What’s The Scoop On The BODIMAX Sleeves?

BODIMAX Sleeves, by A3 Performance, are the newest innovation to hit the sport of swimming. Designed specifically for swimmers, BODIMAX Sleeves are built to impact performance and recovery so swimmers can train better than ever before. In a nutshell, BODIMAX Sleeves were developed so swimmers can train better longer, and get better faster. That sounds pretty great right? But how does that work? What does that mean? Well we decided to interview A3 Performance President & CEO Dan Meinholz to get the scoop on BODIMAX Sleeves.

Courtesy of A3 Performance

Mel: Hey Dan, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. So the BODIMAX Sleeves…how are these different from any other compressionwear that athletes use all the time?

Dan: BODIMAX Sleeves are aquatic performancewear…compression sleeves specifically designed to be worn during in-water training. You can feel that the fabric is stronger, more durable, and more resilient than your typical “compression” because it’s built to hold up after hundreds of hours in the chlorine. We know that compression has benefits to performance and recovery and we wanted to deliver a product that, at a minimum,  allows swimmers to reap these benefits.

Another huge significance is that the sleeves are built with BODIMAX Technology which is intelligent fabric technology that interacts with your body. BODIMAX Technology is proven to improve oxygenation and neutralize lactic acid in the blood stream. This is truly unlike anything swimming has ever seen.

Mel: How exactly do aquatic compression sleeves improve oxygen flow and neutralize lactic acid in the body?

Dan: The BODIMAX Technology is essentially latent energy that is activated when worn. When we are training, our muscles start to heat up, and that body heat activates the BODIMAX Technology. BODIMAX absorbs that body heat and transfers it back to the muscles as natural, far infrared energy. The impact of far infrared energy on your body is amazing! Studies have proven far infrared energy to increase oxygen levels in the blood stream, improve blood circulation, and delay the buildup of lactic acid. Far infrared energy facilitates overall healthier muscle, and with the training swimmers engage in, I think there is a lot to gain here.

Mel: As swimmers we definitely understand the negative impact of lactic acid, but how significant is this technology?

Dan: Very! The impact of BODIMAX Technology significantly prolongs the buildup of lactic acid. This technology is raising the bar.  The reason for fatigue or failure in training, is that the body is unable to maintain the level of performance due to oxygen depletion and lactic acid buildup.  BODIMAX technology supports you in pushing back the threshold of when your body begins producing significant amounts of lactic acid, contributing to fatigue.  Maybe even more incredible are the recovery benefits occurring with BODIMAX use.  Leaving the muscles in a better state post training, allows for a quicker recovery.  This improved recovery allows us to train at a high level more often.  We think BODIMAX will have a profound impact on how we are training athletes.

Mel: When you say that the BODIMAX Sleeves impact post training recovery too, do you mean that swimmers should wear the sleeves after practice and outside of the pool too? So these aren’t meant just for the water?

Dan: When I say that they impact post workout, I’m not necessarily referring to wearing them after practice. Wearing BODIMAX during your workout will have a significant impact on your bodies’ ability to recover even after workout is over. With that being said, the BODIMAX Sleeves were designed with the intention of being worn in the water; however, we have found that the benefits go far beyond the pool. We encourage all athletes to wear their sleeves not only in the water, but during their dryland training, during lifting, before competition in warm ups, and after competition. The more they are worn, the more significant the benefit.    

Mel: So how long do the sleeves need to be worn in order to experience the significant benefit? Will swimmers start to feel it right away?

Dan: Yes and no, there are really two parts. The sleeves are very compressive on the arms, and most athletes like the feeling of compression.  Although we have had athletes tell us after one use their arms feel fresh and better than usual, the benefits in performance and recovery comes gradually and incrementally.  In our research, we have found that after just 10 minutes of exercise a difference in lactic acid levels and oxygenation have been recorded.  Using your sleeves consistently and regularly is the best way to maximize the BODIMAX benefits.

Mel: This all sounds like it would be really beneficial for swimmers. Are the sleeves something that can be worn in competition?

Dan: No, the BODIMAX Sleeves are not a FINA approved garment, they are designed for training. The sleeves can be worn in warm up, but cannot be worn in competition.  Many swimmers have reported that they like wearing the sleeves to warm up.  Also wearing them in training and warmups gives the swimmer a “shaved” feeling on their arms when they dive into competition without them.

Mel: Awesome. Any other final thoughts you want to share on the BODIMAX sleeves?

Dan: Swimmers and coaches are constantly looking for strategies, products, and philosophies that facilitate higher performance.  I believe BODIMAX is a game changer and the future of training and recovery.  We know it has a real impact on performance and recovery, unlike anything we have seen to date.  Thank you for the opportunity to discuss our latest innovation.

About A3 Performance

A3 Performance is the fastest growing brand of performance swimwear in the United States. Driven by a ‘Highest Quality, Best Price’ philosophy, A3 Performance develops the sports’ most innovative products for an amazing price. The first brand ever to develop both a closed back and a powerback female racing knee suit continues to innovate the sport of swimming, now with BODIMAX Sleeves. Train better, swim faster, and be the best with A3 Performance – The Performance Swimwear Company.

Swim gear news is courtesy of A3, a SwimSwam partner.

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Jean
6 years ago

Seems like FIR is basically the old home remedy my grandmama had: a brick in a hot oven. I’m sure there is a proprietary polymer / ceramic / metal in these sleeves that duplicates the effect, but the science vacillates between heat and ice so much over the years I can’t keep track. I can say that I saw a palpable positive effect on a long term injury from switching from a regular arm sleeve to a copper infused one — one that was marketed with so much snake-oil and sound bite claims that it made it’s way to my local clearance center and I picked one up for half the price of a regular sleeve. I chalk it up… Read more »

Christian
6 years ago

If the sleeves help with recovery what is to say that my muscles wont get used to the increased recovery in practice and have a harder time recovering in competition due to the fact that i dont or am not allowed to have them on during competition. Same way a swimmer will not shave all season so they get used to the feeling of drag and shave at the end of there season to get a different feeling in the water. In a nutshell will these sleeves make my body feel different in competition then in practice? or do the benefits go on after i take of the sleeve?

Dee
6 years ago

What it boils down to is that you try it if you want to spend the money. If it works for you then who the heck cares what anyone else says. If it doesn’t return the product. It’s not snake oil people. No one is forcing it down your throat. You make an educated decision if you want to buy or not. Sheesh

Kevin polansky
6 years ago

I’m looking forward to getting my sleeves to wear myself. If you haven’t noticed the running community has embraced compression socks, hose and sleeves for awhile now. Why not sleeves for swimmers? A friend of mine wore this Bodimax sleeves in an open water swim the other day and raved about them! Bravo A3 for making a giant move in swimming!

BaldingEagle
6 years ago

I thought I’d add that since the lats and back muscles do lots of the work, maybe a version of the sleeve can also target those muscles. Somehow.

Michael
Reply to  BaldingEagle
6 years ago

My thought was why not have some sleeves design for the legs. That’s the biggest muscle group on the body and as a former kicker, any relief on the legs would certainly help…then I thought, “wait…compression technology, the feel of a fresh shave while swimming, faster recovery time…why don’t we just train in tech suits then??? It’s essentially the same thing, right? I’m sure their would be no negative consequences in constantly training in an environment, way, and manner that you wouldn’t be able to replicate or re-produce under real race conditions”.

BaldingEagle
6 years ago

I’m having lots of trouble getting through this interview. So much of it seems like snake oil, sound bites, and pseudo science. Maybe others can contribute and enlighten me if I am wrong, but I find some of the claims to be curious at the very least.

In talking about oxygenation, I don’t understand how a compression sleeve and it’s proprietary technology would “improve oxygenation.” Oxygen is delivered to working muscle via the blood stream, after the blood is oxygenated in the lung. As heart rate increases due to work, so does the volume of blood reaching the lungs. The only way to improve “oxygenation” in the blood stream is to increase red blood cells, which comes through training, altitude,… Read more »

Uberfan
Reply to  BaldingEagle
6 years ago

Bruh its A3 tested, don’t you know their experts also made the 100% proven fastest tech suit ever

BaldingEagle
Reply to  Uberfan
6 years ago

D’oh! You’re right.

Siphiwe Baleka
Reply to  BaldingEagle
6 years ago

Balding Eagle – thanks for the very helpful education. Some people get on here and say nothing and just want to get attention with stupid sarcastic comments that help no one. It would be great if A3 would respond but I don’t expect it.

A3 Performance
Reply to  BaldingEagle
6 years ago

Thank you for your interest in the BODIMAX Sleeves and their technology.

Due to the patent pending nature of this product, we cannot reveal our methodology and detailed results at this time. We are currently working hard to assemble and finalize our documentation and additional research and we will release that information once we are at liberty to do so.

In the meantime, in order to better understand the benefits of the BODIMAX Technology, we encourage you and others to research the numerous, invaluable benefits of Far Infrared Energy. FIR is a natural energy that is proven to provide a variety of health benefits, particularly in areas of circulation.

Concerned
Reply to  A3 Performance
6 years ago

No.

“Natural Energy” is a meaningless term invented by snake oil salesmen. You are essentially claiming that you have a heating pad. Also there is no reason related to patent law that you can’t reveal the methods you used to evaluate your materials, or the results of those tests. The only information that would count as disclosure would be to reveal the materials/structure/design of the sleeves. Please don’t lie to the people here in order to cover up the fact that you have no real data.

I have no idea whether or not the compression aspect of the sleeves can help training or recovery. That is something that is still heavily debated, but the rest of it is BS.

JAROSE
Reply to  Concerned
6 years ago

Please see my comment about to Balding Eagle

JAROSE
Reply to  BaldingEagle
6 years ago

A simple internet search can provide peer reviewed scholarly articles that can answer some of your questions.
The following is regarding Far infrared https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3699878/ See Sections: 1.1 What is FIR radiation?, 2.1.2 FIR emitting ceramics and fabrics, 2.2.3 FIR emitting ceramics and fabrics
As you can see, A3 is not the first to embrace this technology.

Keep up the innovations A3! I’ll be purchasing a pair to test out your claims before providing a review.

Side note: I bet if it had a Speedo logo there would be no arguments.

And snake oil is what my grandparents said to cell phones, computers, and the internet.

sven
Reply to  JAROSE
6 years ago

If Speedo released this I would mock it every bit as hard as I do their recent campaign for in-water exercise bikes and such.

Which is saying a lot.

BaldingEagle
Reply to  sven
6 years ago

I continue to get a good laugh at the $75 Speedo LZR goggles. Sarah Sjostrom and Katinka Hosszu do pretty well with $14 mirror Swedish goggles.

About Gold Medal Mel Stewart

Gold Medal Mel Stewart

MEL STEWART Jr., aka Gold Medal Mel, won three Olympic medals at the 1992 Olympic Games. Mel's best event was the 200 butterfly. He is a former World, American, and NCAA Record holder in the 200 butterfly. As a writer/producer and sports columnist, Mel has contributed to Yahoo Sports, Universal Sports, …

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