Effects of Compression Garments on Skeletal Muscle Physiology, Performance and Recovery in Young Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17140/SEMOJ-5-169Keywords:
Compression garments, Skeletal muscle physiology, Skeletal muscle performance, Skeletal muscle recovery, Young healthy adultsAbstract
Introduction: Compression garments (CG) are highly popular sports apparel amongst athletes and fitness enthusiasts. The manufacturers claim numerous benefits of CGs for both performance and recovery from exercise. However, the overall body of evidence remains equivocal on the effects of CGs on skeletal muscle physiology and related athletic performance outcomes.
Methods: This systematic review, based on the Centre for Cognitive Ageing, Cognitive Epidemiology definition and PRISMA-P terminology aimed to identify and evaluate the current literature on the effects of CGs on skeletal muscle physiology, performance, and recovery in young healthy adults. A search of PubMed, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus databases was done for relevant studies from February 2008 to February 2018 that used randomized controlled trials (RCTs), randomized repeated measures (RRMs) and randomized counter-balanced measures (RCMs) study designs.
Results: Seven hundred eighty four published papers were identified on initial database and cross-referencing search, of which eight papers met the eligibility criteria. The risk of bias and the quality of evidence for the eligible studies was evaluated using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) Scale. None of the studies showed significant effects of CGs on performance or recovery-related outcomes compared to the control group.
Conclusion: This review concludes that CGs have minimal and unclear effects on muscle physiology, performance and recovery in young healthy adults. However, they can be worn for the sense of individual comfort and belief, as there are apparently no adverse effects of CGs on performance.
References
Brorson H. Liposuction in arm lymphedema treatment. Scand J Surg. 2003; 92: 287-295. doi: 10.1177/145749690309200409
Mayberry JC, Moneta GL, DeFrang RD, Porter JM. The influ-ence of elastic compression stockings on deep venous hemody-namics. J Vasc Surg. 1991; 13(1): 91-100.
Zion Market Research. Global compression garments and stock-ings market set for rapid growth, to reach around USD 3,216.7 million by 2022. Website: https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/ news/compression-garments-stockings-market. Accessed from October 03, 2017.
Borras X, Balius X, Drobnic F, et al. Effects of lower body com-pression garment in muscle oscillation and tissular injury during intense exercise. Portuguese J Sport Sci. 2011.
Higgins T, Naughton GA, Burgess D. Effects of wearing com-pression garments on physiological and performance measures in a simulated game-specific circuit for netball. J Sci Med Sport. 2009; 12(1): 223-226. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2007.08.018
Kraemer WJ, Bush JA, Wickham RB, et al. Influence of com-pression therapy on symptoms following soft tissue injury from maximal eccentric exercise. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2001; 31(6): 282-290. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2001.31.6.282
Macrae BA, Cotter JD, Laing RM. Compression garments and exercise: Garment considerations, physiology and perfor-mance. Sport Med. 2011; 41(10): 815-843. doi: 10.2165/11591420- 000000000-00000
Bieuzen F, BrisswalterJ, Easthope C, et al. Effect of wearing compression stockings on recovery after mild exercise-induced muscle damage. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2014; 9(2): 256-264. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2013-0126
Goto K, MorishimaT. Compression garment promotes muscu-lar strength recovery after resistance exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014; 46(12): 2265-2270. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000359
Duffield R, Portus M. Comparison of three types of full-body compression garments on throwing and repeat-sprint performance in cricket players. Br J Sports Med. 2007; 41: 409-414. doi: 10.1136/ bjsm.2006.033753
Green HJ. Mechanisms of muscle fatigue in intense exercise. J Sports Sci. 1997; 15(3): 247-256. doi: 10.1080/026404197367254
Kent-Braun JA, Fitts RH, Christie A. Skeletal muscle fatigue. Compr Physiol. 2012; 2(2): 997-1044. doi: 10.1002/cphy.c110029
Denadai BS, Greco CC. Resistance training and exercise toler-ance during high-intensity exercise: Moving beyond just running economy and muscle strength. J Appl Physiol(1985). 2018; 124(2): 526-528. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00800.2017
Born DP, Sperlich B, Holmberg HC. Bringing light into the dark: effects of compression clothing on performance and recov-ery. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2013; 8(1): 4-18.
Wan JJ, Qin Z, Wang PY, et al. Muscle fatigue: General un-derstanding and treatment. Exp Mol Med. 2017; 49(10): e384. doi: 10.1038/emm.2017.194
Pitcher JB, Miles TS. Influence of muscle blood flow on fatigue during intermittent human hand-grip exercise and recovery. Clin-Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 1997; 24(7): 471-476.
Tachi M, Kouzaki M, Kanehisa H, Fukunaga T. The influence of circulatory difference on muscle oxygenation and fatigue during intermittent static dorsiflexion. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004; 91(5-6): 682-688. doi: 10.1007/s00421-003-1024-y
Broatch JR, Bishop DJ, Halson S. Lower limb sports compres-sion garments improve muscle blood flow and exercise perfor-mance during repeated-sprint cycling. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2018; 13(7): 882-890. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2017-0638
Duffield R, Edge J, Merrells R, et al. The effects of compres-sion garments on intermittent exercise performance and recovery on consecutive days. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2008; 3(4): 454-468.
Goto K, Mizuno S, Mori A. Efficacy of wearing compression 16 Mukherjee S, et al garments during post-exercise period after two repeated bouts of strenuous exercise: A randomized crossover design in healthy, ac-tive males. Sports Med Open. 2017; 3(1): 25. doi: 10.1186/s40798- 017-0092-1
Moher D, Shamseer L, Clarke M, et al. Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMAP) 2015 statement. Syst Rev. 2015; 4: 1. doi: 10.1186/2046-4053-4-1
Engel FA, Holmberg HC, Sperlich B. Is there evidence that runners can benefit from wearing compression clothing? Sports Med. 2016; 46(12): 1939-1952. doi: 10.1007/s40279-016-0546-5
Olivo SA, Macedo LG, Gadotti IC, et al. Scales to assess the quality of randomized controlled trials: A systematic review. Phys Ther. 2008; 88(2): 156-175. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20070147
Dascombe B, Laursen P, Nosaka K, Polglaze T. No effect of upper body compression garments in elite flat-water kayakers. Eur J Sport Sci. 2013; 13(4): 341-349. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2011.606842
Duffield R, Cannon J, King M. The effects of compression garments on recovery of muscle performance following high-in-tensity sprint and plyometric exercise. J Sci Med Sport. 2010; 13(1): 136-140. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2008.10.006
Hamlin MJ, Mitchell CJ, Ward FD, et al. Effect of compression garments on short-term recovery of repeated sprint and 3-km run-ning performance in rugby union players. J Strength Cond Res. 2012; 26(11): 2975-2982. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182711e0b
Lovell DI, Mason DG, Delphinus EM, Mclellan CP. Do compression garments enhance the active recovery process after highintensity running? J Strength Cond Res. 2011; 25(12): 3264-3268. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31821764f8
Pruscino CL, Halson S, Hargreaves M. Effects of compression garments on recovery following intermittent exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2013; 113(6): 1585-1596. doi: 10.1007/s00421-012-2576-5
Scanlan AT, Dascombe BJ, Reaburn PR, Osborne M. The ef-fects of wearing lower-body compression garments during endur-ance cycling. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2008; 3(4): 424-438.
Doan BK, Kwon YH, Newton RU, et al. Evaluation of a lower-body compression garment. J Sports Sci. 2003; 21(8): 601-610. doi: 10.1080/0264041031000101971
Coza A, Dunn JF, Anderson B, Nigg BM. Effects of com-pression on muscle tissue oxygenation at the onset of exer-cise. J Strength Cond Res. 2012; 26(6): 1631-1637. doi: 10.1519/ JSC.0B013E318254885b
Ali A, Caine MP, Snow BG. Graduated compression stockings: Physiological and perceptual responses during and after exercise. J Sports Sci. 2007; 25(4): 413-419. doi: 10.1080/02640410600718376 Systematic Review | Volume 5 | Number 1|
Almeida KM, Fonseca ST, Figueiredo PRP, et al. Effects of interventions with therapeutic suits (clothing) on impairments and functional limitations of children with cerebral palsy: A system-atic review. Braz J Phys Ther. 2017; 21(5): 307-320. doi: 10.1016/j. bjpt.2017.06.009 Submit your article to this journal | https://openventio.org/submit-manuscript/ Systematic Review | Volume 5 | Number 1| Mukherjee S, et al
Engel F, Stockinger C, Woll A, Sperlich B. Effects of compres-sion garments on performance and recovery in endurance athletes. In: Compression Garments in Sports: Athletic Performance and Recovery. Florian Engel, Billy Sperlich (Eds). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. 2016.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All content published in Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows anyone to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work — including for commercial purposes — provided appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source.
