| Background: Extreme conditioning (EC) programs, such as those by CrossfitRTM, and Insanity(TM) have increased in popularity, possibly due their perceived benefits in health and fitness. Repeated bouts of maximal intensity exercises as found in EC programs may lead to a decrease in power that may affect an individual's ability to complete a workout. Lower body compression garments (LBCG) have the potential to delay these power decrements. Purpose: To investigate the effects of LBCG on power decrements during repeated jumps. Methods: Twelve EC individuals (5 males and 7 females) between the ages of 18 and 40 years old with an average age, height, and weight of 29.08 +/- 2.1 yearrs, 68.17 +/- 0.7 inches, and 166.1 +/- 8.0 pounds respectively, participated in this study. They performed 3 trials of 4 sets of 15-second counter movement jumps (CMJ) with 10-seconds of rest between sets, in LBCG, a placebo garment, and self-selected active wear(SSAW). The garments conditions were compared using an ANOVA, with significance set at p ≤ 0.05. Results. LBCG showed a greater conservation in power during the landing phase of the repeated jump performance. In measurements of maximal negative work participants used 268.15 + 535.65 fewer watts in LBCG than the in placebo and 283.37 + 358.11 fewer watts than in SSAW. During eccentric work the participants required 409.43 + 307.45 fewer watts in the LBCG than in the placebo, and 471.5 + 307.45 fewer watts than in the SSAW. The participants experienced a 16.1 + 1.04% smaller decrement in power during the eccentric phase in LBCG than in placebo and 4.17 + 0.41% smaller than in SSAW. When the participants wore LBCG they performed 0.18 more jumps than in placebo, and 0.34 more than in SSAW. Conclusion. The increased number of jumps performed while wearing LBCG may be attributed to a greater conservation of energy during the landing phase of the repeated jump performance test. This energy conservation may potentially help ameliorate fatigue during the latter stages of high intensity bouts of exercise. |
