Thursday, February 5, 2015

Holy Zamst!!!

I am ignorant...

Socks are part of my everyday wear foot garment that I don't really take too seriously.
There were days where my feet felt like minced meat after a long day walking and cycling.
After hitting the 50-kilometer mark, my feet felt like it went through a meat grinder.

Compression garments

Okay, I've seen some folks wearing lycra. It's tight and the extreme folks that I met cycling on the road wore compression tights.
Do they go faster? Nah.
But it does help in relieving fatigue and muscle aches.
Says who? The people who wear them.

Zamst Ha-1 Short compression sock
And old injury that came back to haunt me...

I don't have a good left-side of my limbs.
They either ended up fractured or badly banged-up.
My left foot, especially, tends to swell around the ankle area if I walked too much of sat too long.
If I over exert myself, the first indication of pain comes from my feet.
So, to cut the long story short, the folks who brought Zamst compression wear had tracked me down and asked if I would give their socks a try.

What? A 107-ringgit pair of socks????? 

Yeah, you heard me. 
20 bucks is the most I would pay for a pair of socks. Well, make that a two-pack ankle-length short sock.
I nearly fell of my chair when Tim, my go-between person told me the cost of a pair of Zamst Ha-1 Short compression socks.
Why on Earth are these so expensive? The answer was printed on the box.
It reads: "Made in Japan".
Back in the days, we laughed at Japanese goods being imitation. 
Now, its the Japan-made products that are being imitated.

These are the Rolls-Royce of socks!
An expert in rehabilitation...

Okay, Zamst, the namesake of the product, is actually produced by Nippon Sigmax, a Japanese company specialising in orthopedic rehabilitation established in 1973. There is a wide-range of compression products from this premium brand costing hundreds of ringgits a pop, but I wouldn't delve into that.

The moment of truth

I laid off cycling for a month and got back on my saddle a week ago.
We rode for 20km and this time, I had a pair of Ha-1s on my feet.
The socks fit very well and is tight around the ankles.
It felt a bit odd in the beginning, but as I progressed further, I noticed that my feet didn't really hurt as much when compared to wearing just a pair of ordinary socks.
I felt needles and pins on my arch after breaking the 30km barrier. But with the Ha-1, going a little further didn't result in cashing in some pain.
So, I grew to like the socks even more when I wore it to work. 
When I sit down on the desk and stare at my computer screen for hours, my ankle would hurt like hell when I get up and walk.
It doesn't hurt as bad when I put on the compression socks. I took the socks out for a walk and noticed that even after 6,500 steps, my foot didn't felt like it's been smashed by boulder.
That said, I think I can do with another pair and am willing to pay the premium because the compression technology does help in long-distance rides.

Getting Zamst..

The product is distributed here in Malaysia by Egonutritions (03-7804 8970) and for more details on the products, you can also visit Ego Nutrition's Website

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