my hubby is an ex professional athlete and recently qualified to run the Boston marathon next year. After his race he wore Zoot recovery tights and top. We drove home from Phoenix to SF (he did most of the driving) and was fine for the whole drive home and even the next morning was less sore than normal. Zoot's compression is the closest you can get to medical grade without a prescription. They cost a good penny but he swears by them, who am I to complain as long as I don't have to deal with "hunny can you grab me some water; hunny can you massage my calf muscle etc..." after a race