Excessive and prolonged exposure to impact acceleration during running is associated with increased injury rate. Acute use of compressive garments has been speculated to improve attenuation. However, it is unknown how longer interventions of compressive garments influence attenuation in running. 40 runners trained with compressive and placebo stockings for 3 weeks. Perception of comfort, stride parameters (rate, length) and impact acceleration (head and tibial peak acceleration, magnitude, acceleration rate and attenuation) were measured every 5 min during a fatigue run (30 min at 80% of the individual’s maximal aerobic speed). Compressive stockings reduced tibial peak acceleration and magnitude compared to placebo stockings at every minute (p0.05). Moreover, compressive stockings led to a lower rate of increase in tibial peak acceleration (14%, p<0.005) and magnitude (16%, p<0.001) as a result of the development of fatigue compared to placebo stockings (24% and 26% increase, p=0.014 and p=0.003, respectively). Similar perception of comfort was reported for both garments. Training with compressive stockings for 3 weeks reduced impact acceleration and the rate of increase in acceleration compared to placebo stockings. These findings suggest that compressive stockings may play a protective role by reducing impact accelerations during running.

The use of graduated compression stockings (GCS) in sport has been increasing in the last years due to their potential positive effects for athletes. However, there is little evidence to support whether these types of garments actually improve cardiorespiratory performance. The aim of this study was to examine the cardiorespiratory responses of GCS during running after three weeks of regular use. Twenty recreational runners performed three tests on different days: test 1) - a 5-min maximal effort run in order to determine the participants' maximal aerobic speed; and tests 2) and 3) - a fatigue running test of 30 minutes at 80% of their maximal aerobic speed with either GCS or PLACEBO stockings at random. Cardiorespiratory parameters (minute ventilation, heart rate, relative oxygen consumption, relative carbon dioxide production, ventilatory equivalents for oxygen and carbon dioxide, and oxygen pulse) were measured. Before each test in the laboratory, the participants trained with the randomly assigned stockings (GCS or PLACEBO) for three weeks. No significant differences between GCS and PLACEBO were found in any of the cardiorespiratory parameters. In conclusion, the present study provides evidence that running with GCS for three weeks does not influence cardiorespiratory parameters in recreational runners.

Compression garments are becoming increasingly popular among sportspeople who wish to improve performance and reduce their exercise discomfort and risk of injury. However, evidence for such effects is scarce. This paper presents the evidence following a review of the literature evaluating the effects of the application of compression garments on sports performance and recovery after exercise. The literature reviewed was the result of a search on the Web of Science, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus electronic databases for studies which analysed the effect of compression garments on physiological, psychological, and biomechanical parameters during and after exercise. These search criteria were met by 40 studies. Most studies do not demonstrate any beneficial effect on performance, immediate recovery, or delay in the appearance of muscle pain. They do, however, show a positive trend towards a beneficial effect during recovery: the subsequent performance improved in five of the eight studies where it was measured, and the perception of muscle damage was reduced in five of six studies. In summary, the use of compression garments during recovery from exercise appears to be beneficial, although the factors explaining this efficacy have yet to be established. No adverse effects of the use of compression garments have been demonstrated.

In sport disciplines with high levels of muscle damage such as an ultra‐trail competition, full body compression garments (FBCG) may have an ergogenic effect during the recovery process. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of FBCG worn for 24 h immediately after a 107‐km ultra‐trail on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), muscle damage, inflammatory and renal response. Thirty‐two athletes (19 males and 13 females; VO_2peak: 54.1 ± 5.2 ml O2/kg/min) participated in the study. The following blood markers were analysed before, immediately after, at 24 and 48 h post‐race: lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, C‐reactive protein and creatinine. The glomerular filtration rate was also calculated. Delayed onset muscle soreness was evaluated before, immediately after and at 24 h post‐race. On arrival at the finishing line, athletes were randomised into one of two recovery groups (FBCG and control group). The results showed that wearing FBCG did not influence the evolution of any of the blood markers up to 48 h after the race (p > .05). However, FBCG group presented a lower increase in posterior leg DOMS (11.0 ± 46.2% vs 112.3 ± 170.4%, p = .03, d = 0.8). Therefore, although FBCG is not useful for reducing muscle damage and inflammatory response after an ultra‐trail race, its use may still be recommended as a recovery method to reduce muscle soreness.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03990259.

Athletes with spinal cord injury (SCI) have difficulties in maintaining thermal homeostasis during exercise due to their lower sweat capacity and skin vasodilation. Skin temperature (Tsk) assessment, as opposed to core temperature, has become more widely accepted due to its non-invasive nature. The aims of this systematic review was to collate research studies that measured Tsk of individuals with SCI during or after exercise, study their Tsk response, taking into account the method employed, the environmental and exercise conditions, and to identify the different cooling strategies and their effect during exercise. Pubmed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched to identify the articles published since year 2000. Two reviewers working independently extracted data and assessed the quality of the articles included. If they disagreed, a third reviewer was consulted. ROBINS-I scale was used to assess the quality of the articles, and the review has been conducted in agreement with PRISMA guidelines. Twenty studies were included in this review. 84% of them presented moderate, serious or critical risk of bias. The entire of the studies assessed Tsk during exercise, but only seven studies measured it during rest or after exercise. Eighteen studies used contact thermometry to assess Tsk and the two remaining studies employed non-contact techniques. Seven studies were conducted in warm conditions (>31.5°C) and the remaining studies in moderate conditions (10°C to 26.6°C). According to cooling strategies, ice vests and water spray are effective in reducing Tsk and decreasing the risk of heat stroke. The 90% of the studies applied contact thermometry and due to their effect in the data assessed, it is necessary more research into the SCI population using infrared thermography due to its differences in characteristics, methodology, and applications. The methodological differences among studies make difficult to perform a meta-analysis.