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Influence of lower body compression garments on cardiovascular autonomic responses prior to, during and following submaximal cycling exercise

  • Original Article
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European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the current study was to examine the impact of lower body compression garments (CG) on cardiac autonomic control of heart rate (HR) prior to, during and following submaximal exercise.

Methods

Thirty (15 males, 15 females) healthy, active adults undertook consecutive 10-min stages of supine rest, moderate–intensity upright cycling and supine recovery while wearing either normal clothing (CONTROL) or normal clothing plus CG tights in a randomised order. Heart rate (HR) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were assessed every minute while cardiovascular autonomic responses were assessed during the final 5 min of each stage via HR variability (HRV). The change in HR at 1-min (HRR1) and 2-min (HRR2) post-exercise and the time constant of HR recovery (HRtau) were assessed as indices of cardiac autonomic reactivation. Differences between variables were assessed via repeated measures ANOVA and corrected pairwise comparisons.

Results

Compared to rest, exercise resulted in a reduction of HRV that was similar for CONTROL and CG. A main effect for condition was identified for one non-linear, long-term HRV variable only with a significantly lower value (61.4 ± 47.8 vs. 67.1 ± 50.2 ms, p < 0.05) for CG compared to CONTROL. Cardiac autonomic reactivation (HRR1, 42.0 ± 16.8 vs. 45.5 ± 13.4 bpm; HRR2, 58.9 ± 10.5 vs. 58.9 ± 8.2 bpm; HRtau, 63.4 ± 22.3 vs. 65.1 ± 23.0 s, p > 0.05) was comparable for CONTROL and CG.

Conclusion

Lower body CG failed to alter most cardiac autonomic responses during rest, moderate-intensity exercise or recovery. Mechanisms for potential ergogenic benefits of CG remain to be characterised.

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Abbreviations

α1:

Short-term fractal scaling exponent

α2:

Long-term fractal scaling exponent

CG:

Compression garments

HF:

High (0.15–0.4 Hz)-frequency component of HRV

HR:

Heart rate

HRR1:

Change in heart rate during the first minute of recovery

HRR2:

Change in heart rate during the first 2 min of recovery

HRtau :

Time constant of heart rate change during recovery

HRV:

Heart rate variability

La:

Capillary blood lactate

LF:

Low (0.04–0.15 Hz) frequency component of HRV

LF/HF:

Ratio of low to high frequency components of HRV

ms:

Milliseconds

nu:

Normalised units

pNN50:

Percentage of successive normal-normal RR intervals different by more than 50 ms

RPE:

Rating of perceived exertion

RMSSD:

Root mean square of successive differences in normal-normal RR intervals

SampEn:

Sample entropy

SD1:

Short axis of the Poincare plot—short-term instantaneous RR modulation

SD2:

Long axis of the Poincare plot—long-term RR modulation

SDNN:

Standard deviation of all normal–normal RR intervals

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank SKINS™ (Australia) for their generous donation of compression garments; and Brett Fforde, Lewan Parker and the numerous students who assisted with this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sport and Exercise Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Anthony S. Leicht

  2. School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Mehdi Ahmadian

  3. Associate Graduate Program in Physical Education UPE/UFPB, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil

    Fabio Y. Nakamura

Authors
  1. Anthony S. Leicht
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  2. Mehdi Ahmadian
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  3. Fabio Y. Nakamura
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Contributions

AL and FN conceived and designed the study with AL collecting/analysing the data. All authors (AL, MA, FN) interpreted results, wrote the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anthony S. Leicht.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The current study was conducted in accordance with the laws of Australia and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research by the National Health and Medical Research Council. All procedures were conducted in accordance with the approval of the James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee (H3451).

Additional information

Communicated by Massimo Pagani.

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Leicht, A.S., Ahmadian, M. & Nakamura, F.Y. Influence of lower body compression garments on cardiovascular autonomic responses prior to, during and following submaximal cycling exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol 120, 1601–1607 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04391-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04391-9

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