Intermittent Sequential Pneumatic Compression (ISPC) has gained popularity among athletes as a recovery modality. However, its effectiveness specifically in high-performance cycling settings has not been thoroughly evaluated. This randomized sham-controlled crossover trial aimed to assess the impact of a 30-minute high-pressure ISPC intervention on various recovery markers in trained cyclists following a strenuous time trial.
The study involved twenty-one male participants, with an average age of 22.8 years. The cyclists underwent a 30-minute all-out time trial on a stationary trainer, after which they were subjected to either the ISPC intervention or a sham condition. Recovery measures were collected at baseline, one hour post-intervention, and at 24 and 48 hours post-exercise.
Results indicated that ISPC provided benefits in subjective perceptions of recovery, muscle soreness, and fatigue. Additionally, improvements were noted in low-frequency fatigue scores and maximal voluntary contraction of knee extension. However, these subjective benefits did not translate into enhanced performance in subsequent time trials conducted 24 hours later, as indicated by a lack of significant performance improvement (P = .18).
Moreover, no significant increase in creatine kinase activity was observed following the fatigue protocol, suggesting that while ISPC may enhance acute subjective and neuromuscular recovery markers, it does not confer a performance advantage in short-duration cycling efforts.
In conclusion, the findings suggest that ISPC may be beneficial for accelerating perceptual and neuromuscular recovery in high-level cyclists, despite not improving performance outcomes in subsequent trials.
What this study does not show
This study does not demonstrate that ISPC improves performance in subsequent cycling efforts after a recovery intervention.
Evidence scorecard
- Analytic validity: Established
- Clinical validity: Established
- Clinical utility: Partial