Intermittent Pneumatic Compression May Reduce Muscle Soreness but Does Not Improve Neuromuscular Function Following...

This study aimed to investigate the impact of an intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) protocol on the recovery kinetics following exercise-induced muscle damage caused by an all-out flywheel protocol consisting of 6 sets of 12-repetition squats.

Thirty-three active male university students (age 20.85 [2.8] y, height 178 [5.7] cm, body mass 75.05 [7.54] kg) were randomly assigned to either a 30-minute peristaltic IPC treatment at 200 mm Hg or a 30-minute placebo intervention (ie, simulated microcurrent treatment). Participants performed functional tests, including maximal knee extension and flexion, countermovement jump, and broad jump, and completed a perceptual soreness questionnaire before the fatigue protocol, immediately after the 30-minute recovery intervention and 24 and 48 hours postintervention. To examine the effects of the fatigue protocol and recovery interventions, a 2 × 4 repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted, and effect sizes were calculated to assess practical relevance.

A significant time effect was observed for all measurements (ηp2: .216-.697; P < .05), indicating substantial fatigue from the exercise-induced-muscle-damage protocol. However, no statistically significant differences were detected between recovery interventions (ηp2: .001-.130; P: .155-.859). Notably, based on the effect-size analysis, a consistent trend toward reduced perceived soreness with IPC was observed, which may hold practical relevance for athletes (d: 0.32-0.75).

Overall, a 30-minute IPC application immediately following exercise-induced muscle damage does not appear to improve the recovery kinetics of jumping and maximal voluntary contraction performance; however, the potential reduction in perceived soreness suggests a need for further investigation.