Aspaeris Pivot Shorts Giveaway

Seeing as how lately my hip has been hurting like Helena, I was really looking forward to trying out these Aspaeris compression shorts made especially for women and their lady hips. If you've read any running blogs lately, then you've definitely heard of these.

Here's what the company has to say about their product:

Dual Sensory Compression Bands™Aspaeris Pivot Shorts™ are actually two pairs of shorts bonded together. The Outer Short is a high performance compression short designed to support your muscles. The Inner Short features our breakthrough, Dual Sensory Compression Bands™. These cross-knit bands guide your muscles into the proper position, thereby improving your pivot performance which helps prevent ACL and hip injuries. 

Hi-Performance Compression Aspaeris Pivot Shorts™ are made of very fine, completely seamless, two-way stretch nylon and Spandex. Wicking properties keep moisture away regardless of how hot it gets while Microban® technology virtually eliminates odor-causing bacteria

You'll see the outer short plenty in this post, but here's a look at what's happening inside that double layer of compression.

Aspaeris inner shorts

The first step with these shorts is getting your measurements right. I usually wear size small in running shorts, but I measured for a medium in Aspaeris shorts. I was a little skeptical at first, but when I got them, I knew that I didn't need to worry. They were going to be plenty snug!

Here are my regular size small Nike tights on the left and Aspaeris size medium on the right. Big difference! So the moral of that story is follow the measuring chart even when regular-clothing-size logic tries to tell you otherwise.

When I first slipped these on, I thought they would fit my calves very nicely. Oh wait, I have to keep pulling them up? That's gonna be a problem.

Because I was so excited to try them the instant they arrived, I tried putting them on after a sweaty 5-miler. Mistake. Like day old grits on a plate, those things were not wanting to budge. I found that it worked best to start with clean dry legs, like right out of the shower. Also, if you put them on like pantyhose, it works well. Has anyone reading this ever even worn pantyhose? It's been a long time for me, but I still remember the steps. For these shorts, scrunch everything together, lift above your knee and then guide them evenly up to your hips. Completing one leg at a time also made it easier.

The rise of the shorts is medium. For me (I'm 5'2"), the shorts came up to about an inch under my belly button, and I didn't like it there. That's where I store all of my extra Halloween candy, so it was cutting into my supply a little bit. No problem because I just rolled them down to my hip bones, and it was perfect. I do that with most shorts, so that's not unique to Aspaeris.

You can see the medium rise in this pic, and if you look closely, you can also see where the Dual Sensory Compression Bands hit the back of my legs. Even though it is slightly visible, it wasn't a big deal to me. I want these shorts to compress, which may require a little visible squeezing.

I tested these out in running, yoga, strength training, house cleaning, and vegging. These were amazing in yoga. I could feel the bands aligning my hips, and it felt great to have that little extra push in the postures. When I was running, I felt the same thing. The compression bands were like guides encouraging my legs to have correct alignment. I'm already a big fan of compression with it's increase of blood flow and with that an increase of exercise byproduct removal. These shorts (along with stretching and rolling) definitely helped alleviate soreness in my hips. If you want to read an objective exploration of compression and running, check out this article. It focuses on socks but can apply to hip and leg compression as well.

Even though I haven't tried them playing soccer yet, I'm really looking forward to trying that out. Watch out, Pele.

Leprechauns should also watch out.

Also, I decided that I felt most comfortable wearing them under something, so most days I wore them under a running skirt. They also fit great under any of my regular person pants or shorts too for all-day compressing. They subtract bulk under your clothes, so don't worry when your Spanx get dirty. 

This is where I wanted to make a super funny joke about your hips not lying because they are dual sensory banded into place. Or is it the reverse. Either way, Shakira probably needs some. 

Thanks, Aspaeris, for also offering a pair of compression shorts to one of Yo Momma's readers so their hips don't have to lie either. You pick your size and color. 

To enter:

1. In the comments section, tell me why you need some compression shorts.

Bonus entries (leave a separate comment for each so that I can make sure to count them all):

1. Like my blog via Google Friend Connect (or let me know that you already do).

2. Like Yo Momma Runs on Facebook (or let me know that you already do).

3. Like Aspaeris Pivot Shorts on Facebook. 

3. Like Yo Momma Runs on Twitter (or let me know that you already do). 

4. Share this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest, and leave a separate comment for every share. 

I'll pick a winner on Thursday morning, May 31st, using random.org.

Edit: This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for reading!

Aspaeris Pivot Shorts provided these shorts for review and giveaway. I received no other compensation, and all thoughts and opinions are from my own noggin.