INFLUENCE OF THE USE OF COMPRESSION STOCKINGS ON PHYSIOLOGICAL, PERCEPTUAL AND AFFECTIVE RESPONSES DURING THE RUNNING

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the influence of wearing compression stockings on physiological, perceptual, and affective responses during the running. Ten recreational runners (31.5 ± 9.7 years) participated in this study. All subjects completed three visits to the lab: (a) familiarization and incremental test until exhaustion (b) two exercise sessions conducted on different days. Each session involved the same exercise protocol (20 min continuously at an intensity of 80% of the maximum treadmill speed achieved in the incremental test until exhaustion), with or without the use of compression stockings. The Felt Arousal Scale (FAS), Feeling Scale (FS), Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), oxygen consumption (VO2), and heart rate (HR) were recorded during each experimental session. Results showed no differences between the conditions of physiological (% VO2máx: 88.1 ± 8.3 vs 87.1 ± 11.32; % HR: 91.8 ± 2.8 vs 90.8 ± 3.2), perceptual (RPE: 6.4 ± 1.2 vs 6.2 ± 1.4) and affective (FS: 0.35 ± 2.4 vs 0.37 ± 2.3; FAS: 4.3 ± 0.7 vs 4.3 ± 1.1) responses during each exercise session. These results indicated that the use of the compression stockings did not promote benefits for physiological or psychological responses while running.