Today’s article looks at a beneficial effect of wearing compression calf sleeves in cycling
What’s the deal?
We all know that oxygen is important for muscle function, especially during exercise. The more oxygen available, for example to the calf muscles, the better the muscles are likely to perform. I would generally suggest that you stay clear of blood doping to improve oxygen availability, but thankfully, there are other methods! Wearing calf protectors is now very fashionable and new experiments suggest it might have a positive effect on oxygen availability.
What did they do?
Eleven athletes completed a basic stationary cycling exercise on two separate occasions with a week in between sessions; once wearing calf sleeves, and once without (in a random order). The amount of oxygen in the calf muscle was measured by infrared imaging before, during and after exercise.
What happened?
Wearing calf sleeves before exercise increased calf oxygen content by 24%. Cycling at up to 80W (roughly cruising speed or 13mph) wearing calf sleeves increased calf muscle oxygen content by 8%. Oxygen content was also up to 10% higher during the ten-minute recovery after exercise wearing calf sleeves.
What will I do differently?
Although this seems impressive, I’m unsure how it translates to actual performance. It also only applies to moderate cycling, so unless you plan to compete in cycling competition with a capped speed of 13mph, this might not help! What is useful is the improvement in oxygen BEFORE and AFTER exercise – perhaps this could help recovery and prevent DOMS?
This research was published in October 2014 by B Boucourt and colleagues from the University of Franche‑Comté, France.
This article highlights our personal take on their research. Check it out here and see what you think!
Abstract Athlete 