Do Compression Clothes Really Work?

Athletes are always trying to find something that will give them a competitive edge. It may be a supplement, grounding sheets, far infrared, a training routine, special shoes and yes, special garments.

Compression stockings have been used for a number of years medically. If you have venous circulatory or blood clotting issues in your lower body, such as venous leg ulcers, compression stockings may be invaluable.

But do compression supports and garments really help healing and recovery for athletes? Do they minimize swelling and fluid build-up? Do they also increase blood circulation, which would cause your muscles to receive more oxygen while lactic acid and other byproducts of physical activity would be removed more quickly?

Compression garments have become more popular in many fitness circles, with athletes using them for their beneficial effects on performance and recovery. This is a much grayer area, with conflicting research on whether such garments are actually useful or not.

Compression Garments May Improve Recovery, If You Wear Them for 24 Hours:

Some athletes wear compression garments during their workouts. But research suggests the benefits may only appear if you keep the compression going for 24 hours after your exercise is finished.

A study was done with rugby players. A full-leg length compression garment was worn continuously for 24 hours after performing a series of circuits (designed to simulate a rugby game). After the 24-hour recovery period, the circuits were repeated again and once again one week later.
Compared to players wearing a similar-looking placebo garment, the compression group experienced improvements in average sprint times and diminished fatigue. They also enjoyed lower levels of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) 48 hours after initial testing.

The researchers concluded that “Wearing compressive garments during recovery is likely to be worthwhile, and very unlikely to be harmful for well-trained rugby union players.”

Separate research among male strength trainers similarly found that compression garments led to decreases in perceived soreness and swelling while promoting recovery, but again only after the garments were worn for 24 hours or more.

That being said, yet another study of the use of compression garments on the thighs of soccer players found less total injury in the compression thigh compared to the non-compression thigh, by an average of nearly 27% less, as well as reduced DOMS. In this case the garments were worn during the exercise session and appeared to still be effective.

Can Compression Garments Improve Performance?

The science is also conflicting when it comes to compression garments improving athletic performance.

According to TIME - “Dr. Mike Hamlin, an associate professor of exercise and sports science at New Zealand’s Lincoln University… mentions one 1996 study that found trained volleyball players were able to increase their average, but not maximum, leaping height when wearing compression shorts.

But he says there’s ‘little evidence’ that endurance athletes perform better while wearing compression tights and tops. A recent study from Indiana University looked into lower-leg compression among distance runners and failed to find meaningful gains.”

Another study investigated the effects of wearing whole-body compression garments on prolonged high-intensity intermittent exercise performance. Wearing the garments lead to improvements in physical performance in this case, likely due to increases in muscle oxygenation and associated metabolic benefits.

In a review of 23 studies published in March 2015, the researchers again noted - “The effects of wearing compression garments during exercise are controversial, as most studies failed to demonstrate a beneficial effect on immediate or performance recovery, or on delayed onset of muscle soreness.”

The review did point out that compression garments tended to show a beneficial effect when worn during recovery, with improvements to both performance recovery and DOMS demonstrated.

What makes the use of compression garments even trickier is that they vary in the amount of pressure applied and there are no guidelines available to help athletes know how much compression is optimum, how long to wear the garment or whether to wear it during exercise. after exercise or both during and after exercise.

In the case of the March 2015 study, the amount of pressure applied didn’t even seem to matter - “There is no apparent relation between the effects of compression garments worn during or after exercise and the pressures applied, since beneficial effects were obtained with both low and high pressures,” the researchers noted.

Does the Material of Your Compression Garments Matter?

Compression clothing is typically made of a combination of spandex and nylon that is stretchy while still maintaining compression. Synthetic fabrics have become popular for workout wear with or without compression added because it’s lightweight and fast-drying, although it may pose a problem with odors.

Certain fabrics will make you smell more than others, although it’s not the fabric itself that’s to blame. It turns out that Micrococcus bacteria prefer the open-air lattice of synthetic fibers over cotton.

Research shows polyester shirts were “significantly less pleasant and more intense” and smelled “more musty, sour, and ammonia-like than the cotton” after a workout. This could pose a problem for compression wear, which generally needs to be worn for a period of several hours (or more) after your workout to aid in recovery.

Some synthetic fabrics are also treated with triclosan, a widely used antibacterial chemical. Research has shown that triclosan can alter hormone regulation and may interfere with fetal development, so this is one chemical you want to avoid in any type of clothing you wear.

Compression Gear May Work Because You Think They Will:

When compression gear is studied, it’s difficult to conduct a double blind study with a placebo. A placebo garment would obviously be applying no compression, which would be obvious to the participants.

It is hypothesized that people’s beliefs about the garments’ effectiveness may therefore influence their perceived results.

Billy Sperlich, a professor of exercise science who has researched the garments at the University of Würzburg in Germany, told the New York Times - “Since beliefs are strong performance enhancers, I would recommend compression clothing to persons who believe in the performance-enhancing effect.”

There appears to be no downside to wearing them, especially if they feel good to you and you notice an improvement in your performance or recovery. But remember, in order to be effective the garments must fit tightly, which is a sensation some people enjoy and others can’t stand.
Dr. Sperlich said his research estimates that about 50% of people like the feeling of compression, 30% are indifferent, and 20% dislike it.

The bottom line here is to try compression garments out and then see if it feels good and works for you.

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