with weight loss. Again, this is partly due to having less body mass. The weighted apparel allows for the maintenance of total daily energy expenditure without having to increase exercise volume or do extra cardiovascular exercise.
- High Energy Flux: There is evidence that your body's ability to naturally regulate its body weight is most effective in states of high energy flux, rather than low energy flux. High energy flux may protect against some of the metabolic adaptation that occurs with weight loss, and may reduce sensations of hunger. Weighted apparel provides an alternative, allowing for an increase in daily energy expenditure in a very low intensity fashion, with no need to increase exercise volume. Weighted apparel is essentially a tool to increase NEAT. However, rather than increasing NEAT by increasing step counts and other movement, you are increasing the energy cost of the movement you are already doing.
The "Gravitostat" Theory
Recently, evidence has emerged that there is a mechanism to regulate body weight that is independent of leptin, which has been coined the "gravitostat". In this study, scientists implanted weights into the abdomens of obese rodents (similar to adding weighted apparel in humans). The additional fat loss in the loaded animals was not due to an increase in energy expenditure. This indicated there was a decrease in appetite in the rodents, proportional to the added weight.
Overall, this data indicates that bones may operate to regulate body weight and body fat by sensing load, and this operates independently of leptin. Increased loading on bone is sensed by osteocytes, which sends feedback signals to the brain to reduce food intake. Thus, one of the ways that weighted apparel might help with contest prep is by maintaining load on the bones while you lose weight. This bone loading may then help create feedback signals to prevent the typical large increase in appetite that occurs with fat loss. Since it appears that loading seems to work by stimulating the "gravitostat" in the bones, this would imply that weighted apparel might not be as effective for people who spend a lot of their day sitting (as there is no loading on the lower extremities). Thus, weighted apparel likely will work best when used in conjunction with frequent standing/walking.
Practical Considerations
While the concept of weighted apparel for weight loss is promising, there are several practical considerations to keep in mind:
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- Proper Fit and Weight Distribution: It is crucial to choose weighted apparel that fits properly and distributes weight evenly to avoid strain or injury.
- Gradual Progression: Start with a lighter weight and gradually increase it as your body adapts to avoid overexertion.
- Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to any discomfort or pain and adjust the weight or discontinue use if necessary.
- Combine with a Healthy Lifestyle: Weighted apparel is most effective when combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise.
The Influence of Temperature on Metabolism and Weight Loss Clothing
The idea that wearing more clothing to increase body temperature and promote weight loss is a common misconception. While it's true that temperature can influence metabolism, the effects are complex and not always straightforward.
Ambient Temperature and Metabolic Rate
Currently, there is not a lot of research in human studies on the effects of high ambient temperature and increased energy expenditure. There are two studies suggesting that high ambient temperatures actually slow down, rather than speed up metabolisms and subsequent energy expenditure. There is an associated decrease with both low and high ambient temperatures, with a peak in the "nominal" range, falling off even below the lower temperature curve as the temperature increases. There is also a suggestion that in endothermic animals, being unable to dissipate body heat is a limiting factor as well, which is a new theory called Head Dissipation Limit.
The Role of Thermogenic Drinks
There is a study (With the caveat that it was funded by an energy drink company) that shows an unnamed commercially available thermogenic drink (Monster/Rockstar type) does have an effect on lipolysis, attributable to the already known effects of caffeine and EGCG (The active ingredient in green tea).
Limitations of Temperature-Based Weight Loss Strategies
It's important to note that relying solely on increasing body temperature through clothing for weight loss is not a sustainable or healthy approach. The body has natural mechanisms to regulate temperature, and attempting to override these mechanisms can lead to discomfort, dehydration, and potentially dangerous conditions.
Combining Clothing with Behavior Change Techniques
Affordable and accessible behaviour-based interventions that do not overwhelm or demoralise overweight/obese individuals are needed. Combining clothing with behaviour change techniques might be an option. This is because clothing is a social norm, and clothing and motivation for weight loss are associated with the common desire to look better.
The BCCG Intervention
A study examined the effect of an intervention that combined behaviour change techniques, including simplified goal setting and self-monitoring, with a body compression corrective garment (BCCG), which exerts continuous but minimal tactile pressure on the hips and abdomen. The reduction in body weight was 1.3 kg more in the intervention group than in the control group after the 12-week intervention period. In addition, eating behaviour and body appreciation showed significant improvement in the intervention group compared with the control group. This newly developed intervention improved eating behaviour and body appreciation and reduced the body weight of overweight/obese participants.
Motivation and Self-Esteem
Looking appealing and feeling assured are the most important factors that motivate participants. Looking better and being healthier are positive reasons for obese/overweight individuals to participate in a behaviour change programme. In addition, clothing is a possible intervention, as wearing clothes that an individual prefers can help generate a positive feeling about appearance and consequently improve autonomy, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. The prospect of a more appealing physical appearance may be a powerful motivator for behavioural change.
The Importance of Lifestyle Changes
This new intervention, including the daily wearing of the BCCG, may prompt participants to consciously feel their body shape and facilitate sustainable efforts to change their lifestyle.
Study Details
The study was a single-blind parallel randomised controlled trial (RCT) with an allocation ratio of 1:1 conducted in Mutsu City, located in the northeast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan. The recruitment was conducted from March to August 2020. The detailed inclusion criteria were as follows: BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, age 30 to 65 years, did not practise habitual physical activities or sports, had a stable body weight (loss of no greater than 3 kg), took no dietary supplements for weight loss within 1 month before recruitment, were not undergoing pharmacotherapy for diabetes mellitus, non-participation in one or more clinical studies during the past year, and competency to provide informed consent.
Anthropometric measurements (height, body weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure) and blood sampling (fasting blood glucose, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol) of the intervention and control groups were performed at a community centre for baseline and follow-up data 20 days before the beginning of the intervention and 1 day after the end of the intervention, respectively. Adverse events were identified using a questionnaire during follow-up measurements. In addition, eating behaviour and body appreciation were assessed using self-rated questionnaires before and after the intervention.
The primary outcome was body weight reduction at 12 weeks. The secondary outcomes were improvements in the following items: components of metabolic syndromes (BMI, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, serum triglyceride, and HDL-cholesterol), eating habits as assessed using Sakata’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, and body appreciation as assessed using BAS-2.
The intervention comprised BCCG and behaviour change techniques, including self-monitoring, goal setting, and drawing health benefit links with the goals set. The intervention group was asked to wear the BCCG daily. They were asked to achieve ten health behaviour goals (four essential goals and six selected goals) in everyday life to reduce their body weight. The essential goals consisted of (1) chewing each bite of food more than 20 times daily, (2) walking faster and taking longer strides, (3) brushing their teeth soon after finishing meals, and (4) looking in a mirror to monitor their complexion, countenance, and body shape.
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