Twelve hours of a compression sleeve is not enough to improve the muscle recovery of an exercise-damaged upper arm

Objective

To assess the efficacy of a compression sleeve worn for a short-time period (12 h) on the recovery from the symptoms of exercise-induced upper arm muscle damage.

Methods

A randomized controlled study was conducted on thirteen healthy young men using a standardized and exercise-induced upper arm muscle damage protocol, and they were immediately placed into two groups: TREATED (n = 7) and CONTROL (n = 6). Isometric elbow flexion strength, upper arm circumference, and muscle soreness measurements were taken before and at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after the damaging exercise, and were used as criteria of exercise-induced muscle damage. Group comparisons were made for each variable using a two-way ANOVA design (2 groups × 5 measurements), and with a significance level of P < 0.05.

Results

A significant impairment (P < 0.001) was observed in muscle strength (∼43% and ∼34%, for CONTROL and TREATED groups, respectively, 24 h after exercise), as well as a significant increase (P < 0.001) in upper arm circumference (UAC) and muscle soreness (F4,55 = 6.49 for UAC and F4,55 = 6.95 for muscle soreness) among the measurements after exercise for both groups, with no significant differences between them.

Conclusions

These results, together with previous findings, suggest that the use of a compression garment for 12 h is not enough to improve the recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage in the upper arm, and longer periods of compression may be necessary to achieve positive outcomes.