A Comparison Of High And Low Grade Compression Garments On Recovery From Damaging Exercise

Abstract

The evidence to support the use of commercially available compression garments (CG) following damaging exercise is equivocal. It is possible that in some cases the degree of pressure exerted is not sufficient to be of physiological benefit. The pressure exerted by clinical grade CG is generally higher than commercially available CG and therefore might be more effective in enhancing recovery. PURPOSE: To identify whether higher vs lower pressure CG alter the recovery response following strenuous exercise. METHODS: Forty five subjects (n= 19 female, n= 26 male; mean ± SD age 30 ± 6 yrs; height 174.2 ± 9.4 cm; body mass 72.2 ± 11.9 kg) completed 100 drop jumps. Participants were then randomly assigned to either a LOW (8-17mmHg*), or HIGH (14-24mmHg*) compression treatment group, or a sham-ultrasound treatment group (SHAM). The LOW and HIGH groups wore lower limb compression tights for 72 hours following the exercise bout, whilst the SHAM group received a single treatment of 10 min sham ultrasound following the exercise. Perceived muscle soreness and maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) were assessed before exercise and 1, 24, 48 and 72 h post exercise. RESULTS: MVC data showed clearly that muscle damage was successfully induced. There was a group effect whereby the HIGH group recovered MVC faster than the SHAM group (p < 0.05); the HIGH group reached 99.9% of their baseline value at 72h wheras the sham-ultrasound group achieved 91.2% of their baseline values. The LOW group achieved 91.3% of their baseline MVC value, however there was no significant group effect for the LOW compression. There were no significant group effects or interaction effects for soreness (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: There was evidence to suggest that lower limb compression garments that exert a higher level of compression (14-24mmHg*) can result in improved recovery of muscle function, but appear to be of limited value in resolving the soreness associated with exercise-induced muscle damage. Compression garments that exert lower levels of compression (8-17mmHg*) appear to have no benefit on indices of recovery. *average pressure for the group measured at the thigh and calf respectively.