Increase athletic performance and speed up muscle recovery with compression socks. Compression has been shown to enhance athletic performance and speed up muscle recovery and soreness post exercise. Studies indicate that wearing compression socks stimulates blood flow and reduces lactic acid build-up, which can reduce, prevent or shorten the length of delayed onset muscle soreness. This change allows you to recover faster and jump back into your training or physical activity more quickly. Think about it: If you do a super hard workout and you reduce your recovery time, you can participate in another high-impact workout sooner.