Upper Body Compression Garment: Physiological Effects While Cycling in a Hot Environment

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of an upper body compression garment (UBCG) on physiologic and perceptual responses while cycling in a hot environment.

Twenty recreational road cyclists were pair-matched for age, anthropometric data, and fitness level (V̇O_2max) and randomly assigned to a control (CON) group (n=10) of cyclists who wore a conventional t-shirt or to a group (n=10) of cyclists who wore UBCG. Test session consisted of cycling at a fixed load (~50% V̇O_2max) for 30 minutes at an ambient temperature of ~40ºC (39.9±0.4ºC), followed by 10 minutes of recovery.

Significantly greater (P = .002) rectal temperature (T_rec) was observed at the end of exercise in the UBCG group (38.3±0.2ºC) versus CON group (37.9±0.3ºC). Significantly greater heart rate (HR) was observed in the UBCG group at minute 15 (P = .01) and at the end of exercise (187±9 vs 173±10 beats/min; P = .004) for UBCG and CON, respectively. Furthermore, participants who wore UBCG perceived a significantly greater (P = .03) thermal sensation at the end of exercise. During recovery HR and T_rec remained significantly greater (P < .05) in the UBCG group.

The use of an UBCG increased cardiovascular and thermoregulatory strain during cycling in a hot environment and did not aid during recovery.