Under Pressure: The Chronic Effects of Lower-Body Compression Garment Use during a 6-Week Military Training Course

David T. Edgar, Christopher Martyn Beaven, Nicholas D. Gill and Matthew W. Driller
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David T. Edgar: Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
Christopher Martyn Beaven: Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
Nicholas D. Gill: Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
Matthew W. Driller: Sport and Exercise Science, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3083, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Previous studies have shown that compression garments may aid recovery in acute settings; however, less is known about the long-term use of compression garments (CG) for recovery. This study aimed to assess the influence of wearing CG on changes in physical performance, subjective soreness, and sleep quality over 6 weeks of military training. Methods: Fifty-five officer-trainees aged 24 ± 6 y from the New Zealand Defence Force participated in the current study. Twenty-seven participants wore CG every evening for 4–6 h, and twenty-eight wore standard military attire (CON) over a 6-week period. Subjective questionnaires (soreness and sleep quality) were completed weekly, and 2.4 km run time-trial, maximum press-ups, and curl-ups were tested before and after the 6 weeks of military training. Results: Repeated measures ANOVA indicated no significant group × time interactions for performance measures ( p > 0.05). However, there were small effects in favour of CG over CON for improvements in 2.4 km run times ( d = −0.24) and press-ups ( d = 0.36), respectively. Subjective soreness also resulted in no significant group × time interaction but displayed small to moderate effects for reduced soreness in favour of CG. Conclusions: Though not statistically significant, CG provided small to moderate benefits to muscle-soreness and small benefits to aspects of physical-performance over a 6-week military training regime.

Keywords: recovery; physical training; performance; blood-flow; soreness; DOMS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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