Best Compression Socks for Obstacle Racing

Are you training for a Spartan race? Are you thinking of getting compression socks for your next obstacle race? Which type of compression socks do you need if you want to make the best results in a Spartan?

Spartan races are very tough. Obstacle racing includes barbed wire crawling, tractor pulling, rope climbing, fire jumping. Such races are not for the faint hearted.

In order to bring your best, you need great clothing. People put a lot of emphasis on upper body apparel and shoes. The socks are crucial pieces of equipment, often overlooked. The best socks keep you warm, protect your skin and help you maintain a high level of performance. If you take obstacle racing seriously, you must know which are the best compression socks for a Spartan race.

About Tough Mudder and Spartan Race

Although both competitions are won by the person who can finish a course in the least amount of time, most of the participants don’t measure their success by how fast they finished. For most of us the races are about pushing ourselves mentally. Even finishing the race is a big accomplishment.

Which are the best compression socks for spartan racing?

Internet reviews clearly talk about MudGear obstacle race compression socks as the best compression socks for spartan races. These graduated compression socks give you extra protection against abrasion, blisters and rope burns.

MudGear Compression Socks

Super comfortable obstacle race compression socks with extraordinary moisture wicking and comfort. They prevent blisters and protect your skin. They significantly reduce muscle fatigue during the race and help you recover faster. Medium strength graduated compression for comfort and improved circulation. Stabilizes the muscles during the race. Padded toes and heel protects you against plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis and other common foot pains associated with Spartan racing.

Check out further reviews and pricing on Amazon

What are the pros and cons of the MudGear compression socks in a spartan race?

As I mentioned before, the skin protection is one of the best on the market. They come with 168 needlepoint compression, giving you extra protection against abrasion.

Mudguear graduated compression socks give you extra muscle support. They provide huge benefits for the circulatory system. The 15-20 mm Hg graduated compression they put on your legs are in the higher end. This is enough compression to pump up the blood circulation without putting too much pressure on your muscles.

Obstacle racers are painfully aware of blisters. After one or two miles, it is hard to find a spartan or tough mudder who has successfully avoided blisters. Choosing the right compression socks for a Spartan can help you end the race with as few skin injuries as possible.

Extra calf padding reduces the impact of your steps, and the load on your joints. The toe box comes with extra padding. It prevents blisters and wicks away moisture. There is nothing worse than getting soaked and having to carry all the extra weight around on your legs.

Now imagine running through a freezing pond at the beginning of the race. Then having to run for miles in water-soaked socks and trousers. See, water and moisture wicking is a must.

Buy the MudGear Compression Socks Here

Sizing

According to Amazon reviews the socks are true to size. They are very firm, strong, form fitting compression socks. People with extra strong calves might need a breaking-in period. Or consider using one of the large calf compression socks.

Price

As you will see the MudGear Compression socks are competitively priced. For their quality, compression level and design, their price is more than fair. You will see that you can wear them for multiple races without having to throw them out.

This goes without saying, but don’t try out your socks for the first time at a spartan race. Try them on a run, at the gym, in a training environment when the stakes are not so high.

Some people take part in only one Spartan race. Is it worth buying these compression socks if you are one of these people? Absolutely!

These socks have other uses. You can use them for running, post exercise recovery, or to work, doing house chores to prevent muscle fatigue. Especially if you started training hard recently.

The MudGear Spartan Race compression socks have extra padding and inbuilt weaves. These help you against plantar fasciitis.

Cick here to check out MudGear Spartan compression socks on Amazon.

What does a great pair of obstacle racing compression socks need to do?

We know that compression socks are extremely helpful when it comes to enhancing performance and recovering after endurance workouts. But getting into the mud, jumping hurdles, running in thigh-high freezing water and climbing ropes asks for a completely unique set of designs.

What are the uses of compression socks in obstacle racing?

Skin protection. This is a huge one. If you don’t cover your legs with some kind of pants, long socks, you end up with a million little bumps, rashes on your skin. However it is not a surprise that you don’t see many obstacle racers in pants. Saggy leggier gets caught in the edges of obstacles, barbwires, and soaks up water, gets covered with mud. If you don’t end up being stuck all the time, you are sure to get bogged down by the extra watertight you end up carrying.

Durability: This is an obvious must. All the wear and tear in these races can make lower quality socks obsolete very quickly. The material has to last the whole race – preferably several races – without tearing up. This brings me to my next point.

Fabric: When choosing compression socks for a spartan race, fabric density should be prioritized over thickness. Dense knitting is more durable, and protects you from small pieces of debris. Avoid cotton socks. They are the worst material for obstacle racing compression socks.

Protection against debris: While crawling on the ground, small pebbles and dirt can upset your skin. The way to protect it is by wearing tightly woven materials that can protect against such gashes, small irritating pieces of debris.

Water draining: The socks must be made of waterproof material and must shed the water quickly. If they soak themselves with water, you end up carrying a lot of extra weight, which slows you down.

Fit: If your socks are not fitting appropriately, the compression technology is useless. The socks can’t put any pressure on the veins. Also the debris can get into your socks and irritate your skin.

Achilles protection: Climbing ropes puts a huge toll on your achilles tendons. The best spartan race compression socks have additional structure and protection just below your calves to protect and aid the tendons with additional blood flow.

What should compression socks for a spartan race do?

Repel water and wick moisture away from your skin.
Tight fit to avoid slipping and debris getting under them.
Breathability and form fitting to avoid blisters.
No cotton allowed.

A surprise model: Injinji Toe Socks

I read about these socks in a reddit thread.

Apparenty 4 times obstacle racing world champion Amelia Boone wears them.

Although I am not a big fan of toe socks – they look funny – you can’t take away the fact they work excellent on uneven terrains. As short, low-cut socks they keep out the water and the dirt. Since there is hardly any extra surface on the socks even if they get wet they are not bogged down, the extra weight of the wet material won’t be a hindrance.

Check out further reviews and prices on Amazon

SoX Graduated Compression Tall Socks

Although these socks aren’t marketed specially for obstacle races, they have the perfect design to withstand tough outside terrains, mud and the difficulties that come with water, extreme hot pressures and mud. Although not specifically designed for obstacle races, these socks have all the qualities to show your best at a Spartan race.

Made of polypropylene, nylon, lycra and spandex mix. These materials have the perfect mix to withstand the abrasion of crawling on the ground, running in muddy trenches or climbing on ropes.

This mix is super efficient at wicking moisture, and letting the water drip off your feet. With these Sox(pun intended) you won’t have to feel like you are taking large bricks on your feet.

The graduated compression helps with muscle fatigue, plantar fasciitis, blisters. They also prevent blood cloths.

As far as blisters go, I hate getting bloody toes because of my toes getting friction from the socks. These are a real pain and they really hinder performance in the final meters of a race. These socks are so form fitting, thin and sweat wicking that you won’t have to deal with blisters or bloody skin on your toes.

The more you sweat, and the less the socks have moisture wicking ability, the more friction your toes will have to withstand. These sox have excellent moisture wicking ability.

One of the biggest needs of a good obstacle racing compression sock is the heavy duty compression. The band at the top of the socks holds on tightly. Even during rigorous activity.

Definitely try these socks during your training period. Break them in. Don’t get caught out and surprised while you are running the race. You want to face any problems that come from wrong sizing during the training.

The band at the top might feel too tight. This might make you feel too hot, like if your blood circulation was cut off at the top. This is a problem when you have to work on your endurance. Also a problem if you are running. Choose the right size model. Have the expectation that the model will be a bit tight, but if you feel numbness in your legs or if it starts getting purple, you are wearing socks that are definitely too tight and you are risking cutting off the blood circulation. This is a sure signal to switch to different socks.