Compression, recover faster after your home trainer sessions.

Training on the home trainer…careful of the overkill!

In this period of confinement, many of you are rushing to the home trainer, whether on the bike or running! Thanks to some applications it is even possible to make virtual sessions with friends.

Workouts become more fun but also and above all, more intense. Many people take on like a race every day and do not follow a well-constructed training plan (missing the key endurance element).

The "dangers" of training on the home trainer

Pedaling or running on the spot and indoors does not provide good ventilation and causes a strong sweating. Up to 1 L per hour, while the body can assimilate only 500 mL at the same time ... So you find yourself in water deficit! But not only, because with sweat, you also lose a lot of minerals.

Day to day fatigue accumulates and causes other dysfunctions such as cramps, heavy legs and muscle or tendon injuries that can hamper with your day-to-day life for several weeks. At the same time you may see your performance slow down rapidly...this is called overtraining!

Recover better so you can train!

Too often neglected, recovery is essential to ensure effective training sessions! The first element is hydrating with an isotonic drink (which improves the speed of absorption) and replenishing energy stores with vitamins and minerals during and after the training session.

Proceeding this, a focus needs to be on compensating for the negative balance of water loss: a more viscous blood that circulates poorly!

Theoretically, several mechanisms contribute to re-accelerate this blood flow… the most efficient of them is the calf muscle pump. When the calf muscles contract, they press on the veins and activate the venous return, like a pressure exerted on a tube of toothpaste causing the paste to move up.

In case of confinement, the calf does not full contract and the blood tends to stagnate in the legs, causing swelling and discomfort. The solution may rest on the use of compression...

Compression, the pros' favourite recovery technique

Pressure applied around the legs reduces the diameter of the veins – just like squeezing the tube of toothpaste. This improves whole body blood flow and blood doesn't stagnate anymore! These effects have led to the emergence of compression in the sports world.

- Toxins accumulated in the muscles during exercise (such as lactic acid) are expelled faster (-13%)**

- Oxygen supply to muscles increases (up 15-25%): which is crucial to help replenish energy stores***

- Leg swelling and inflammation are limited (up to -100%), which ensures a feeling of light legs***

- Pain and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) are reduced (-50 per cent)*

- Finally, you'll be performing faster again (up 7 W on average in the next session). *

How to use sports compression effectively

Sports compression differs from medical compression in numerous ways: greater elasticity, more technical fibres and various pressure levels and gradients... Compression used at rest (before and after physical effort) is designed to improve venous return!

There are various determining factors in the improvement of venous return:

• The pressure gradient between the ankle and the calf is inspired by medical compression: it is degressive (higher pressure at the ankles) – you squeeze the bottom of the tube of toothpaste to make it rise...
• The compression level applied to the calf is also a determining factor and must be sufficiently high (15 mmHg). This reacts in the same way as a sponge!
• The presence of compression around the foot is also vital.

Compressport brings all of these technologies and will help you to recover during this long period of confinement .

Références :

* Ménétrier A, Pinot J, Mourot L, Grappe F, Bouhaddid M, Regnard J & Tordi N (2015). Effects of recovery using contrast water therapy or compression stockings on subsequent 5-min cycling performance.  J Sci Cycling 2:49-56

** Boucourt B, Bouhaddi M, Mourot L, Tordi L, Ménétrier A (2015). Changes in tissue oxygen saturation with calf compression sleeve: before, during and after a cycling exercise. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 55:1-5

*** Ménétrier A, Terrillon A, Caverot M, Mourot L, Tordi N (2014). Effects of elastic compression during and after the Trail des Forts of Besançon. Kinesither Rev. 14:35-41