Background
The few previous studies that focused on the effects of compression garments (CG) on distance running performance have simultaneously measured electromyogram, physiological, and perceptual parameters. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of CG on muscle activation and median frequency during and after distance running, as well as blood-lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during distance running.
Methods
Eight healthy male recreational runners were recruited to randomly perform two 40 min treadmill running trials, one with CG, and the other with control garment made of normal cloth. The RPE and the surface electromyography (EMG) of 5 lower extremity muscles including gluteus maximus (GM), rectus femoris (RF), semitendinosus (ST), tibialis anterior (TA), and gastrocnemius (GAS) were measured during the running trial. The blood-lactate levels before and after the running trial were measured.
Results
Wearing CG led to significant lower muscle activation (
p
< 0.05) in the GM (decreased 7.40%–14.31%), RF (decreased 4.39%–4.76%), and ST (decreased 3.42%–7.20%) muscles; moreover, significant higher median frequency (
p
< 0.05) in the GM (increased 5.57%) and ST (increased 10.58%) muscles. Wearing CG did not alter the RPE values or the blood-lactate levels (
p
> 0.05).
Conclusion
Wearing CG was associated with significantly lower muscle activation and higher median frequency in the running-related key muscles during distance running. This finding suggested that wearing CG may improve muscle function, which might enhance running performance and prevent muscle fatigue.
Most standards and devices for determining clothing properties ignore the physiological state of the wearer and are inadequate to evaluate the transient thermal properties of clothing ensembles. This study evaluated the physiological burden of different types of protective clothing and environmental conditions using the recently developed single-sector thermo-physiological human simulator and compared its performance with a thermal cylinder (without the physiological control model) and with an advanced physiological model (with a simple clothing model). A single-sector physiological simulator developed to simulate the dynamic thermal and perceptual behavior of humans over a wide range of environmental and personal conditions was successfully validated in this study through tests with clothed individuals exposed to hot and cold conditions. In comparative tests on water vapor permeable and impermeable clothing samples, the simulator provided a much more complete picture of actual clothing performance, for example, in terms of moisture retention within the clothing and the additional cooling due to the "heat pipe" effect in impermeable clothing.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to determine the validity and inter-/intra-laboratory repeatability of the first part of a novel, three-phase experimental procedure using a sweating Torso device.
Design/methodology/approach
– Results from a method comparison study (comparison with the industry-standard sweating guarded hotplate method) and an inter-laboratory comparison study are presented.
Findings
– A high correlation was observed for thermal resistance in the method comparison study (r=0.97, p<0.01) as well as in the inter-laboratory comparison study (r=0.99, p<0.01).
Research limitations/implications
– The authors conclude that the first phase of the standardised procedure for the sweating Torso provides reliable data for the determination of the dry thermal resistance of single and multi-layer textiles, and is therefore suitable as standard method to be used by different laboratories with this type of device. Further work is required to validate the applicability of the method for textiles with high thermal resistance.
Originality/value
– This study provides the first “round-robin” data for measuring thermal resistance using a Torso device. In future publications the authors will provide similar data examining the repeatability of measurements that quantify combined heat and mass transfer.
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